Love of a Lifetime

Not all mistakes you make are set in stone.

Luke was unhappy in his marriage.

And yet, he was fiercely loyal to his wife. His vows meant something to him. He was the kind of man who honored promises, even when his heart didn’t always cooperate. There was a time, not long ago, when Luke had been torn between two women, his now wife Helena, and his childhood best friend, Michelle.

He and Michelle had always just clicked, like two sides of the same coin. Being with her felt effortless, like breathing. But when he’d finally reached out to her to make a choice; to ask her if she still wanted what they almost had, she never responded. No call. No text. Just silence. Luke took her silence as a message: she didn’t want to fight for their relationship. And Helena…Helena was there. Steady. Supportive. Willing to fight for him.

So, he chose Helena.

It wasn’t until months later that the truth unraveled; Michelle had been in a horrific accident. She’d slipped into a coma and never woke up. Luke learned of her death only after she was gone.

Grief hollowed him. The guilt was unbearable. And in that dark time, Helena stayed. She didn’t exactly understand why he mourned someone who wasn’t his fiancée, but she was present; redirecting his pain, grounding him. That’s when she told him she was pregnant.

Looking back, it all felt too convenient.

Helena insisted on a quick wedding, wanting to be married before the baby arrived. Within two months, the ceremony was planned and executed, drawing in both families. Luke’s father, Christian Jensen, an inventor known for life changing innovations; from non-lethal arrest suits to lie detecting tech that transformed the justice system; attended with pride, despite lingering skepticism.

Christian had made a fortune from his inventions, and Luke had inherited a taste of that wealth through a modest trust fund when he turned twenty-one; $10 million, intended to help him build a legacy of his own.

Then, during their honeymoon, the illusion shattered.

Helena wasn’t pregnant. In fact, she couldn’t have children at all. She had only discovered it, she claimed, the day before their wedding. And now, married without a prenup, she felt "safe enough" to tell him. Worse still, she declared she wouldn’t be working again, because they were rich.

Luke felt gutted. In that moment, her mask fell away. He saw the truth behind her eyes; this had never been about love.

Distraught, Luke returned home. With his mother gone; lost to cancer years earlier, he turned to the one person who had never let him down: his father.

In Christian’s lab, surrounded by the hum of prototypes and forgotten schematics, Luke poured his heart out.

“If Michelle hadn’t died...if she’d just answered…we might’ve been happy. I knew she loved me. She told me, over and over.”

Christian listened silently, then placed a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “Sometimes we make choices we can’t take back,” he said softly. “If I could have stopped your mother’s cancer, I would’ve. But some things are beyond us.”

He paused, then looked Luke in the eye.

“Maybe not all things.”

He led Luke deeper into the lab, toward something cloaked in secrecy. “I’ve been working on something…experimental. It’s not perfect. But promising.”

Luke blinked. “What is it?”

“Time travel,” Christian said. “But only for small windows. If my calculations are right…we can send you back. To before Michelle’s accident.”

Luke didn't hesitate.

Over the next two years, Luke pretended; pretended to be the dutiful husband, pretended Helena hadn’t shattered his world. Her cruelty was subtle but constant: threats of divorce, of taking everything, of entitlement. And Luke? He immersed himself in the lab, perfecting the machine with his father. The work gave him purpose. Hope.

Christian kept the project compartmentalized. No single engineer knew the full picture. The stakes were too high. The implications too vast. Governments would come knocking if they ever found out.

Eventually, it was ready.

On the second anniversary of his marriage, Luke suited up in the Time Dilation Suit; a sleek, pulsing frame of woven alloys and light. It would allow him to coexist with his past self, as long as they never made direct contact. That rule was absolute.

Christian stood at the control panel.

“I love you, son. No matter what happens, remember that.”

“I love you too, Dad,” Luke said, his voice tight with emotion.

Christian hit the button.

Luke felt himself pulled through space, weightless, falling through the seams of time, until the world slammed back into place. He hit the ground hard. Cornfield. Tall stalks rustled in the breeze around him. Disoriented, he climbed to his feet.

