Evan sat slumped in his father's office chair, his gaze vacant as he stared at the documents that now felt like they belonged to someone else. Every record, every file confirmed it: he was born in 1991. There was not a single piece of evidence in the entire world that said otherwise—that he had actually been born in 1990.
"Could the curse be real?" he wondered, a tight pressure building in his chest.
He wanted to laugh at himself. A curse? Really? He was a man of facts, of logic, of believing in human willpower to shape destiny—not superstition. Not fate.
And yet...
Hendra Wijaya.
The man's voice echoed in his mind, from the night he chose to end his own life.
"You toyed with fate..."
And Sienna... the girl's eyes that night, her voice—one that didn't belong to her—and the strange sensation that surged through him just before everything changed.
Too many coincidences. Too many things that defied explanation.
Evan rubbed his face with both hands. He needed sleep. Rest. Surely by tomorrow, everything would make more sense.
Or maybe… it would make even less.
—
January 4, 2016
Evan walked into the office with a pounding head. A night of too little sleep and too many thoughts left him disoriented, but he shook it off. It had to be a system glitch or some elaborate prank pulled by his friends. There was no way this was real.
But when he reached the executive floor, his steps faltered.
His desk… it was no longer near his father's office.
Instead, he found himself standing in front of his old cubicle. The same cramped space he had abandoned years ago when he'd been promoted to handle the company's core operations directly under his father.
His brows furrowed. What the hell was going on?
He strode toward his father's office, heart thumping. But when he opened the door, what he saw inside stopped him cold.
Someone else was sitting at his desk.
A man he knew all too well.
Daniel Surya.
His former deputy. The man Evan himself had hired to assist with several major projects. But now… Daniel was sitting in his chair?
Daniel looked up, startled to see Evan at the doorway.
"Evan?" he greeted, confusion plain on his face. "Can I help you with something?"
Evan forced himself to stay calm. This had to be a misunderstanding.
"Why are you sitting there?" he asked, keeping his voice even.
Daniel frowned slightly. "Because this is my office."
Evan chuckled nervously, thinking maybe the prank was still ongoing. "Funny. But seriously, when did you start sitting here?"
Daniel looked at him like he'd just asked if the sky was green. "Since last year? When Mr. Nathaniel appointed me to oversee the key operations?"
Evan's heart slammed against his ribcage. "That's not possible. I—"
His father's voice rang out behind him.
"Evan, is something wrong?"
Evan turned around. His father stood in the hallway, his expression calm, as though nothing was amiss.
"Dad… why is Daniel in there?"
"Because he's the Executive Vice Director," his father replied without hesitation.
"No," Evan said sharply. "I'm supposed to be in that position. I've held it for two years!"
His father regarded him quietly. "Evan, you were promoted last year to Head of Strategic Division. That's your current role."
Evan felt the blood drain from his face. Head of Strategic Division? That was his old title before he moved higher. This couldn't be happening.
His breathing quickened. He needed to see for himself. Something was very, very wrong.
Evan rushed to the space that should have been his private office. Instead, he found a regular workstation, with his nameplate on a modest desk.
His hands trembled as he logged into his laptop and opened the folders containing the projects he had led. He clicked through the documents—contracts with major clients, multi-year development plans, strategic proposals.
The files were all there.
But his name wasn't.
Instead, someone else's name was listed as the project lead.
His eyes scanned the documents in disbelief. A real estate deal he had personally negotiated now listed Daniel Surya as the one in charge. An investment contract he had spent months finalizing didn't bear his signature—it had been signed by someone he barely recognized from another division.
No.
This couldn't be real.
He opened his emails, searching for any trail—any correspondence with clients that would prove he had been part of those deals.
Nothing.
The inbox was clean. No email chains. No meeting confirmations. No trace of him.
As if he had never been involved.
As if he had never existed in that role.
Evan wiped the sweat from his temple, heart racing. Was this real? Had the curse actually… happened?
He stood up, trying to compose himself, and walked back to his father's office.
Adrian Nathaniel sat behind the large desk, reading financial reports with a furrowed brow. He looked up when Evan stepped in.
"Dad," Evan began, keeping his voice steady, "I want to ask about Hendra Wijaya's company."
Adrian looked at him curiously. "Why bring that up now?"
"I was just thinking about it," Evan said lightly. "Didn't I work on that acquisition?"
Adrian chuckled. "Work on it? Evan, you weren't part of that team."
Evan stared at him. "What do you mean?"
"The M&A team handling Hendra's company was led by Raymond. You were still managing mid-tier clients back then."
Evan's mouth went dry. "No… I remember. I was the one who led the final negotiations. I closed the deal. I handled—"
Adrian held up a hand. "Evan, I know you're ambitious, and I appreciate that. But don't exaggerate your role. I'm proud of your work, but facts are facts. I made the decision to acquire that company. Raymond and his team handled everything. You weren't involved."
The world spun around him.
Not involved?
But he remembered it. The night of the victory party. Standing in the center of the ballroom, accepting applause for sealing the deal. Hendra's face—shattered.
And now, everyone—even his father—claimed he was never part of that story.
Evan swallowed hard. His voice was a whisper. "Are you sure… I wasn't involved at all?"
Adrian met his eyes, offering a gentle smile. "If you had been the one in charge of that acquisition, your name would be in the official records. Why don't you check for yourself?"
Evan nodded stiffly.
He already knew what he would find.
Or rather, what he wouldn't.
He turned to leave, his mind racing. If the world had truly rewritten itself—if no one remembered his role in the company's most significant deal—then what else had changed?
He paused, one last question lingering in his mind.
"And… Dad, I did attend the funeral, right?"
Adrian blinked. "Whose funeral?"
"Hendra Wijaya's."