Time-Crossed Hearts

Twenty-one-year-old NovaTech coder Riley Carter is stopped on a San Francisco street by eighteen-year-old Ethan, who calls her Mom and proves through DNA that he is her son from 2045. His father is Riley's intimidating CEO, Damien Cross—and Damien is supposed to die in three days. Worse, this is Ethan's seventh trip back; every previous attempt to save Damien has failed. To keep Damien alive and Ethan from vanishing, the three move in together, and Riley and Damien sign a “Do Not Fall in Love” agreement that becomes harder to obey by the day. As Riley's secret identity as the cybersecurity developer Phantom is exposed, her talent propels her into a lead role at NovaTech, while Damien's family pressure and Victoria Ashford's schemes threaten both their careers and their fragile future. Riley eventually turns her security skills against Victoria's illegal surveillance and blackmail, while Damien survives the predicted death date. Yet Ethan's fading reveals the deeper problem: in his original timeline, one misunderstanding tore his parents apart. Saving the future requires more than preventing a death—it requires Riley and Damien to choose each other. They do, become engaged, and Ethan returns to a stable 2045. Three years later, they welcome a baby boy and name him Ethan.