Chapter 3

Three days later, while researching at the library, something hit me like a thunderbolt.

In my last life, Logan had died of bone cancer.

By the time it was found, it was already terminal.

Which meant—right now, the cancer cells might already be in his body.

I shot to my feet, knocking over my chair. People around me turned to stare.

I didn't bother apologizing. I rushed out of the library, calling Logan as I ran.

"Logan, are you free this afternoon? I want to take you out for coffee."

At the café, when I told him I wanted him to come with me for a physical, he laughed.

"Charles, why the sudden interest in a checkup? Are you not feeling well?"

I made up a reason. "School's organizing it. Logan, I'm scared to go alone—will you come with me?"

He looked at me skeptically. "Really?"

I tried to look as sincere as possible.

"Really. And I'd like you to get checked out too. Think of it as… a pre-marriage physical? You're going to marry my sister, after all."

Logan's ears turned red. He sighed helplessly. "You…"

Just then, his phone rang. It was Aaliyah.

"Where are you?"

"Having coffee with Charles."

There was silence on the other end. "Come home soon."

After hanging up, Logan teased her, "She's so clingy."

I forced a smile, made an excuse about class, and arranged to see him on the weekend.

Just as I reached the school gate, I saw Aaliyah's car parked there.

She got out, grabbed my wrist, and dragged me to the corner.

Before I could react, she shoved me away.

I stumbled, fell to the ground.

My knee and elbow burned. I looked down—the skin was scraped raw, blood oozing out.

She stood over me, eyes cold as ice.

"Charles, I'm warning you. Stay away from Logan."

"Don't say things you shouldn't say. Don't do things you shouldn't do."

I pushed myself up, my voice trembling slightly. "I didn't."

"I just wanted him to come with me to a physical."

She paused. "Are you sick?"

The words slipped out almost without thought.

I blinked, stunned, then shook my head. "No. School requires it."

She stared at me for a long time, her expression slowly shifting.

Like she'd remembered something. Or was trying to confirm something.

After a moment, she crouched down and looked at the cut on my knee.

"Get in the car."

She took me to a pharmacy, bought iodine and bandages, and crouched on the curb to clean my wound.

She wasn't gentle, but she was careful.

Her voice was low. "This weekend, I'll take both of you for the checkup."

I stared at the tip of my shoe, my vision blurring.

The day the results came in, Logan cried so hard his whole body shook.

Early-stage bone cancer.

The doctor said, "We caught it just in time. The cure rate is very high."

Aaliyah hugged Logan, her hands trembling with delayed fear.

Logan looked at me with red eyes. "Charles, thank you… really, thank you."

I shook my head and patted his back.

Aaliyah's gaze passed over Logan's shoulder and landed on me.

Deep. Heavy.

I remembered the day Logan died in my last life. It had been pouring rain.

After Aaliyah found out he'd left her because he saw us spend a night together, she stood at his grave for an entire day, soaked through.

When she got home, she smashed everything she could—then found the diary I'd hidden at the bottom of my drawer.

She decided I'd told Logan on purpose.

I tried to explain. She didn't believe me.

She divorced me, kicked me out with nothing, made sure I couldn't find a job anywhere.

In the end, I died of illness in a rented room. With no one beside me.

Now, there was still time.

Logan would live.

Aaliyah wouldn't blame me.

And me—I'd leave.

A weight finally lifted from my chest.

By the time we left the hospital, the sun was setting.

Aaliyah went to handle the admission paperwork. Logan and I sat in the lobby waiting.

Logan whispered, "Charles, I'm scared."

I patted his shoulder. "Don't be. My sister's here. She'll stay with you."