It had worked.

He checked the device on his wrist.

Two hours until Michelle’s accident.

Luke took a breath, his heart racing.

And then, through the waving corn, he saw a shadow move.

His father was the one in the waving corn.

Christian stood there; a worn backpack slung over one shoulder. In his hand, a set of car keys jingled.

“I brought clothes,” he said, his voice steady. “Shoes. You’ll need them. And this will get you where you need to go.”

“Dad… Dad, it worked! I’m here, I can’t believe it!”

Christian nodded. “I know. My future self gave me just enough of the picture to help guide you. But the rest, son…the rest is yours to live.”

Luke quickly changed into the dark clothes his father brought; black hoodie, dark jeans, sneakers. Disguise was crucial. He couldn’t risk Michelle seeing his face. He climbed into the car, adrenaline rushing, heart pounding. Christian got in beside him, and together they pushed the limits of the speedometer, racing to the site where Michelle’s life had almost ended.

They arrived nearly an hour early.

And so, they waited.

According to the police report future Christian had secured; through quiet favors owed and pulled strings; Michelle had suffered a flat tire just after 10 p.m. Independent and self sufficient to the core, she’d gotten out to change it herself. She was the daughter of a mechanic, and proud of it. She never waited around for anyone to save her. That was one of the reasons Luke had fallen so hard for her.

But that night, as she crouched by her car, a speeding vehicle came out of nowhere.

Hit and run. No witnesses. No footage. No justice.

The timeline was delicate. Any action taken too soon could spiral out of control. Calling Michelle could create a paradox. Intercepting her too early could fracture the reality they knew. So, they waited…impossibly still…while time ticked toward the moment.

Then, just after 10:00 p.m., Michelle’s car came into view, the flat tire unmistakable. She pulled over, stepped out, and knelt beside the wheel. She hadn’t changed. Still brave. Still stubborn. Still hers.

Luke’s chest tightened.

He and Christian burst from the shadows, sprinting toward her. Luke’s face was hidden beneath the hoodie, hands clenched. His father outpaced him, years of lab life not dulling his instincts. They had rehearsed this moment: Luke would get Michelle to safety. Christian would watch the road.

But something was wrong.

Another car, dark, fast, and silent came flying around the bend. Its headlights off. It was intentional.

Michelle never saw it coming.

Christian did.

Without hesitation, he threw himself forward, grabbing Michelle and shoving her clear. The car clipped her leg but missed her completely. Christian wasn’t so lucky. The impact sent him tumbling across the asphalt like a ragdoll. He landed hard, unmoving.

“Dad!” Luke shouted, racing to his side.

Christian’s breathing was shallow. Blood pooled beneath him.
“Son…listen carefully.” His voice was fading, broken. “There’s more to this than I’ve told you. Things…things I didn’t have time to explain.”

“No…no, stay with me, we can fix this, we can…”

“I love you, Luke. Always have. Always will. Press the button…before Michelle sees you.”

With trembling hands, Luke took the device from his father’s hand then activated the recall device. In a flash of light, he was gone.

And then, he was back in the lab. Or at least, a version of it. Something felt…off. The angles were slightly different. The air had a sterile, unfamiliar chill.

But none of that mattered.

Luke tore up the stairs, sprinting into the house.

And stopped cold.

There, standing in the kitchen, holding a mug of tea, was Michelle.

“Michelle?” he whispered.

She turned at the sound of his voice. Smiled.

“Hey, love,” she said softly, as if nothing was strange at all.

Confused, breathless, Luke tried to make sense of what he was seeing, tried of make sense of her being there.

And then the pain hit.

A sharp, piercing headache exploded behind his eyes. He stumbled forward, gasping. And with it…came the memories. Flooding in like a dam had broken.

The night of the accident.

He hadn’t been with Helena.

He’d been at the college library studying late, distracted, planning to finally end things with Helena and tell Michelle how he truly felt. He’d called Michelle, left a message. She’d shown up at the library later, flustered, looking for him.

