On the day of our high school graduation, Ethan, my childhood sweetheart, shoved a thick journal into my hands. From the day he first realized he liked me, one page a day. Nine hundred and ninety-nine pages in total. Filled with a boy's pure, unadulterated love. Moved to tears, a drop fell onto the very last page. Ink swirled, revealing a new line of text. I thought it was a hidden message Ethan designed as a surprise. But when I read it, I froze. It said: "On our third wedding anniversary, I realized I no longer love Scarlett." Chapter 1 While I stood there in shock, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Ethan. Ethan: Scarlett, did you finish the journal? Will you be my girlfriend? I looked at the journal again. Was this some sick prank? When I didn't reply, Ethan ran straight to my house. "Scarlett! Why are you ignoring me?" I pointed directly at that line of text. "What does this mean?" Ethan squinted. When he saw the words, his flushed face turned pale instantly. "What the hell? I didn't write that! What is this?" He grabbed the journal, holding it up to the light, checking every inch. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead. The handwriting matched his perfectly. "Scarlett, I swear I don't know what's going on. Who is pranking me?" As he spoke, new words began to appear under the first line. "If only the person I met and fell in love with first was Stella." Seeing text appear out of thin air, Ethan fell onto the floor in terror. "Ghosts?! And who the hell is Stella?" Seeing that name, I snapped back to reality. I snatched the journal and shoved Ethan out the door. Slam. My heart pounded against my ribs. The person writing these words might be the Ethan from three years in the future. And Stella... is my half-sister. Everyone around me who meets her ends up loving her and hating me. That's why, for three years of high school, I never told Ethan about Stella's existence. I slid down the door, sitting on the floor. To escape Stella, I applied to a high school in Seattle, far from my hometown in Oregon. I lived alone in the small apartment my mom left me. Did she really ruin my marriage in the end? The journal continued to generate new content. "I first met Stella at our wedding. Scarlett always said she had a bad relationship with her family and refused to invite them. But on the wedding day, Stella showed up with Scarlett's father and stepmother. She apologized to me, explaining the family situation and how Scarlett had rejected her since childhood. She told me not to blame Scarlett, saying she understood how Scarlett felt about having her dad 'stolen'. She was such an understanding girl. Even while being hated, she tried to fix Scarlett's relationship with her family. Scarlett was stiff throughout the wedding. My parents weren't happy about it. I decided to talk to Scarlett that night, to tell her about Stella's good intentions. But Scarlett started a huge fight. She smashed everything in our new house. I had never seen her lose control like that. She cried and pushed me out the door, screaming, 'Even you fell for her! You hate me!' I held her tight, explaining over and over that I just wanted her to reconcile with her family. I couldn't possibly fall for my sister-in-law. Only then did she calm down. When Stella heard about the outcome, she looked devastated. She even cried. She said this was her last attempt. She wouldn't disturb us anymore, lest Scarlett think she was trying to ruin the marriage too. I grabbed her arm. I told her that as Scarlett's husband, I had a duty to help bridge the gap. I swear, at first, I just wanted to learn about Scarlett's childhood from Stella. But after spending time with her, I realized Stella was perfect. She was sunny and gentle, completely different from the sensitive, self-consuming Scarlett. I never expected that when Scarlett found out I was contacting Stella, she would threaten suicide! I was exhausted. After calming Scarlett down, I secretly drove to see Stella. That night, I fell completely into Stella's comfort. But it wasn't entirely my fault. Scarlett pushed me away, bit by bit." Reading this, I was sobbing uncontrollably. My heart felt like it was being squeezed and torn apart. Ethan was still banging on the door. I yanked it open and threw the journal in his face. "I was blind to waste my time on you! Take your journal and get out! Go be with Stella!" Chapter 2 I locked the door, pulled the curtains. I buried myself under the blanket and cried. This was insane. My phone vibrated like crazy. I sent Stella's number to Ethan. Then I blocked them both. But Ethan climbed up to my window on the second floor! He banged on the glass, begging. "Scarlett, let me in! I'm going to fall!" I took a deep breath and opened the window. As soon as he climbed in, he grabbed my hands. "Scarlett, maybe the future me really wrote that. I'm sorry. I deserve to die!" He grabbed my hand and slapped his own face with it. I struggled, not wanting him to touch me. "Scarlett! The future me changed, but you forgot that the present me loves you for real!" Ethan's tears fell on my hand. They were hot. "Stella is clearly a 'Pick-me girl'! She's acting innocent to steal everything from you and make you look crazy!" He pulled me into a tight hug. "I apologize on behalf of my future self. Scarlett, please give me another chance. I know you've liked me for three years too." "I've already seen through Stella's act. Maybe the future can change!" I stopped struggling, staring blankly at the journal lying open on the floor outside. When I came to this strange city alone, Ethan was the first person I met. He lived next door. Seeing me struggling with boxes, he came to help. Since that day, he was involved in everything. Changing lightbulbs, unclogging drains. Study plans, exam analysis. If I refused to go to his house for holidays, he'd bring Tupperware to mine and eat with me. Worried about my safety, he even set up a device. If it triggered, he'd know instantly. I was sensitive and anxious about relationships. Ethan never found me annoying. He listened patiently, comforting me bit by bit. I had long considered him irreplaceable family. A friend. And I had fantasized about being his lover more than once. Seeing I was calm, Ethan gripped my shoulders. "Scarlett, my parents wanted to send me abroad. I refused because I didn't want to leave you." "Why don't you come with me? We can go abroad, far away from Stella. She'll never have a chance to interfere." Looking at his