Morning sunlight spilled softly across the marble floors of the penthouse.
The city outside moved with its usual rhythm, cars rushing through crowded streets, distant horns echoing faintly through the glass walls.
Inside, everything was quiet.
Too quiet.
Ceci stood alone in the kitchen, staring at the digital clock on the wall.
8:42 a.m.
Her fingers tightened around the edge of the counter.
Three minutes.
Her breathing remained calm, but her heart beat steadily faster.
She already knew what was about to happen.
Because she had seen it.
Because she had already lived it.
Behind her, the sound of footsteps approached.
James entered the kitchen, adjusting the cuff of his tailored shirt. His presence filled the room effortlessly, confident, composed, untouchable.
He paused when he noticed her standing there.
"You're awake early," he said.
Ceci forced a small smile.
"I couldn't sleep."
James walked past her toward the coffee machine.
For a moment, she watched him quietly.
Memorizing him.
The way the morning light outlined his sharp features.
The calm certainty in his movements.
In three minutes, that certainty would shatter.
8:43 a.m.
Ceci's eyes flicked back to the clock.
James poured his coffee.
"You're staring," he said without looking at her.
She looked away quickly.
"Sorry."
James turned slightly, studying her.
"You've been acting strangely since yesterday."
Her chest tightened.
Of course he noticed.
James St Patrick noticed everything.
Except the one thing no one ever could.
Time bending around them.
"I'm fine," she said softly.
James didn't seem convinced.
But he didn't push further.
He took a sip of coffee and checked his watch.
"I have a meeting in twenty minutes."
Ceci nodded slowly.
Her gaze returned to the clock.
8:44 a.m.
One minute left.
The memory rose in her mind with terrifying clarity.
The sound first.
A loud crack.
Glass exploding inward.
James collapsing before he could even understand what had happened.
A sniper.
Positioned somewhere across the street.
Perfect line of sight through the kitchen windows.
She had tried to warn him last time.
But she had been too slow.
And he had died in front of her.
Ceci closed her eyes briefly.
Her fingers trembled.
Every rewind took something from her.
Every second reversed cost years of her life.
But some things were not negotiable.
James finished his coffee and set the cup down.
"Ceci."
She looked up.
"Yes?"
"Move away from the window."
Her heart skipped.
For a moment, she wondered if he somehow knew.
James gestured casually.
"The sunlight is reflecting on the glass. It's annoying."
Ceci forced herself to nod.
"Of course."
She stepped slightly to the side.
But James remained exactly where he had stood before.
Exactly where the bullet would find him.
Her pulse began to race.
She could stop it.
All she had to do was move him.
Just a few steps.
But if she did, he would question it.
He would notice something strange again.
And every time James grew suspicious, the timeline became harder to control.
The clock changed.
8:45 a.m.
The moment arrived.
Ceci felt it before she heard it.
A sharp pressure in the air.
Then,
CRACK.
The window exploded inward.
Glass shattered across the floor.
James's body jerked violently as the bullet struck his chest.
For a split second, his expression held nothing but pure shock.
Then he collapsed.
The world fell silent.
Ceci stood frozen.
Her heart pounded painfully inside her chest.
Blood spread slowly across the white marble floor.
James St Patrick lay motionless beside the shattered glass.
Dead.
Again.
A single tear slid down Ceci's cheek.
She knelt beside him.
"I'm sorry," she whispered softly.
Her fingers brushed his cold hand.
This was the part she hated most.
The moment after.
The moment where the world had already ended.
Slowly, she closed her eyes.
And reached for the power she had carried her entire life.
Time.
A quiet pulse of energy spread through her chest.
Like a clock turning backward.
Her lips moved gently.
"Rewind."
The world fractured.
The sound collapsed inward.
Light twisted violently around her.
The marble floor cracked like a mirror breaking apart.
Then everything vanished.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Inside that darkness, a silent cost was calculated.
One minute.
The shortest rewind she could manage.
But even a minute had a price.
Years slipped quietly from her life.
Gone.
Traded.
Given away.
Then,
The world snapped back.
Ceci gasped softly as the kitchen reformed around her.
The shattered glass vanished.
The blood disappeared.
James stood exactly where he had been before.
Alive.
The clock read:
8:44 a.m.
One minute earlier.
James lifted his coffee cup again, unaware that he had already died.
"You're staring," he said casually.
Ceci's hands trembled slightly.
"I'm sorry."
Her mind raced.
This time she had to act faster.
Carefully.
Naturally.
Without making him suspicious.
James checked his watch again.
"I have a meeting in twenty minutes."
Ceci moved suddenly.
"Wait."
Lucien looked at her.
"What is it?"
She forced herself to stay calm.
"Your tie is crooked."
James frowned slightly.
"My tie?"
"Yes."
Before he could react, Ceci stepped closer and adjusted it.
But while doing so,
She subtly guided him two steps to the left.
Out of the sniper's line of sight.
Her fingers smoothed the fabric slowly.
"There," she said quietly.
James looked down at her.
"You've never done that before."
"I'm learning," she said softly.
James studied her face for a moment.
Something in his expression shifted.
A strange sense of familiarity flickered in his eyes.
Like he had already lived this moment.
But the feeling disappeared quickly.
He stepped back.
"Thank you."
Ceci nodded.
Her eyes flicked to the clock.
8:45 a.m.
Her breath caught.
The moment arrived again.
Outside, somewhere far across the street,
A rifle fired.
CRACK.
The bullet tore through the window exactly as before.
Glass shattered across the floor.
But this time,
The bullet passed through empty space.
James stood just far enough away to avoid it.
The projectile slammed into the far wall instead.
James froze.
His mind struggled to process what had just happened.
Ceci already knew.
She had seen it.
She had lived it.
And she had just paid for it.
Security alarms erupted throughout the penthouse.
James stepped forward slowly, staring at the shattered window.
"Was that"
"A gunshot," Ceci finished quietly.
James turned toward her sharply.
"How did you"
But he stopped.
Because Ceci looked pale.
Much paler than before.
Her hand rested lightly against the counter as if she needed support.
James frowned.
"Are you alright?"
She nodded quickly.
"Just surprised."
James studied her carefully.
Something about this situation felt… wrong.
Too precise.
Too perfectly avoided.
Like someone had known it was coming.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
But before he could ask anything else, security guards rushed into the room.
"Mr. Patrick!" one of them shouted. "Are you hurt?"
James shook his head.
"No."
The guards quickly began scanning the building across the street.
Searching for the shooter.
But James barely listened.
His attention remained on Ceci.
She stood quietly near the counter.
Calm.
Silent.
Almost as if this entire moment had unfolded exactly as she expected.
James's gaze hardened slightly.
A strange thought crossed his mind.
Impossible.
Illogical.
Yet it refused to leave.
What if this wasn't luck?
What if someone had known the bullet was coming?
Across the room, Ceci looked down at her trembling hands.
The cost of that rewind settled quietly inside her chest.
Years of her life… gone for sixty seconds.
A life for a minute.
And deep in
her heart, she knew something terrifying.
This was only the beginning.
Because somewhere out there,
Someone was trying very hard to kill James St Patrick.
And if she wasn't careful…
The next rewind might cost far more than just a minute.