Love was the match. Now the fire chooses what survives. 🔥
---
5:22 AM — Zhuang Private Vault, Below the Penthouse
Damien slid his palm across the biometric scanner. The titanium vault door hissed open, revealing a long chamber lined with fireproof cabinets.
He pulled out a sealed file marked: FIRE CLAUSE – ARTICLE 10.1 — EXECUTION ONLY BY MUTUAL CONSENT.
Inside was a letter handwritten by Damien's grandfather—a clause so dangerous, it was sealed off until both parties had attempted termination and reconciliation.
> "Should Clause Five and Clause Nine both collapse…
…and should love still burn between them in defiance of empire and logic…
Then the Fire Clause may activate: Full merger. Full exposure.
If invoked, every corporate record, hidden clause, and sealed will becomes public.
The entire empire becomes transparent. And vulnerable."
Damien closed his eyes.
If they invoked this clause—nothing would stay hidden. Not their pasts. Not their secrets. Not the crimes committed under the Zhuang name.
He stared at the activation form.
Then slowly, painfully, signed.
---
10:03 AM — Rooftop Glass Conservatory, LinCorp HQ
Ashira read the clause twice.
"You're willing to burn the empire?" she asked, voice quiet.
"I'm willing to let them see the truth," Damien said.
"All of it?"
He hesitated.
"Even your mother's will?"
He looked at her. Didn't lie.
"Yes."
She took the pen. Fingers trembling.
Her thumb hovered over the seal.
Then stopped.
---
Flashback: Anne — Ashira's Past Life, Two Years Before Her Death
The memory came without warning.
Rain pounding against hospital windows. Her then-boyfriend—Dr. Rivan Mehta—pulling his hand away from hers.
"I'm sorry, Anne. I wasn't ready to tell you."
She had looked down at the photos of him with her best friend.
Smiling. Holding hands.
The woman she'd once trusted.
The man she'd loved.
"You slept with her," Anne had whispered. "While I was waiting for you to come back."
He hadn't denied it.
"You were just so… loyal. I didn't want to hurt you."
"You did."
That pain. That shattering.
The memory ripped through her like a blade.
---
Present – LinCorp Conservatory
Ashira's hand dropped the pen.
She stood.
Damien blinked. "What's wrong?"
She backed away.
"You lied," she said.
He frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"I don't know what it is yet. But I feel it. I feel it in my bones."
"Ashira—"
"No," she said sharply. "Don't say my name like you own it."
He moved toward her.
She stepped back.
"Anne," she whispered.
He stopped cold.
"You remember?"
She nodded slowly.
"That girl… she believed someone could love her without breaking her."
Her voice cracked.
"And she was wrong."
---
Scene Break — Emergency Meeting, 1:17 PM
The LinCorp boardroom exploded in chaos.
> Lucien had made his move. Three companies collapsed overnight.
Zhuang Tech's offshore holdings were exposed.
A dead body had been pulled from the river—confirmed as Ashira's uncle's ex-aide.
The police had questions.
The media had suspicions.
And Ashira?
She was quiet.
Too quiet.
---
Damien's Breakdown — Private Office, 2:22 PM
He tore open the sealed server logs. A digital recording played.
Lucien, weeks ago, speaking to someone Damien had once trusted.
> "Ashira will never trust him. Not when her past starts to bleed into her present. You can thank me when she walks."
The camera angle shifted.
Revealing Damien's old security chief—Collins.
Working for Lucien the whole time.
Damien's hands shook.
Lucien had planted the doubt.
But Damien?
He had kept things hidden. Too much. Too long.
Ashira had every reason to leave.
And now?
She was going to.
---
The Collapse — 6:31 PM, Ashira's Apartment
She packed quietly.
No tears.
No dramatic music.
Just silence.
Her suitcase closed with a final, brutal click.
A knock came at the door.
She didn't answer.
Another.
Then Damien's voice.
"Open it."
She did.
He stood there, drenched in rain, hair soaked, eyes wild.
"I know you remember."
"I do."
"And I know I'm not him."
"But you hid things, Damien."
He stepped inside.
"I was scared."
"Of what?"
"That you'd leave if you knew how dirty this world really was."
Her voice softened.
"I'm not leaving because of what you did."
She touched his chest.
"I'm leaving because of what you didn't say."
---
Final Scene — 11:59 PM, Lucien's Office
Lucien watched the security feed of Ashira walking away from Damien.
Smiling.
"I told you," he said to his assistant. "Even fire can be redirected."
The assistant handed him a new file.
The cover?
"Anne. Real Identity. Rebirth Coordinates: CONFIRMED."
Lucien's smile faded.
"This… this isn't possible."
The file glowed faintly.
And underneath it, a second page surfaced—one Lucien hadn't seen before.
Handwritten. Dated three years ago.
> "If Anne ever regains her full memories… kill the Zhuang."
---
End of Chapter 9
---
In Short:-
Damien signs the Fire Clause to finally merge everything with Ashira—full transparency, full risk.
Ashira flashes back to betrayal in her past life as Anne. The emotional scar reopens.
Her rising distrust in Damien stops her from signing.
Lucien makes his power play. Chaos breaks loose. A death. A leak. A legal threat.
Ashira packs her bags. Leaves Damien. Says she's done trusting silence.
Lucien confirms Ashira is Anne—and discovers someone had left a warning tied to her rebirth.
Someone wants Damien dead—if Anne ever returns.
---
Next Chapter – Chapter 10: If Anne Wakes Up
Ashira tries to disappear from both Lucien and Damien—but discovers the truth about her own rebirth may not be accidental.
Damien spirals, hunted from all sides.
Lucien receives a visitor from Ashira's past—a man who knows what really happened the day Anne died.
And the final betrayal hasn't happened… yet.