Nolan Shaw is the big shot on campus that everyone is intimidated by. He's also the guy I've been in love with for a while now.

Out of nowhere, a new admirer of his pops out. She bears a striking resemblance to me.

When I bring him his water, she beats me to it. When I write him a love letter, she tears it up.

Finally, I muster up the courage to be honest with Nolan about my feelings—only for her to rush over and kick over the candles I prepared for the confession.

That's when I finally lose my patience. "Just what on earth are you doing?"

She ignores me and grabs Nolan's arm before saying, "I'll be frank with you. I'm actually here on a mission. You and Nolan will end up in a bitter marriage, hurting each other. So the system wants me to stop you two from being together."

I don't believe a word she says, thinking that she's just lying to separate us.

But at the very next second, I hear her thoughts.

[Just what on earth did this scumbag do to make the 22-year-old Teresa fall so hopelessly in love with him? I bet she'll be heartbroken if she finds out that in the future, he'll find her boring and end up keeping 18 mistresses on the side. And after the divorce, he'll even make it hard for her to earn a living. She ends up dying of exhaustion, too!]

My body went rigid.

Meanwhile, Nolan Shaw, the big shot on campus, narrowed his eyes and shook Mia Shaw's hand off.

"Don't be ridiculous," he retorted icily. "I'd sacrifice my life for Teresa. Why would our relationship ever fall apart? You're lying on purpose to break us up, aren't you?"

I didn't believe it either—that Nolan, who loved me more than anything else, would fall out of love with me so easily. Last year, out of jealousy, someone had shoved me down the stairs. I fell hard. My head split open, and blood was everywhere.

Afraid that my injuries might worsen, he used his connections to find me the best doctor in the city, and he also escorted me to the hospital himself.

The blood bank at the hospital was running low. Thus, despite fainting from the sight of blood, Nolan didn't even hesitate to donate his blood to save me.

He ended up donating 1,000cc of his blood, and I survived. However, he had to spend two weeks in the hospital after that. Even to this day, his health was still frail.

He also went all-out to get even with the person who pushed me. Since then, no one ever dared to hurt or bully me again.

Once I recalled this, my eyes grew wary. I surreptitiously tugged on Nolan's sleeve and said, "Don't bother explaining anything to her, Nolan. Come with me to the library."

He turned his head. Those affectionate eyes of his settled on me, filled with unmistakable tenderness.

"Okay."

However, Mia grabbed him again. "Nole, I know you don't believe I'm from the future, but you don't even like going to the library with her. You always think she's boring, don't you?

"I'm not like her. Why don't you spend the day with me instead? I've got a racing license, you know. Let's go to the racing track!"

Caught off guard, I couldn't help but look at Nolan. "Is that really how you feel, Nolan?"

Nolan looked like he'd been exposed, and he subconsciously raised his voice. "Don't listen to her crap, Teresa! No matter what you want to do, as long as we're together, I'll always feel happy and not the least bit bored."

He turned to Mia. His gaze was cold and sharp. "I'm warning you! If you continue to blabber all of this nonsense, I won't go easy on you!"

He violently shook off Mia's hand, took mine, and started to lead me away.

At that moment, Mia abruptly sucked in a breath. "It hurts…"

Nolan and I paused in our tracks and instinctively looked back.

Mia had fallen to the ground. She had scraped her knee, and her eyes were brimming with tears. She looked utterly pitiful.

At the very next moment, Nolan's gaze hardened. He immediately let go of my hand and crouched down to check on her.

"Why did you fall?" he asked.

I froze slightly, and my fingers curled around the emptiness in my palm. It felt like I'd been stabbed in the heart with the finest needle. It stung ever so slightly.

Mia threw herself into Nolan's arms and wept.

"You shook me off way too hard just now, Nole! I fell straight to the ground. My knee hurts so much I can't even walk. I might've said the wrong thing, but you shouldn't be treating a young woman like this."

Nolan's eyes flashed with guilt. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Stop crying. I'll take you to the nurse's office."

Mia pouted pitifully.

After picking her up in his arms, Nolan looked at me. His dark eyes were filled with even more remorse. "I did cause her injury, Tess. Let me take her to the nurse's office first. I'll look for you the moment I'm done, okay?"

Curled up in his arms, Mia shot me a smug look, but her thoughts told a completely different story.

[What a scumbag! He keeps saying he doesn't care about me, but the second I get hurt, he worries about me more than anyone else. He's not even married to Teresa yet, and he's already neglecting her this way. Is this what he considers love?]

The rest of her thoughts were even more shocking.

[If this is how he acts before they're married, it's no wonder that he only gets worse after marriage. He even used the fact that he saved her life before as an excuse to force her to donate her blood to save his favorite mistress!

[Her health was already fragile, to begin with. She ended up falling unconscious for three days straight after donating her blood, and he was so busy fussing over his mistress that he didn't even check on her. She must've been so heartbroken then.]

Before my brain could even process the words, my heart was already clenching hard. The pain was spreading through my body. The blood was slowly draining out of my face as well.

Nolan and I were the only ones who knew he'd saved my life by donating his blood to me before. Mia was a new transfer student. There was no way she could've found out about it.

