POV: Maya Chen
Jennifer stands up, fully healed, immortal, and laughing.
"SHOOT HER!" Marcus yells.
His soldiers open fire. Bullets hit Jennifer's body. She staggers back, bleeding from a dozen wounds.
Then the wounds close. The bullets push out of her skin and fall to the floor. Within thirty seconds, she's completely healed.
"That tickles," Jennifer says with a smile.
She picks up one of the bullets and examines it. "Interesting. So this is what it feels like to be the Phoenix. I can see why The Architects wanted this power so badly."
"You don't deserve those powers," I say through gritted teeth.
"Neither did you, apparently. You gave them away so easily." Jennifer walks toward me. "All I had to do was threaten your father, and you signed away your birthright. Your mother would be so disappointed."
I lunge at her. Ashton catches me, holding me back.
"Let me go!" I scream. "I'll kill her!"
"You can't," Ashton says quietly. "She's immortal now. Killing her will just make her come back stronger."
Jennifer touches her chest where she stabbed herself. "He's right. I felt it when I died. There's a... reset point. A moment before death where the Phoenix power activates and pulls you back. It's incredible."
Sophie is typing frantically on her laptop. "There has to be a loophole. A way to reverse the contract—"
"There isn't." The Architects' leader, still bleeding on the floor, laughs weakly. "Once the Phoenix power transfers, it's permanent. The only way to get it back is for the new Phoenix to willingly give it away, or for them to be reset."
"Reset?" I look at him. "What does that mean?"
"The memory bomb. If Jennifer is reset, her consciousness gets wiped. The Phoenix power defaults back to its original owner—you." He coughs blood. "But good luck getting close enough to collar her. She knows all your tricks now. She has all your memories up until the moment you signed the contract."
My heart stops. "She has my memories?"
"All of them. Your first death. Your rebirth. Your love for Ashton. Your plans. Everything." The leader's eyes close. "You created the perfect enemy. Congratulations."
Marcus's soldiers take him away to medical care.
Jennifer claps slowly. "This is perfect. I know everything you're going to do before you do it. I know your weaknesses. Your fears. Your plans." She looks at Ashton. "I even know how much you love her. How you've died fifteen times trying to save her. That's sweet. Pathetic, but sweet."
"Get out of my building," Victor says weakly. He's still tied to the chair, exhausted. "You're not welcome here."
"Your building?" Jennifer laughs. "Victor, I own half of Chen Group. We're still married. And now that I'm immortal, I can't wait to make your life a living hell. Forever."
She walks to the elevator. Before the doors close, she looks back at me.
"See you soon, Maya. Or should I say, Mrs. Xu?" Her smile is cruel. "That's right, I know about your little wedding. How romantic—married during a car chase. I'm sure it will last forever. Oh wait, no it won't. Because you're mortal now. You'll die, and he'll live. And then he'll move on and forget all about you."
The elevator doors close.
I collapse. My legs give out. Ashton catches me and holds me.
"She's right," I whisper. "I'm mortal. I'll die someday. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe in fifty years. But I'll die, and she'll keep living. She wins."
"No." Ashton lifts my chin. "She doesn't win. We'll find a way to stop her."
"How? She's immortal and has all my memories!"
Sophie closes her laptop. "Actually, she doesn't have ALL your memories."
We all look at her.
"She has your memories up until you signed the contract. That was twenty minutes ago." Sophie's eyes gleam. "Everything that's happened since then—the fake bomb reveal, the rescue, her gaining powers—she doesn't know how we did it because those memories weren't included in the transfer."
"So?" I don't understand.
"So we use that. We make new plans. Plans that aren't in your transferred memories. Plans she can't predict." Sophie grins. "And I know exactly where to start."
She shows us her laptop screen. It's a scan of the contract I signed.
"This contract transferred your Phoenix powers to Jennifer. But Phoenix powers aren't just immortality. According to The Architects' research, they include something else. Something you haven't activated yet."
"What?" I ask.
"The Phoenix Awakening. When you discover your true purpose—the cure that saves millions—you unlock a second form. A transformation that makes you powerful enough to reset the entire timeline on command. Not just yourself. Everyone." Sophie's voice shakes. "The Architects have been killing you for a hundred years to prevent this awakening because if you transform, you become unstoppable."
My mind races. "So Jennifer can awaken too?"
"Yes. But only if she discovers the cure. And she won't—because she doesn't have your medical knowledge or your compassion. She's a business woman who married for money. She doesn't care about saving lives." Sophie smiles. "You, however, are brilliant. You became a cardiothoracic surgeon in your first life. Those skills are still in your brain, even if the memories of learning them are gone. We just need to help you remember."
