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Chapter 15 - The Things We Choose

šŸ–¤ Previously on Reset My Life: The Billionaire's Broken Pawn

She didn't kill her past.

She chose herself instead.

And somehow, that felt like winning.

Rhea didn't expect to wake up next to him.

But there he was—Lucien Hale—shirt wrinkled, lashes long against his cheeks, breathing like the world hadn't nearly ended last night.

Her fingers hovered inches from his jaw.

She didn't touch him.

Not yet.

Because something about the stillness—the after—was more terrifying than all the chaos before.

What were they now? A choice? A memory? Or something that had always been inevitable?

Lucien stirred, eyes opening slowly, and for a heartbeat, he just looked at her like she was the only real thing left in this world.

"I thought you'd leave," he said.

Rhea gave a breathless laugh. "I did."

His brow creased.

"But I came back," she finished. "I always come back to you."

Lucien didn't say anything.

He just pulled her in.

No words.

No conditions.

Just the quiet ache of two people who'd nearly lost each other too many times.

And when he kissed her this time—it wasn't desperate or broken.

It was reverent.

Tender.

Like a vow.

Like he was memorizing the shape of her mouth just in case the world demanded too much again.

Rhea's pulse stuttered as she kissed him back, hands knotting in his shirt like she might fall if she didn't hold on.

"I'm not strong enough to lose you again," he whispered against her lips.

"Then don't," she said. "Just… choose me. Even when it's hard. Especially then."

He pressed his forehead to hers, exhaling like the choice itself was a lifeline.

"I already did."

Outside, the sun crept higher over Skyspire.

But inside this small pocket of borrowed time—they weren't pawns or prototypes.

Just two broken pieces daring to hope they could still be whole.

Together.

But just as her fingers brushed the chain around her neck—

Her phone buzzed.

Unknown sender.

One message.

"You erased the original. But not the root. Welcome to Phase One."

Rhea's heart dropped.

Lucien's eyes locked on hers.

And just like that—

The past wasn't done with them yet.

[To be continued…]

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