pleading eyes, I rubbed my throbbing temples. "I need some time alone..." "I'll go talk to my parents right now! Scarlett, wait for me!" Ethan rushed home. The next day, he knocked on my door as promised. But he handed back the scarf I knitted for him. "Scarlett, I thought about it. We should break up." Ethan looked down, avoiding my eyes. "Why? Yesterday you said you'd take me abroad." Ethan looked in pain. His hand on the door trembled. A terrifying guess surfaced. I asked in disbelief: "Ethan, did the journal change?" He didn't answer. He turned to run. I grabbed his shirt. "The future really changed, but you still betrayed me in the end, didn't you?" Chapter 3 Ethan stopped. But he didn't turn around. "Scarlett, I'm just a piece of trash." His voice cracked. "I don't deserve you." Watching his shoulders shake with sobs, I dug my fingers into the scarf. "What happened? We chose to stay away from Stella, didn't we?" Ethan just kept apologizing. "Scarlett, it's better if you don't know. I'm sorry. As long as I leave you, none of this will happen. You won't get hurt." A wave of anger rose in my chest. I stormed into Ethan's house. I locked his bedroom door and found the journal under his bed. The content had changed completely. The time in the first sentence was cut short: "On our second wedding anniversary, I realized I no longer love Scarlett." My hands shook as I read on. "...After high school, my parents wanted to send me abroad. I wanted to refuse, but somehow I said I wanted to take Scarlett with me. After finishing our studies abroad, Scarlett got pregnant. I proposed. My parents insisted the child be born in the US, so we returned. While waiting for the baby, I felt an inexplicable anxiety. Like we ran away to hide from someone. On the due date, we ran into Scarlett's family at the hospital. She had a sister named Stella. I don't know why, but the moment I saw Stella, I felt a strange repulsion. I even felt like she was the person I was hiding from. Scarlett laughed when she found out. She said I must love her too much, so I hated the sister who stole everything from her, just like she did. Scarlett's mother died in childbirth. Scarlett wanted a natural birth to overcome her trauma. I decided to be in the delivery room. Stella insisted I switch Scarlett to a C-section. I refused and warned her to stay away. But after the birth, I regretted it. The baby's head got stuck. The doctor used scissors to widen the opening. Blood everywhere. The baby and filth poured out of Scarlett. I fainted. I couldn't eat for six months. Everything looked like blood. If Scarlett touched me, I wanted to vomit. Stella asked about Scarlett. Hearing my story, she cried in my arms. I felt something change. She knew Scarlett hated her, yet she cared so much. If I had listened to her, we could have avoided the tragedy. After that, Stella visited often with supplements for Scarlett. I'm a man. I had abstained since early pregnancy. I was at my limit. Stella looked like Scarlett, but gentler, happier. Soon, I fell. We broke the taboo. When Scarlett found out, her reaction was worse than I imagined. I promised to give her the child and assets, but she jumped off the building with the baby. The baby died. Scarlett was paralyzed from the waist down. My parents aged overnight. I knew I wronged her. I quit my job to care for her. But she cursed me and Stella every time she woke up. Afraid she would hurt Stella, I hired a nurse to replace me. I planned to take Stella abroad once Scarlett agreed to divorce. Fate is funny. Maybe my anxiety back then was just the fear of missing true love. Because from the start, I loved the wrong person." ... I shook so hard I could barely hold the journal. Ethan was crying outside the door. "Scarlett, I'm sorry. I don't know why I become like that." "Stay away from me. I don't want to hurt you." I yanked the door open. "Ethan." "Future you wished twice that you had met Stella from the start." "Why don't I grant that wish? I'll take you to meet Stella right now." Chapter 4 Ethan froze. Snot and tears running down his face, he looked ridiculous. I couldn't connect the boy in front of me with the monster in the journal. "Meet Stella now? No!" Ethan backed away, looking terrified. "Our actions now can affect the future, but they can't stop you from falling for Stella." I analyzed calmly. "Whether I hide you from her, or you avoid her, she appears." "Let's try being proactive. Let's find her and see if the ending changes." I closed the journal, calming myself. No matter what, the Ethan in front of me loved only me. "For the sake of our last three years, I don't want to give up like this." Hearing this, Ethan's eyes became firm. He squeezed my hand. "Scarlett, thank you for giving me a chance." We got on a train to my hometown that day. Ethan was anxious the whole way. "Scarlett, if I still hurt you, don't do anything stupid. Leave me immediately." "The Ethan who doesn't love you isn't me. Don't forgive him. Don't look back." I stared into his eyes. Before I could speak, he jumped up. "The journal is burning! It changed again!" Ethan clutched his pocket and ran into the bathroom, locking the door. "Scarlett, I'm scared the ending is still bad. I don't want you to see my disgusting future self again." "Wait until I read it!" I paced anxiously outside. Less than a minute later, Ethan came out. His face was white. He couldn't speak. "Did it not change? Did you still betray me?" I reached for his pocket. "What happened? What did it say?" Ethan's pocket only contained confetti. His voice was hoarse with fear. "I took it out, and it shattered into pieces in my hand." "Scarlett, I don't want to get off the train. I don't want to see Stella." "Future me must have met her, fell in love, and tore up the journal immediately." Ethan backed away from me. "First, it was three years. Then two years." "Now, we haven't even started dating, and the journal is destroyed." "Scarlett, the future can't be changed. Run. I don't want to hurt you." The train shook violently. When I steadied myself, Ethan grabbed my hand. He smiled at me. "Scarlett, we're here. I'm actually nervous to meet your sister." I stared at him. A strange memory flooded my mind. In this memory, after reading the journal, I didn't say yes to Ethan. I was worried he didn't truly love me. So I took him to my hometown to test him with Stella. We were walking toward the Third Future. There was no turning back.
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