🖤 Previously on Reset My Life: The Billionaire's Broken Pawn
She chose him.
He chose her.
But the game wasn't over.
It was just getting smarter.
The phone screen went dark.
But the damage was already done.
Rhea's lips were still tingling from Lucien's kiss, but her heart had turned to ice.
"Phase One," she whispered. "We were Phase Zero. That means—"
"There's another version of the program," Lucien finished grimly.
But even as the weight of it pressed in, he didn't let go of her hand.
Not this time.
Rhea swallowed hard. "What if this was all just a rehearsal?"
Lucien leaned in, his voice low and steady. "Then let's be the mistake they didn't account for."
And just like that—her breath caught.
Because somehow, in the middle of uncertainty and fear and systems built to break her—Lucien Hale still made her feel chosen.
Wanted.
Real.
He brushed her hair behind her ear, slower this time.
Not like the version in the memory vault who whispered warnings.
But like a man who was learning, finally, how to stay.
"Whatever's coming," he said, "I need you to know… this right here—it's mine. Not theirs."
She blinked back the sting in her eyes.
Then she kissed him.
Not because she needed the comfort.
But because she wanted the promise.
Skyspire—Lower Subsystem Tunnel Access
They moved fast, guided by Kairo through off-grid routes buried beneath Skyspire's digital skeleton.
Rhea's pulse didn't calm.
Not even when Lucien's fingers brushed hers every time they turned a corner.
Especially not then.
"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" she asked.
Lucien's smile was crooked. "Like what?"
"Like I'm going to disappear."
He stopped walking.
Turned to face her.
"You've died once, Rhea. And they built a grave out of your memories. I'm not risking it again."
Her breath hitched.
Lucien stepped closer, chest brushing hers.
"I love you," he said. "And not because the system told me to. Not because of some imprint. I love you because every time I try not to—I fail."
And when he kissed her—God.
The world slipped away.
Her fingers trembled against his skin. Her body remembered him like he was home.
"I love you too," she said softly. "And I don't know how much of me they created. But this part? This love?"
She pressed her palm to his chest.
"This part's mine."
But just as they reached the vault's secondary uplink, alarms began to scream.
A new message lit up on the console.
"PHASE ONE: RHEA-2 ACTIVE"
A live feed opened.
And staring back at them from another chamber…
Was her face.
Alive. Awake. And smiling.
"Hello, Rhea," said the clone. "Let's see who deserves to survive."
[To be continued…]