During an important company meeting, Kate Henson called on me by name.
She asked what I thought of Nelson Gilbert's collision-avoidance program.
I stood up, mumbled something about a stomachache, and walked out.
Because in my previous life, I'd pointed out a critical flaw in that program. Told them the whole thing needed to be scrapped and rebuilt from scratch.
Nelson, humiliated in front of the entire room, went out that night and drank himself blind. A wrong-way semi hit him head-on. Killed him instantly.
At the funeral, Kate comforted me with a steady voice. Said it was his own doing, that it had nothing to do with me.
Then she slipped poison into my drink at our engagement party.
As the toxin tore through me, her face twisted into something barely human.
"If you'd kept your mouth shut, Nelson would still be alive."
"You destroyed his future. Everything he worked for."
"Now you can join him in hell."
God gave me a second chance. Sent me back to the day of that meeting.
So this time around, I was keeping my mouth shut.
——
When I said my stomach hurt, Kate frowned.
Looking at her face, the memory hit me like a freight train. My own death. The poison eating through my organs, a fire that started in my gut and spread until every nerve was screaming. That sensation still clung to my body like a scar that hadn't fully healed.
And her expression. That mask of pure, unfiltered hatred. It was carved into my soul.
"Terry Dickerson, are you alright?"
Kate's voice pulled me back.
I shook my head. Said nothing.
Nelson stood up then, wearing that humble look of his as he turned to me.
"Mr. Dickerson, do you have any thoughts on my program? If there's an issue, please don't hesitate to point it out. I'm more than happy to take feedback."
His tone was earnest. His posture, deferential.
Every executive at the table turned to look at me, expectation written across their faces.
I stared at his young face and remembered. He'd worn the exact same expression in my last life. All humility and open hands. Then he'd gone straight to Kate to complain. Told her I'd embarrassed him. That I'd dressed down a graduate from an Ivy League program like he was some intern.
"I don't have any concerns."
I turned and walked out of the conference room.
The moment the door clicked shut behind me, whispers bled through.
"What's going on with Mr. Dickerson? He usually loves picking things apart."
"Who knows. Maybe he really does have a stomachache."
Kate rapped her knuckles on the table. "Ignore him. Let's continue."
I stood in the hallway and drew a long breath.
Afternoon sunlight poured through the window at the far end of the corridor, pooling white and harsh across the floor. I walked over and leaned against the windowsill for a while.
In my previous life, I'd flagged three critical flaws in that program during the meeting. Nelson's face went pale on the spot. Kate's expression hardened right alongside his. I told them the entire thing had to be rebuilt. Testing would be pushed back. We'd need to renegotiate the delivery timeline with the client.
After the meeting, Nelson caught up with me in the hall. Smiled. Thanked me for the guidance, promised he'd go back and revise everything.
I actually believed he meant it.
That same night, he drank himself into oblivion and was killed by a truck.
Kate pinned every last bit of it on me.
She said if I hadn't humiliated Nelson in front of everyone, he never would have gone drinking. He never would have died. I'd destroyed his brilliant future.
But his program did have those flaws. Every single one I'd identified was real.
If it never went live, fine. But the moment it launched, the data errors would have cascaded across the board. The company wouldn't just lose money. It would lose the trust of every client we had.
I did what needed to be done. Said what needed to be said.
But she would never see it that way.
In her eyes, Nelson Gilbert was perfect. The golden boy who'd come home from a prestigious university overseas, wrapped in brilliance. And me? A nobody who'd graduated from a state school nobody had heard of. Who was I to question him?
