Back to the Past: Setting Him Free

Sebastian Pena hates me for a whole decade after his true love's death. I try to please him at every turn, but he merely scoffs. "If you really want to make me happy, you should go to hell."

That hits hard. However, when a truck hurtles toward me, Sebastian throws himself at me. He saves me, but he dies in a pool of his blood.

Before he breathes his last breath, he looks into my eyes and says, "If only… I'd never met you…"

His mother is devastated at his funeral. "I should've given Sebastian and Gillian my blessings. I should never have forced him to marry you!"

His father resents me. "Sebastian saved you three times—he was a good person. Why weren't you the one who died?"

Everyone regrets having Sebastian marry me, myself included. I'm kicked out of the funeral.

Three years later, someone invents a time machine, and I travel back in time.

This time, I'm going to sever all ties with Sebastian. Everyone will get the happiness they deserve.

The time machine exploded into a blinding light. I squeezed my eyes shut, but suddenly, I heard Sebastian Pena's mocking voice close to my ear.

"My parents are practically threatening to kill themselves if I don't marry you, Sienna Rowse. You must be proud of yourself.

"But even if we go through with this wedding, what do you think you'll actually get out of it? Do you think we're going to be happy?"

My eyes snapped open, and there he was—Sebastian, standing right in front of me.

His hands were tucked casually into the pockets of his dress pants. Despite his lazy posture, the mockery flashing in his eyes was impossible to miss.

The Sebastian I knew in the future was poised and dignified, but the boy in front of me still carried the careless, untamed energy of youth, a look I hadn't seen in what felt like forever.

My nose stung with emotion.

The time machine had worked. I was back in the past.

But something had gone wrong—it hadn't taken me to the moment we first met.

Instead, I was standing at the spot from thirteen years ago, on the day Sebastian and I were about to get married.

At least it wasn't too late to change things.

I swallowed the lump rising in my throat and stared at him greedily, trying to soak in every detail.

"Sebastian, you don't want to marry me because the person you really love is Gillian Brown, right?"

Maybe I hit a nerve. His body stiffened for a split second before he looked at me coldly and said, "Yeah, but so what? We're already standing outside the city hall. Do you think there's still a way to back out?"

I nodded honestly. "There is."

Sebastian let out a cold laugh. "I don't have time for your mind games. Just sign the papers, get the marriage certificate, and be done with it. I'll be waiting outside."

Watching him walk away,