Ninety-Nine Denials: A Fateful Proposal

e was se

e of the wine glasses. I checked the small, velvet box in my pocket for the tenth t

99th "engageme

p. A sick friend. A family emergency. A last-minute work trip for her. So we started co

d feeling a

soft smile on her face. She looke

mazing, Ethan," she

ir. "Only the best f

it just made me more nervous. She sat down, and I took my seat acros

to speak, her phone

r smile tightened as

," she said, her voi

liar knot formin

he call. "Leo?

easy warmth that had filled the room a minute ago vanishe

said, her voice low and urgent. "

ing against the floor. She didn't look

ough I already knew the a

needs to go for a medical check-up. Right no

At this tim

ally looked at me, but her eyes were defensive, already

it, a sharp pain s

. It was a flash of image

Not a sunset. A volcano. The ground shak

ed in anger. "You're lying! Y

ying in a cabin, coughing. T

grim face. The words 'terminal cancer' hangin

cold and empty. A burning sensation spreading from m

I was a volcanologist, not a meteorologist. A life where I had predicted that eruption. Wher

knuckles turning white. The room spun. The memories were a storm in

wave of

s voice was sharp, impatient. "Stop be

and jerky. She saw my pain not as real, but

n that moment, I saw the same person from my vision. The same person who dis

Something broken. A pattern she was doomed to