Chapter 116 Three Lives
Chapter 116 Three Lives
\-Lucien-
Colin stood across from me with a gun pointed at Celeste. She was backed against the balcony railing, tears streaming down her face.
“Tell me!” he screamed. “Do you love me or Lucien?”
“Colin, put the gun down,” she sobbed.
He laughed bitterly. “You still can't answer.”
Before I knew what I was doing, I stepped between them. “Stay away from her.”
His eyes shifted toward me. “Of course you would come.”
I barely had time to react before he lunged. I grabbed his wrist, trying to force the pointed gun away from Celeste.
We struggled.
She screamed, and the gun went off. For a second, everything went silent.
Then she slipped from his push. Her fingers caught the railing, but they couldn't hold.
“Celeste!”
I reached for her, my hand closing around hers for one small second.
Then she fell… I watched her disappear over the balcony.
I turned toward Colin, and the second shot struck my chest.
I fell to my knees as my system slowly shut down.
And the world went black.
\---
I opened my eyes.
The ceiling above me was familiar. Someone was talking about fittings and I sat up abruptly.
I was in my apartment. Jackson and another assistant were discussing my schedule.
“The wedding fitting for your nephew’s wedding is today,” he told me.
I blinked at him, confused. I asked for the date. He told me and my heart stopped.
Time had reversed and I’d remembered everything.
The balcony. Celeste falling. The gunshot. Her death. My death.
I didn't understand anything, but this time, I wasn't going to let her marry Colin.
I went for my fitting first. I listened to Colin brag in front of his friends after arriving here an hour late. I was an observer in this world.
I needed to find Celeste.
I drove to every bridal shop I thought she might be.
But I was too late. Her car crashed the moment she left after her fitting.
Celeste was dead.
Again.
This time I didn't give up, I followed every lead, every name and eventually found something I wasn't supposed to find.
I remember the footsteps behind me. The blow to the back of my head. The cold floor beneath my cheek.
Then nothing.
I died.
Again.
\---
I woke up again to the same ceiling and the same words. “The wedding fitting for your nephew is today.”
No. Not again.
I skipped the fitting and went straight to the bridal store.
Celeste was in a private room when I found her.
When she saw me, she stepped back and demanded to know who I was. I told her I was “uncle” to her, her fiancé’s uncle, which only deepened her confusion because we'd never met in this life.
She asked why I was there. I told her the truth: I was there to stop her wedding, to stop her from marrying him.
She laughed and called it a joke while I begged her not to go.
She refused to listen. This time, her car didn't crash.
But I followed. This time, she lived long enough to find out Colin was cheating on her.
I watched the reel of her humiliation at the event.
Then I followed her.
She sped away, far beyond the limit. I tried to get her to stop, but she kept going.
But then a truck appeared. Her car swerved. Mine did too.
We both crashed.
And that was it, another life. Another failure.
Three times I had watched Celeste die and then I remembered this life.
The one where everything had changed. Celeste had been different this time, making choices she never had before. She had challenged her family, uncovered the truth, and eventually came to me. Somehow, she had changed the entire story.
Not me… Her.
My eyes opened.
The parking lot ceiling blurred above me, and for several seconds, I couldn't remember where I was.
Then everything returned in a flash. I forced myself upright, but pain coursed through the back of my skull.
When I touched it, my fingers were covered in blood, and my vision kept fading in and out as I grabbed the nearest car for support and dragged myself toward my vehicle.
My hands shook as I pulled out my phone and tried to call Carl.
The screen blurred.
Before I could press his name, another call came through.
Paul.
I answered. “Help me…” My voice barely sounded like mine.
“Lucien? Where are you?”
I tried to speak. “Parking lot…”
I swallowed hard. “Ash…ford…Gro…”