She was going to be in an accident, but his father Christian had saved her.

And it hadn’t been an accident.

Helena had been driving the car.

She had snapped. Outraged that Luke had chosen Michelle. She had overheard a conversation Luke had with a mutual friend Jordan. She decided to follow Michelle, intended to confront her, but rage took the wheel. When it was over, and Christian was hit, she broke down in hysterics. The police arrested her on the spot. The footage from Christian’s bodycam was undeniable.

Luke was shattered.

Michelle stayed by his side.

They went to the hospital together, where Luke saw his father, broken and bandaged, surrounded by the cold hum of machines. Michelle gave them space. Christian’s eyes fluttered open one last time.

“If she’s the one you want,” he whispered, “then love her. That’s all that matters. I may not make it, son. But if I can be with your mother again…it’ll be worth it. Just…be happy.”

Those were his last words.

Back in the kitchen, the headache eased. The memories settled like dust after a storm.

Luke looked at Michelle…his Michelle. Alive. Safe. Here.
He stepped forward. Voice shaking.

“There’s…so much I need to tell you.”

Michelle tilted her head, warm eyes locking onto his.
“What do you mean, love?” she asked.

“I have loved you for as long as I can remember,” Luke said, his voice thick with emotion. “If I’m being honest…I think I fell in love with you the night my car broke down and we were still just friends. You didn’t hesitate; you popped the hood, knew exactly what to do, and got it running in minutes. I stood there watching you, stunned. You didn’t even realize you were stealing my heart.”

Michelle’s expression softened, her eyes glassing over.

“That’s when everything changed for me,” Luke continued. “When I started seeing you in a different light. That was the moment I knew…you’d have my heart forever. But I was young, naïve, and stupid enough to believe someone else might be right for me. I thought…maybe that love would be enough.”

He looked down, struggling through the storm of emotions.

“I was wrong. No one else could ever have the place you’ve etched in my soul.”

Michelle reached for his hand, holding it tightly. Silent tears streamed down her face.

“You’ve always been there for me,” Luke said, his voice quieter now. “And for as long as I live… you will be the love of my life.”

He paused, then took a deep breath.

And he told her everything.

The time machine. The accident. The deception. The heartbreak. He told her how his father had believed in him when no one else did; how Christian risked everything to give Luke a second chance at happiness. A second chance with her.

He told her about the version of the past that never got to be. About how Christian had taken the hit meant for Michelle. About the final words his father whispered to him in the hospital…the words that had guided Luke back to her.

Michelle sat still, absorbing it all with a stunned, reverent silence.

When he finished, she leaned into him, her forehead resting against his.

“We have so much to thank him for,” she whispered.

“I know,” Luke said. “And we will. I promised myself we wouldn’t let his sacrifice be in vain.”

Six months later.

The lab buzzed with a low, electric hum; steady and alive. Sparks flickered from one of the side benches where Luke tinkered with the newest calibration module, tweaking the time dilation settings. Across the room, Michelle stood at the control console, tablet in hand, reviewing code on the machine’s targeting system.
Her baby bump showed beneath her soft, fitted sweater.

“You know,” she said, glancing up with a smile, “if we’re not careful, this kid’s going to be born knowing quantum mechanics before they can even crawl.”

Luke laughed, walking over and wrapping his arms around her from behind.

“That’s the idea,” he said, placing a hand gently on her belly. “We’re building something better; for all of us. A future where we don’t have to lose the people we love.”

Michelle leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

“I still can’t believe it,” she whispered. “That this is our life now.”

He kissed the top of her head.

“I can,” he said softly. “Because we fought for it.”

They stood like that for a long moment, wrapped in the silence of their work, their dreams, their shared heartbeat.

Then Luke looked out toward the sleek frame of the time machine glowing softly in the far corner of the lab.

A hint of something stirred behind his eyes, not sorrow, but resolve.

“Our children will need their grandfather and grandmother,” he said, voice steady with purpose.

Michelle turned toward him, a slow smile spreading across her face.

“Then let’s bring them home.”


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