POV: Maya Chen
"Someone in my bloodline killed my mother."
The words keep repeating in my head. My father? My grandmother? Someone in my own family murdered her?
Ashton picks up my phone from the ground. "Maya, don't go to Chen Group. This is obviously a trap—"
"Everything is a trap!" I yell. "You, Sophie, Jennifer, these mysterious texts—everyone wants something from me! How do I know ANY of you are telling the truth?"
"Because I have proof." Ashton opens his car door. "Get in. Please. Give me ten minutes to show you everything. If you still don't believe me after that, I'll drive you anywhere you want to go. Even to Sophie's house."
I should say no. I should run. But something about Ashton feels... safe. Familiar. Like I've known him before.
Maybe I have, in a timeline I don't remember.
"Ten minutes," I say. "Then I'm leaving."
I get in his car. It's expensive—black leather seats, new car smell, technology everywhere. This is the car of a billionaire, not a normal person.
Ashton sits in the driver's seat but doesn't start the car. Instead, he opens a locked compartment and pulls out a thick folder.
"These are documents from seven different timelines," he says quietly. "Photos, videos, hospital records, death certificates. Proof that we've lived this before."
He hands me the folder. My hands shake as I open it.
The first photo makes my heart stop.
It's me and Ashton, but older. We're standing in front of a hospital. I'm wearing a white doctor's coat. He's in a suit. We're holding hands and smiling. The date stamped on the photo: April 15, 2033.
Nine years in the future.
"Timeline 7," Ashton says. "You were a cardiac surgeon. I was CEO of Xu Corporation. We met when I was admitted to your hospital after an assassination attempt."
I flip to the next photo. It's us again, at a wedding. I'm in a white dress. He's kissing me. We look so happy.
"Our wedding. June 3, 2034." His voice cracks. "Best day of my life."
The next photo destroys me.
I'm in a hospital bed, dying. My skin is grey. My eyes are closed. Ashton is holding my hand, his face buried in my arm, crying. The machines around me are flat-lining.
"September 12, 2034. Three months after our wedding." Ashton wipes his eyes. "Sophie poisoned your food at a charity dinner. You died in my arms, and I couldn't save you."
Tears run down my face. "This can't be real."
"Keep looking."
I flip through more photos. Different timelines, different deaths. In one, I'm older, maybe forty. In another, I'm younger, barely twenty-five. But in every photo where Ashton is with me, he's looking at me like I'm his whole world.
Then I see the death certificates.
Maya Chen - Timeline 3 - Age 25 - Cause of Death: Car Accident Maya Chen - Timeline 5 - Age 28 - Cause of Death: Poisoning
Maya Chen - Timeline 7 - Age 30 - Cause of Death: Poisoning Maya Chen - Timeline 9 - Age 27 - Cause of Death: Stabbing Maya Chen - Timeline 12 - Age 32 - Cause of Death: Liver Failure
The last one makes me gasp. "That's... that's how I just died. Timeline 12?"
"No. That was Timeline 14." Ashton pulls out another certificate. "You've died fourteen times, Maya. And I've watched it happen eight times. The other six, I never met you. You died before I could find you."
My whole body shakes. "Why? Why do I keep dying?"
"Because you're important." Ashton shows me a newspaper article. The headline reads: "Dr. Maya Chen Discovers Cure for Genetic Heart Disease - Saves Millions of Lives."
The article is dated 2038. Five years in a future that hasn't happened yet.
"In Timeline 11, you lived long enough to make this discovery. You saved millions of people, including children who would have died young." Ashton's eyes are intense. "But someone doesn't want that cure to exist. Someone keeps killing you before you can discover it."
"Who?"
"I don't know yet. But I have suspects." He shows me a list of names. "Jennifer, Derek, Lily, Sophie—they're all pawns. Someone bigger is controlling them, making sure you die young in every timeline."
My mind spins. "The person who texted me. 'Mother's Ghost.' You think they're the real killer?"