Ashton's eyes light up. "If Maya awakens as the true Phoenix, she can take back the power from Jennifer."
"Exactly. But there's a problem." Sophie pulls up more research. "The awakening requires a trigger. Something so traumatic or so beautiful that it breaks through the mental barriers. In Timeline 11, your trigger was Ashton dying in your arms. You discovered the cure while trying to save him."
I look at Ashton. "You died?"
"For you. In every timeline, I'd do it again." His voice is soft.
"But we can't use that same trigger because Jennifer has those memories. She'll know to prevent it." Sophie closes her laptop. "We need a new trigger. Something unexpected."
Marcus clears his throat. "I might have an idea. But Maya's not going to like it."
"What is it?" I ask.
"We fake your death. Make Jennifer think she won. When she lets her guard down, we strike." Marcus looks uncomfortable. "But to make it convincing, we'd need to actually kill you. Your mortal body dies for real. Then Ashton, as your legal husband, inherits your remaining assets—including the contract that gave away your Phoenix powers. Since you'd be dead, the contract becomes void, and the powers return to their source."
"Which would be me, because I'm dead?" I'm confused.
"No. Which would be your next of kin. Your father." Marcus gestures to Victor. "Victor becomes the Phoenix. Then he can willingly transfer the power back to you when you're... revived."
"Revived? She's mortal now. If she dies, she's dead!" Ashton yells.
"Not if we use advanced medical technology. Clinical death for ninety seconds. We stop her heart, trigger the contract void, then restart her heart." Marcus pulls out medical equipment from a storage locker. "I've had this prepared for three timelines. Just in case."
My father struggles out of his chair. "Absolutely not. I'm not watching my daughter die. Not again."
"Dad, it might be our only chance—"
"NO!" Victor grabs my shoulders. "Maya, I've killed you a hundred times. I'm not doing it again, even to save you. I can't."
Ashton's phone rings. He answers it. His face goes pale.
"What?" I ask.
"That was my security team at Xu Corporation. Jennifer just walked into the building. She's demanding to see the marriage certificate. She wants to prove we're legally married so she can..." He can't finish the sentence.
"So she can what?" I press.
"So she can challenge it. Claim you were coerced. Get the marriage annulled." Ashton's jaw tightens. "If she succeeds, you lose all legal protection. No access to my resources. No safety under my name. You become a civilian again. Easy to kill or kidnap."
"She can't do that—" Sophie starts.
"She can. She has my memories. She knows exactly which lawyers to hire, which judges to bribe, which laws to exploit." I feel sick. "She's going to take away everything we built in the last six hours."
My phone buzzes. A text from Jennifer.
"Hi stepdaughter! Quick question—how does it feel to be mortal? To know every breath might be your last? I'm coming for everything you love. Your husband. Your father. Your best friend. And you can't stop me because I'm immortal and you're not. Sleep tight! - Mommy Jennifer"
Below the text is a photo. It's Lily, my stepsister. She's standing outside Sophie's apartment building. Watching. Waiting.
Another text: "Oh, and Lily says hi. She's been helping me all along. Isn't family wonderful?"
Sophie's face goes white. "My apartment. My research. All my files on The Architects—"
"Are about to be destroyed," I finish. "She's erasing all our evidence."
We're losing. Jennifer is immortal, has my memories, and is destroying our support system piece by piece.
Ashton pulls me close. "We need to make a choice. Right now. Do we run and hide? Or do we take Marcus's plan and fake your death?"
"If I die, there's no guarantee I'll come back—"
"I know."
"And if it goes wrong, you'll lose me forever—"
"I know." His voice breaks.
"But if we don't do it, Jennifer wins. She'll hunt us forever." I look at my father, at Sophie, at Ashton. Everyone I love is in danger because of me. Because I was stupid enough to sign away my powers.
I make my decision.
"Do it. Kill me."
My father screams. "MAYA, NO—"
"It's the only way, Dad. You know it is." I kiss his cheek. "Trust me. This time, I'm coming back."
I lie down on the floor. Marcus prepares the medical equipment. A syringe filled with something that will stop my heart.
Sophie is crying. "This is insane."
"It's revenge," I correct her. "And revenge requires sacrifice."
Ashton holds my hand. "I love you. In this life and every other."
"I love you too. Even though we've only been married for seven hours." I smile through my tears.
Marcus injects the syringe into my arm.
My heart slows. My vision blurs. I feel cold. So cold.
The last thing I see before everything goes black is Ashton's face, tears streaming down.
Then nothing.
I'm dead.
But in the darkness, I hear it—a voice I recognize.
My mother's voice.
"Hello, Maya. We need to talk about what you really are."