It was strange, walking into his childhood home again.
Ethan stood in the narrow entryway, his fingers brushing against the faded wallpaper. The smell of old pine cleaner and his mom's favorite lavender candle made time blur. He was nineteen again—awkward, bitter, and silently watching his world collapse.
This visit wasn't for nostalgia.
He was here to stop a mistake.
In his memories, the fall of his father's company had been sudden—but the signs were always there:Unstable investments. A risky expansion into a market they didn't understand.Pride, mostly.
Back then, Ethan had watched helplessly as the news broke: "Zhao Logistics Declares Bankruptcy."His dad never fully recovered.Neither did their family.
Now he had a chance to rewrite that.
"Ethan?" His father's voice pulled him back.
The man looked the same—salt-and-pepper hair, calloused hands, tired eyes that smiled when they saw his son.
"You look… older," his dad said, half-joking.
"You too," Ethan grinned.
They sat at the kitchen table. His mom poured tea. Sophia's number still sat folded in Ethan's jacket pocket, but for now, he focused on the man who had once tried to carry the whole world alone.
"Dad," Ethan began slowly, "I read something interesting about logistics trends in Southeast Asia. You still thinking of expanding there?"
His father raised a brow. "Where'd you hear that?"
"You know me. I read a lot." Ethan shrugged, trying not to sound suspicious. "I just think… it might be a little too early."
Silence.
His father stared at him for a long moment.
Then nodded. "Funny. Your uncle said the same thing."
Ethan's chest tightened.
Maybe this was the moment—the one that would change everything.
That night, Ethan couldn't sleep.
The wind rattled his old bedroom window. Posters of bands he no longer listened to stared back at him.He opened his journal.
Day Two
Dropped Philosophy
Talked to Sophia
Warned Dad
Three small moves.
Three pebbles tossed into a still lake.
He wondered how far the ripples would reach.