Did this prove that the future Nolan would really hurt me for the sake of other women?

I clenched my trembling fingers, forcing down my wildly surging emotions. "Okay. You can take her to the nurse's office."

"I knew you'd always be kind and considerate of others, Tess. I'll get going then," Nolan said with a faint smile before carrying Mia off.

I could still hear her thoughts.

[I feel so sorry for doing this to Teresa, but it's better to see things clearly before they're married than suffer after, isn't it? With how smart she is, she'll probably break up with him now, right? Either way, once we get to the nurse's office, I'll get the scumbag to reveal his true thoughts to me. That way, I can help Teresa escape her future hell!]

I stood there for a few seconds before, as if under a spell, I followed them. Through the window, I watched the campus nurse treat Mia's wound before leaving. I also saw Mia leaning toward Nolan.

"Nole, I know you don't like going to the library. Why not just tell her the truth? Isn't it exhausting to always pretend like that?"

Nolan's brows furrowed. He warned her, saying, "I might not like going to the library, but Teresa is the woman I love. If she wants to go, I'm more than happy to accompany her. You'd better keep your mouth shut and stop bringing up things you shouldn't even be mentioning. Otherwise, I swear I'll come after you."

Mia smirked, completely unfazed by his threat.

"Stop trying to threaten me. I know you better than you can even imagine, okay? You might be devoted to Teresa right now. You might be willing to put up with your own discomfort to be with her. But in the future, you'll find her boring. You'll secretly keep 18 mistresses on the side.

"They'll get pregnant and start provoking Teresa. They'll slap her and even kick her in the abdomen, while you just stand there and let them do it. Are you sure that when the time comes, you can still claim that she's the woman you love?"

Nolan was stunned. "How is that possible? I would never do anything to hurt Teresa!"

"I'm telling the truth. That's exactly what you're like in the future. I saw it with my own eyes!" However, Mia wasn't annoyed that he was doubting her.

She handed him her phone, saying, "This is the livestream to announce the winning lottery numbers. The drawing is in ten seconds. The numbers for this round are going to be 06, 10, 13, 14, 15, 20, and 11. You'll soon be seeing for yourself whether I'm really from the future or not."

To verify it myself, I quickly pulled out my own phone and joined the livestream.

Meanwhile, Nolan snorted loudly, as if Mia had just cracked a ridiculous joke. "You've got to be kidding me. The winning lottery numbers are randomly generated. How could you possibly know them in advance…"

He was cut off by the announcement in the livestream—and the numbers were the exact ones Mia just listed out.

My eyes widened, and Nolan's voice died out. Shock flooded his face.

Mia took her phone back and smiled sweetly at him. "You finally believe that I'm from the future, right? To be honest with you, I'm one of your 18 mistresses.

"If you really only loved Teresa, you'd instinctively refuse to have any physical contact with me, but you’re not rejecting my proximity at all. Would you believe me if I told you that, in the future, you'll also be hurting Teresa time and time again for my sake?"

Nolan pressed his lips together, seemingly convinced.

It felt as if a knife had been driven straight into my heart. I couldn't listen to this any longer. With my body just barely holding steady, I turned and left.

Mia really was from the future. And in that future, Nolan and I… would really end up bitter and hateful toward each other. We would torment each other—or rather, it would be a one-sided torment. He would be the one tormenting me.

An indescribable emotion filled my heart. I returned to my dorm room, only to meet the mocking gazes of my roommates.

One of them, Olivia Reed, remarked, "Look who's back at last. You were reported for plagiarizing Mia Shaw's work in your submission to the national art competition. Professor Dorsey wants to see you in her office."

It was like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over my head. I snapped out of my heavy emotions in an instant.

"Me? Accused of plagiarism? Who reported me?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "As if that matters. Mia published her work ages ago, and you submitted the exact same piece to the competition. Anyone with eyes can tell that you plagiarized her art."

My expression was dark. I turned on my heels and headed straight to the office of my faculty advisor, Professor Dorsey. Once I got there, I solemnly explained to her, "I didn't plagiarize anyone, Professor Dorsey. Nolan Shaw was with me the whole time I was creating my artwork. He can be my witness."

Professor Dorsey rubbed her forehead. "I've already notified Mia to come over. When she and Nolan get here, I'll get to the bottom of things."

Not long after, Mia walked in. She was eating ice cream. Pulling Nolan along into the office, she said with a cheerful smile, "You wanted to see me, Professor Dorsey?"

Professor Dorsey looked at her and said, "I called you here to ask you about a situation. You and Teresa both submitted identical artwork. I want to know which one of you copied the other."

Nolan frowned and immediately said, "There's no way Teresa plagiarized anyone. I can testify that she drew her artwork herself."

I looked at him, and some of the tension in my heart eased. Even when everyone else was doubting me, he chose to believe me.

However, after finally finishing her ice cream, Mia pulled up a website and said pointedly, "You shouldn't slander me just because of your relationship with her, Nole.

"I published my artwork a month before she submitted hers. Go on. Check the time of publication. I have no beef with her, so there's no reason for me to set her up. I don't care if anyone else doubts me, Nole, but you can't."