The Ghost and the Flame

🖤 Previously on Reset My Life: The Billionaire's Broken Pawn

The master key was never destroyed.

Lucien remembers the promise.

And Arden Blake just re-entered the game.

She didn't dream of him.

She dreamed of the fire he left behind.

And tonight—it finally knocked on her door.

—Rhea Lin

The rain had stopped.

But the silence was worse.

Rhea stood at her window, eyes tracking every flicker of light in the alley below. Lucien Hale sat on the edge of her couch, gun on the table, untouched coffee steaming beside him.

Neither had slept.

The master key lay between them.

And somewhere in the city, Arden Blake had already made his first move.

Skyspire Labs – Underground Chamber

Arden stood before a biometric panel, blood dried on his cuff.

He didn't flinch when the steel doors hissed open.

Beyond them: rows of sealed capsules.

One of them contained the clone backup of Subject Zero—Rhea Lin—coded five years ago during the Cicada trials.

He smiled.

"Backup plans are so underrated."

[System Override: EXECUTED]

🧬 Project Ghost Protocol Online

📌 Phase One: Identity Interference

📡 Target Sync: In Progress…

Back at Rhea's Apartment – 3:11 AM

Her phone vibrated again.

Unknown Number. One new image.

It was… her.

But not her now.

Her from years ago, in a hospital gown. Eyes vacant. Attached to monitors.

The text underneath:

"Which version of you do you trust?"

Rhea's hands shook.

Lucien was instantly beside her, reading over her shoulder.

His jaw tensed. "That's a threat."

Rhea nodded. "And a reminder."

Lucien turned to her. "You're not what they built."

She looked up at him. "Then what am I?"

He didn't answer.

He just cupped her face with both hands, voice low, almost afraid.

"You're the only thing I still believe in."

It wasn't a kiss.

Not yet.

But the tension pulled tight—like something was always about to break, or fall, or burn.

And maybe this time, they wouldn't stop it.

Until—

[ALERT – EXTERNAL TRIGGER DETECTED]

📍 LOCATION: LEVEL 3 SKYTOWER – BLAKE INDUSTRIES

🚨 DATA VAULT ACCESS INTRUSION LOGGED

🕰 COUNTDOWN: 2 HOURS TO FULL WIPE

Lucien looked at her. "If Arden wipes that vault, every trail of Project Cicada disappears."

Rhea closed the image. "Then we get there first."

Level 3 – SkyTower – 5:18 AM

They moved like ghosts through the emergency stairwell.

Security was lighter than expected.

Too light.

Rhea's gut twisted. "It's a trap."

Lucien raised his weapon. "Then let's spring it."

Inside the vault, walls of servers blinked like dying stars.

Rhea's fingers flew across the terminal.

"There's a mirrored archive… buried under Arden's personal ID. I need your access code."

Lucien hesitated. "I don't have admin clearance anymore."

A voice echoed behind them.

"But I do."

They turned.

Kairo Alden.

Flawless suit. Expression unreadable. A bruise beneath one eye.

Lucien raised the gun. "Give me a reason."

Kairo ignored him. Met Rhea's eyes.

"I told you before, Rhea. You intrigued me."

She stepped forward. "You betrayed me."

"I saved you," Kairo snapped. "The real you—the one they cloned without consent—she's still asleep beneath Skyspire. Arden wants to replace you."

Lucien: "Why?"

Kairo: "Because your original memories contain the command line that can reprogram the system. You are the only override."

Rhea's voice cracked. "So what am I now?"

Kairo's gaze softened. "You're the version who chose. Who ran. Who came back."

Rhea stared at him. At the screen. At the drive in her palm.

Then back at Lucien.

"We're not running anymore," she said.

She slotted the master key.

[System Recognition: Subject Zero – Confirmed]

🧬 Protocol Access: 100%

🔥 Admin Control Override: ENABLED

⚠️ Final Layer Unlocked: "ORIGIN CODE – THE FIRST MEMORY"

Lucien took her hand.

"What's in that memory?" he asked quietly.

Rhea swallowed.

"The real reason I gave Arden the drive five years ago."

Kairo looked away.

Lucien stepped closer. "Whatever it is… we face it together."

The screen flickered.

A young Rhea appeared.

And behind her—

A second figure.

Lucien's eyes went wide.

It wasn't Arden.

It was him.

Lucien Hale.

Standing beside her, whispering something no audio could catch.

Rhea's breath hitched.

"What is this?"

Kairo's voice was barely audible.

"The betrayal didn't begin with Arden."

Lucien's face went pale.

"…It began with you."

[ To be continued.....]