Betrayed Before the Exam, Saved by My Future Self

The night before the national college entrance exam. I had my head down, grinding through practice problems.

Then a woman appeared in the mirror—my face, but wrecked. Skin mottled with disease, hair matted and filthy, close enough to death that I could see it in her hollowed-out eyes.

She stared at me like I was her last hope.

"Stella. I'm you, from the future."

"Don't help Boris cheat. Please—I'm begging you. If you do, you'll lose everything. Your name, your score, all of it.