"Maybe. Or maybe they're another player in this game who finally decided to reveal themselves." Ashton checks his watch. "We have forty-five minutes until the meeting at Chen Group. I'm coming with you."
"They said come alone—"
"I don't care. You're not walking into a trap by yourself." His voice is firm. "I've lost you too many times, Maya. I'm not losing you again."
Something in his voice makes my heart ache. This man has watched me die eight times. He's lived fifteen lifetimes trying to save people, including me. How much pain has he endured?
"Why do you remember everything when I don't?" I ask.
"I don't know. The first time I was reborn, I was eleven. My parents were murdered, and I woke up as an eleven-year-old again with all my memories. Every time I die, I come back to that same moment—age eleven, hiding in the closet while my parents are killed." Ashton's jaw tightens. "I've saved them in some timelines. Lost them in others. But I always come back to that moment. It's my anchor point."
"And mine is my eighteenth birthday?"
"Yes. You always come back to one year before you meet Derek. Like the universe is giving you a chance to avoid him." Ashton turns to face me. "But Derek is just a symptom, not the disease. The real enemy is whoever keeps orchestrating your death."
My phone buzzes. Another text from "Mother's Ghost."
"Thirty minutes, Maya. Top floor of Chen Group. The elevator code is 1206. Your mother's birthday. Come find out which member of your family killed her. Bring Ashton if you want—he'll want to hear this too. After all, his parents' murderer and your mother's murderer are the same person."
I go cold. "What?"
Ashton grabs my phone and reads the text. His face turns white. "That's impossible."
"What do you mean?"
"My parents were killed by the Zhang family—a rival corporation. They confessed. Three men went to prison for it." Ashton's hands shake. "Are you saying... are you saying they didn't actually do it?"
"I don't know what I'm saying!" I'm almost screaming now. "I don't know anything anymore! Everyone has secrets, everyone is lying, and I'm supposed to figure out who killed my mother while also staying alive?"
Ashton grabs my shoulders gently. "Maya, breathe. We'll figure this out together."
"How can you be so calm? Someone killed both our parents, and we don't even know who!"
"Because I've had fifteen lifetimes to learn how to survive impossible situations." He looks me in the eyes. "And rule number one: never face the enemy alone. So if you're going to Chen Group, I'm going with you."
I want to argue. I want to push him away. But I'm so tired of being alone.
"Okay," I whisper. "Together."
We drive to Chen Group in silence. The building is huge—fifty floors of glass and steel. My father's empire. My mother's legacy. And somewhere inside, a killer is waiting.
Ashton and I take the elevator to the top floor. I enter the code: 1206. My mother's birthday.
The elevator rises. My heart pounds.
"Whatever happens," Ashton says, "I've got your back."
The elevator stops. The doors open.
The top floor is dark. Empty. Just one person standing by the window, looking out at the city.
When they turn around, my heart stops.
It's my father. Victor Chen.
"Hello, Maya," he says calmly. "I've been waiting for you to remember."
"Remember what?" I ask.
"That I'm the one who killed your mother."
The world tilts. My father. My own father murdered my mother.
"Why?" The word comes out as a sob.
Victor smiles, but it's not the smile I remember. It's cold. Evil. "Because she discovered what I really am. What this family really is. What YOU really are, Maya."
"What are you talking about?"
"You think this is your first rebirth?" Victor laughs. "Oh, my dear daughter. You've been dying and coming back for a hundred years. Since 1925. You just don't remember the other ninety-nine times."
My legs give out. Ashton catches me.
"That's impossible," I whisper.
"Is it?" Victor pulls out an old photograph. Black and white, dated 1925. It shows a young woman who looks exactly like me. Next to her is a man who looks exactly like Ashton. "You and Ashton have been finding each other for a century, Maya. Falling in love. Dying. Coming back. Over and over and over."
He drops the photo at my feet.
"And I'm the one who's been killing you every single time."