The phone stayed dark for three hours.
Three long, suffocating hours.
Ethan sat at his desk, replaying the chandelier crash in his mind.
The scream.
The shattering glass.
The blood on marble.
And the message.
That wasn't supposed to happen.
Helios trading had been halted pending investigation. News channels were already speculating about structural negligence, sabotage, even corporate warfare.
The stock would reopen tomorrow.
And when it did—
The market would decide Helios' fate.
But Ethan's mind wasn't on the stock anymore.
It was on the future.
He picked up the black-screened future phone again.
"Turn on," he muttered.
Nothing.
Then—
A flicker.
The screen lit up weakly, like a dying battery.
Text appeared.
Not clean and sharp like before.
It glitched slightly.
As if struggling to exist.
Future Ethan:
The timeline is destabilizing.
Ethan swallowed.
Because of the conference?
Several seconds passed before the reply came.
Yes.
Another pause.
Your presence altered probability chains.
The words were less precise now.
Less confident.
Ethan leaned forward.
"You told me not to go," he whispered. "But you didn't say why."
No answer.
Instead, new text slowly formed.
Letter by letter.
Memories are fragmenting.
Ethan's breath caught.
What does that mean?
The response took longer this time.
Long enough to make his heart race.
Events are shifting.
My memories of this period are fading.
The room suddenly felt colder.
"Fading?" Ethan whispered.
When you change major nodes in the timeline, future data becomes unstable.
The message flickered again.
Like static passing through a signal.
The chandelier incident was not part of my recorded memory.
Ethan's pulse pounded in his ears.
"So now what happens?" he asked under his breath.
No immediate response.
Just silence.
Then—
Three words appeared slowly.
I don't know.
Ethan froze.
That was the first time Future Ethan had ever admitted uncertainty.
The first time he hadn't known something.
Another message followed quickly, almost urgently.
Listen carefully.
The letters trembled slightly on the screen.
There is one constant across remaining memory fragments.
Ethan leaned closer.
His reflection stared back at him in the dim light.
Victor Liang.
Ethan frowned.
The name was unfamiliar.
Who is that?
The answer came immediately.
You must not trust him.
Ethan's heart skipped.
Before he could ask why—
His normal phone buzzed loudly on the desk.
The sudden sound made him flinch.
Caller ID flashed on the screen.
Victor Liang
Ethan stared at it in disbelief.
His mind went blank.
How—
Another message appeared on the future phone.
Fast.
Desperate.
He approaches you after Helios.
Ethan's throat felt dry.
The phone continued vibrating in his hand.
Victor Liang was still calling.
Another message appeared.
In my original timeline, he invested in you.
Ethan's chest tightened.
You accepted.
His pulse spiked.
What happened?
There was a long pause.
Longer than any before.
When the next message came, it was incomplete at first.
Then corrected.
As if being rewritten.
Partnership valued at fifty million.
Ethan's eyes widened.
Fifty million dollars.
The offer was real.
The future phone flickered violently.
The next message appeared in broken segments.
Do not trust Victor Liang.
Then—
He is not your ally.
The text glitched again.
One final message forced its way onto the screen.
If you accept—
The words froze.
Distorted.
Then changed.
—everything accelerates.
Ethan's breathing became shallow.
Accelerates what?
The phone screen dimmed again.
Before going dark, one last message appeared.
My memories are fading.
And then—
Nothing.
The future phone powered off completely.
Ethan stared at his reflection in the dead screen.
Silence filled the apartment.
His normal phone was still ringing.
Victor Liang.
Calling.
Slowly, Ethan answered.
He didn't speak first.
A smooth, confident voice came through the line.
"Ethan Carter," the man said warmly. "I've been looking forward to speaking with you."
Ethan forced his voice steady.
"Have we met?"
A soft chuckle echoed from the other end.
"Not yet."
A pause.
"But I believe we should."
Ethan's mind raced.
You accepted.
Do not trust him.
Everything accelerates.
Victor continued calmly.
"You've made some very impressive moves recently. Especially with Helios."
Ethan's heart thudded.
"How do you know about that?"
Another gentle laugh.
"Let's just say… I pay attention to promising talent."
Silence stretched between them.
Then Victor spoke the words that made Ethan's blood run cold.
"I'd like to discuss a partnership."
A deliberate pause.
"A fifty-million-dollar partnership."
Ethan felt the weight of the moment pressing down on him.
Money beyond imagination.
Power beyond his current reach.
Or—
A trap that destroyed his future self.
Victor's voice remained smooth.
"Let's talk partnership."
Ethan stared at the dark future phone in his other hand.
For the first time…
He had to choose without guidance.