CHAPTER 1: THE NIGHT TIME FLOWED BACKWARD
It was midnight. I was staring at the ceiling in the darkness of the room, trying to find answers to the same questions spinning in my mind:
"Why?"
Why had I been in such a rush when I was 18? Why, instead of focusing on my classes and my future, had I wasted my time on empty, meaningless games and idle whims? The most painful part was that I had married at an age when I didn’t even know myself yet. That marriage, where we never got along and every day was stormy and full of fights, had shattered my soul. My half-finished dreams, missed opportunities, and the regret of my youth had grown into a mountain on my shoulders.
Wiping the tears streaming from my eyes onto the pillow, I whispered:
"Oh God, what if time could be wound back... If only I were given one single chance, I would do everything, and I mean everything, completely differently."
With this inner cry, my eyelids grew heavy and I was submerged in darkness.
I opened my eyes to the touch of warm sunlight on my face and the sounds of children coming from the street.
My breath caught. My bed... this wasn’t my current bed! The posters on the wall, the messy school notebooks on the table, the dusty bag in the corner... This was my childhood room!
I sprang out of bed quickly and ran toward the mirror. My hands were shaking. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked at my reflection in the mirror: standing before me was my 15-year-old self. A white-skinned, wide-eyed youth whose face didn't yet show the fatigue of life... But inside this young body was a mature soul carrying all the pain, mistakes, and experiences of the future.
My mother's young and cheerful voice from those years rose from the kitchen:
"Come on, wake up! You're going to be late for school, your tea is getting cold!"
I had understood... Time had flowed backward. I had been given a second chance to rewrite my life from scratch!
After that day, everything changed. I set aside the empty habits that killed my time. I studied day and night, building my future step by step. And finally, I reached that critical age, 18...
I encountered that person again who had led me to the abyss in my former life. But this time, there was no blind ignorance in my eyes. I knew the hell waiting for me behind his sweet words. I passed right by him without saying a single word and closed that door forever. That same year, I was accepted with top honors to the most prestigious university I couldn't have even dreamed of!
After graduation, I started a wonderful career in an international company. I drank my coffee in the narrow streets of Italy, traveled to Paris, and toured the world. I had everything I wanted. I had no regrets left.
One day, I was standing on an ocean shore with perfectly white sand beaches. I closed my eyes and smiled with incredible peace:
"I did it... I fixed everything. I saved my life."
When I opened my eyes again... everything around me suddenly began to fade, and the sound of the ocean grew muffled. What I was about to encounter would be the biggest shock of my life...
