My Future Self Begged Me to Walk Away Chapter 01

The word around the upper echelons of Port City was that I wanted love, not money.

When Ulysses Vanderbilt postponed our trip to the courthouse for the tenth time just to comfort Melody, I still refused the ten-million-dollar compensation he offered.

Instead, I planned to make a scene at his place and force him to register our marriage.

But right before I reached the front door, a woman materialized out of thin air.

She was gaunt to the point of being unrecognizable, her hair streaked with gray, and a deep, uneven old scar marked her wrist.

“Don’t go,” she whispered. “Claire, whatever you do tonight, do not make a scene.”

I stared at her, frozen. The weathered, exhausted face belonged to no one else—it was me, twenty years in the future.

She clamped her hand tightly around mine, tears streaming down her face.

“The second you start a fight with Melody, she will threaten to harm herself by the river and leave a letter to frame you, claiming you drove her to it.”

“From that day on, you’ll be tortured for decades. It won’t be until you’re on your deathbed that you learn she never died—it was a fake suicide to flee the country.”

“She reappeared in front of Ulysses a year later, and they lived out the rest of their lives in bliss together.”

Despite her words, I kept walking up the stairs.

The apparition beside me grew desperate, on the verge of a breakdown.

“Don’t go! Don’t trigger her!”

When I knocked and the door swung open, Melody was sobbing, curled up tightly in Ulysses’ arms, whimpering about a nightmare she’d had.

Ulysses looked up, his face expressionless.

“What are you doing here?”

Ignoring the phantom’s frantic protests, I held out my phone for a Venmo transfer in front of his face.

“I’m here to collect my ten-million-dollar compensation.”

…

Ulysses froze, his arms stiffening around Melody as he stared at me in disbelief.

I simply tapped the screen casually. “Wire transfer or check?”

Ulysses’ gaze darkened as he narrowed his eyes. “Claire, what is the meaning of this?”

Beside him, Melody went stiff.

She clearly hadn’t expected me to storm up to the apartment just to demand money rather than start a screaming match.

I smiled slightly.

“Didn’t you say it yourself? Every time you postpone our marriage registration, you owe me a million dollars.

This is the tenth time, which makes exactly ten million. A man of your stature and wealth wouldn’t stiff me on ten million dollars, would he, Mr. Vanderbilt?”

Ulysses remained skeptical, his brow furrowing deeper.

“You came all the way here today just for money?”

“Why else?” I countered. “You didn’t think I came to watch the two of you pack on the PDA, did you?”

Melody’s face turned pale, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Claire, you’ve got it all wrong. I just had a really terrifying nightmare, so Uly came over to keep me company.”

I had heard that exact phrasing for three straight years.

Sickness, insomnia, nightmares…

No matter how absurd the excuse, Ulysses would always abandon me for Melody.

Today was no exception.

We were supposed to register our marriage at three o’clock this afternoon.

I had arrived an hour early, sitting in the lobby, watching people come and go until nightfall.

Five agonizing hours. Ulysses never showed up.

In the end, all I received was a single text message.

[Melody had a nightmare and she’s not doing well emotionally.

I’m going over to be with her. We’ll register another day.]

If this had been the old me, I would have been consumed by rage.

I would have stormed over here hysterically, demanding to know why I was the one who always got abandoned.

But after seeing myself from twenty years in the future, it suddenly clicked.

What was the point of fighting for a man who would always put another woman before me?

It would be nothing but a waste of a lifetime.

Seeing my silence, Ulysses’ expression grew even frostier.

He pulled a black card from his wallet and threw it squarely at my face. “There’s ten million in here. Take it and get out.”

The hard edge of the card scraped my cheek, leaving a sharp burning sensation on my skin

Yet, as if entirely numb to the pain, I bent down, picked up the card, and turned to leave.

Before I could take two steps, a short, mocking chuckle echoed from behind me.

Ulysses sneered. “Claire, the mask is finally off, isn’t it? All that talk about wanting love and not money was just an act. In the end, all you wanted was my fortune.”

I didn’t break my stride, even though my chest flared with a dull, hollow ache, as if a heavy weight was pressing sharply against my chest.

Over the years, to prove I wasn’t after his money, I had meticulously split everything with him. We went Dutch on dinners, Dutch on trips. Every single time he gave me a gift, I would work myself to the bone to return something of equal value.

To afford those returns, I worked my day job and took on night shifts. I tutored, handed out flyers, and even worked as a hospital caregiver, cleaning up after patients. At my lowest point, I couldn’t even afford to add an egg to my ramen.

Ulysses knew all of this. Yet, despite knowing how hard I struggled, he still viewed me as a calculating woman after his estate.

Losing any desire to defend myself, I threw back a casual reply without looking at him. “If that’s what you think, then sure.”

The evening wind rushed over me the moment I stepped out of the building.

The woman floating beside me finally seemed to snap out of her shock.

She stared at me, a glimmer of tears surfacing in her clouded eyes. “Have you… finally figured it out?”

I stopped in my tracks. Looking at this face that belonged to me—yet had been utterly ruined by a tragic fate—my own tears fell without warning.

“Yeah,” I whispered. “I’ve figured it out. This time, I’m taking us on a different path.”