"You're marrying someone else," I said, my voice flat.
"Why can't I?"
I wrenched my hand from his grasp.

"If you remember everything, then you know the answer. You love Chloe. In our last life, I ruined that by mistake. This time, I'm letting you have her. We won't have a daughter. And I wish you and Chloe a lifetime of happiness."
I turned and walked away without a backward glance.
In that moment, I felt a profound sense of peace. The heavy chains of the past had finally fallen away.
Our wedding day was, by some cruel twist of fate, the same day as Ethan's.
He had to go through with it, Chloe was pregnant.
But as he stood at the altar, drunk and disheveled, watching Chloe walk towards him, all he could see was me. He saw me in a wedding dress, just like in our last life.

"Ethan," a voice called.
He looked up, his heart leaping.
But it wasn't me. It was Chloe, her smile strained.
"What's wrong, darling? Are you tired? This is the day we've been dreaming of. You have to be perfect."

Her words were like static in his ears. He suddenly understood.
His whole life, this second chance, had been driven by a ghost, by the guilt he felt for what he'd lost.
But he'd forgotten that in the ashes of that fire, in the last moments of our past life, he had finally let me into his heart.
"No," he muttered. "I have to find Sophia. I have to tell her…"
He shoved past the officiant, kicked over a stand of flowers, and ran.
"Ethan!" Chloe screamed, her face as white as her dress. "What are you doing? You can't leave me!"
But he was gone. The guests erupted in whispers.
"I heard it was a forced marriage. Maybe the rumors are true?"
"They say she drugged him to get pregnant. I can't believe he actually ran away!"
Humiliated, Chloe lifted her heavy dress and ran after him, right into the path of a swerving car.
Lying in a pool of her own blood, the last thing she saw was Ethan getting into his car and speeding away without a second glance.
"Sophia, don't marry him!"
Ethan burst into our wedding just as Daniel was placing the ring on my finger.
He fell to his knees, his face streaked with tears, and crawled towards me.
"Sophia, I was wrong," he sobbed.
"I was blind. It's always been you. I love you. Please, give me another chance. I want to watch you walk down the aisle to me. I want to see our daughter born. I won't leave this time, I swear. I'll stay with you and Olivia forever…"
Before I could say a word, my brother stood up. "This man is insane!"
he announced to the room. "Security! Get this lunatic out of here!"
The guards dragged Ethan away, and the ceremony continued. Our wedding was beautiful.
But people had recognized Ethan. His stunt had infuriated Daniel's family.
To protect my reputation, they retaliated. Within weeks, the Miller family business was bankrupt.
Three months later, I saw him for the last time. He was homeless, a ragged beggar on a street corner.
Without his money and power, he was just a broken man.
"My treasure, let's go," Daniel said, opening the car door for me, carefully helping his pregnant wife inside.
"I bought you and the baby that durian pastry you love."
I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, my love."
When I looked back, Ethan was gone. Our story was finally, truly over.
And that was for the best.
(The End)