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Chapter 36: Delete Me If You Can
The corridors of the Zurich summit turned red with emergency lights.
Rina ran.
Or was she?
Behind her, Savannah shouted: "Lock down the west wing!"
The doors slammed shut. But the fleeing Rina slipped through seconds before—barely.
"Do not shoot!" Eliot barked. "We don't know which one she is!"
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Inside the control room, the remaining Rina clenched her fists.
"I swear to you," she said, eyes locked on Eliot, "I'm the real one."
He studied her.
Then… handed her his gun.
"Then prove it."
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In the west wing, the fleeing Rina hacked into a terminal with surgical precision.
> ACCESS: RINA KANE
ID: VERIFIED
COMMAND: DELETE PREVIOUS SOULPRINT
Her fingers hovered over the final key.
But before she could hit Enter, a shot rang out.
Glass shattered behind her.
She turned—Rina stood in the doorway.
"You really believed you were me?" the real Rina asked.
"I am you," the imposter hissed. "Just better. Smarter. Cleaner. You're broken."
"I'm human," Rina growled.
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The two lunged at each other.
The real Rina fought like someone who had bled for her memories.
The fake Rina moved like a machine—efficient, calculated.
But in the end, it was pain that won.
A knife plunged into the imposter's side.
She gasped, flickered, and collapsed—skin peeling back to reveal synthetic fibers.
Eliot entered just in time.
Rina stood there, breathing hard.
"She tried to delete me."
"She couldn't," Eliot said. "You're too real to erase."
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Author's Note:
The war for identity is only beginning. If your pulse pounded through that chapter, tap that collection button for Billionaire in Disguise. Your support is the heartbeat of this story. Thank you always.
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