The steam from my coffee curled upward like a ghost refusing to leave.
I wasn't prepared.
Not for the heat, not for the morning rush, and definitely not for the face standing behind me when I turned around.
My fingers froze around the paper cup.
No.
Impossible.
I blinked once. Twice. Slowly.
But he was still there.
Tall. Sharp-eyed. Expensive suit that screamed power. A calm expression that looked like it had been sculpted—not born. He looked nothing like a student from a burned-down school. Nothing like someone who should've died with me in a fire.
He looked… alive.
And that face—
The exact same face that had haunted every dream of my ninth life.
My breath caught.
Because I had watched that face disappear into smoke, coughing, reaching for my hand until the flames swallowed us both.
I shouldn't be seeing him.
Not here.
Not in my tenth life.
Not in a city where no one knew anything about what happened in my past lives.
And definitely not in a busy coffee shop on a monday morning.
But here he was.
Even more breathtaking.
Even more unreachable.
And—alive.
I stepped back so quickly the coffee almost slipped from my hand.
Calm down, Aria. People can look alike. This world has over eight billion humans. Likeness happens. Perfect resemblance happens. Freakishly identical faces happen.
Right?
But then he spoke.
"Excuse me," he said, voice low and firm. "You're blocking the counter."
My heart didn't just skip—it fell. Straight down.
That voice.
That voice had once whispered my name during study nights.
That voice had screamed my name when the fire spread.
That voice had been the last thing I heard before everything went dark.
I swallowed, but my throat was dry.
"I—sorry." My voice cracked. "I just… thought you were someone I knew."
He glanced at me briefly, uninterested. His expression didn't change—not a hint of recognition. Not a flicker. Not a shadow.
"Clearly," he said, and stepped forward to order.
I stood frozen like someone had drilled my shoes into the floor.
He didn't remember.
Of course he didn't. He wasn't supposed to. He was just a stranger with a familiar face. A coincidence. A cosmic joke.
My mind told me that.
But my heart whispered something else. Something dangerous.
He looks exactly like him.
The universe couldn't be this cruel… or this purposeful.
He collected his order—black coffee, no sugar, just like before—then turned to leave.
For a moment, our eyes met again.
And something… flickered. Briefly.
Something unreadable.
A frown.
Or was it confusion?
Recognition?
No. That was impossible.
He walked out, leaving me standing there with a burning coffee and a burning heart.
What was happening?
The bell above the café door chimed softly, and I snapped back to reality.
Right. I had a job interview. A very important one. The kind you don't show up to in emotional shock.
I rushed outside and—
Stopped dead again.
He was standing by a sleek black car, talking to a chauffeur. The kind of car only a CEO or billionaire would have.
He slid into the back seat with the ease of someone born to command.
The door closed.
The car drove off.
And I was left staring after him like an idiot.
---
ONE HOUR LATER
I stood in the lobby of Aldridge Corporation, one of the most powerful companies in the entire city, clutching my folder of documents that suddenly felt stupidly insignificant.
I shouldn't have rushed here.
I should've taken a moment to breathe, to recover, to stop shaking.
But fate clearly had other plans.
Because the moment the elevator doors slid open, my heart stopped for the second time today.
He stepped out.
The same man from the café.
The same face from my ninth life.
The same soul—no, stop it, Aria, don't go there.
Except this time…
His presence hit different.
The air in the lobby shifted.
Employees straightened.
Voices dropped.
Attention snapped toward him with fear-mixed respect.
He wasn't just anyone.
He was someone powerful.
Someone important.
Someone impossible.
"Good morning, Chairman," someone greeted.
Chairman?
Wait—
Chairman?
As in the head of Aldridge Corporation?
As in the man whose signature could change lives?
As in the man I was supposed to interview under today?
No.
No.
No.
He walked past me, and I flattened myself against the wall, praying he wouldn't notice me.
He didn't.
Or… maybe he did, because his head turned slightly, just for half a second.
Enough for our eyes to meet.
Enough for my breath to vanish again.
His gaze lingered.
Confusion.
Interest.
Something I didn't have a name for.
Then it was gone, replaced by an expression colder than steel.
He walked away.
And I cursed the universe for the thousandth time.
---
THE INTERVIEW
When I entered the conference room, five executives were seated around the table.
But only one mattered.
The Chairman.
Him.
The man who shared the face of my ninth life's lover.
He sat at the head of the table, looking at me like he was trying to place me—like I was a puzzle piece that didn't quite fit.
"State your name," he said.
His voice. Just like before.
"Aria Vale," I managed.
He blinked once. Slowly.
Something… shifted in his expression.
"Aria," he repeated, tasting the name like it tugged at something deep inside him. Something buried.
I looked down quickly, afraid the truth would spill from my eyes.
I couldn't tell him who he reminded me of.
I couldn't tell him about the fire.
The school.
The death we shared.
The lifetime we lost.
He wasn't that boy.
Not anymore.
Maybe not ever again.
"You seem distracted," he said suddenly.
I froze.
One of the other executives chuckled stiffly. "She probably didn't expect the Chairman to be here in person."
"Is that it?" he asked, eyes never leaving me.
"No," I lied. "I'm fine."
He leaned back, studying me.
And for a heartbeat, it felt like he could see through me—through time, through memories, through lives.
Then he broke eye contact.
"Proceed," he said coldly.
The questions began.
Technical. Logical. Realistic.
But nothing felt real.
Not when the man asking them had once promised me forever.
Not when he had died holding my hand.
Not when I had spent my tenth life trying to forget the ninth one.
Not when he sat right there, breathing, living, existing.
Alive.
I answered every question perfectly, because I had prepared for this job like my life depended on it.
And maybe it did.
When the interview ended, everyone dismissed me except him.
He stopped me with one sentence.
"Wait."
I turned slowly.
His gaze locked onto mine again, intense enough to raise goosebumps.
"Have we met before?" he asked quietly.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
No.
No.
He couldn't remember.
Reincarnations didn't work like that.
He wasn't supposed to know.
"I—I don't think so," I said.
He frowned. Not angry—confused.
"You feel… familiar."
My breath caught.
Familiar.
That was the same thing he used to say before the fire.
The same feeling that pulled us together again and again.
But I couldn't tell him that.
"Maybe I just have one of those faces," I forced a smile.
He didn't smile back.
"Maybe," he said, but he didn't sound convinced.
"Your results will be sent to you by tomorrow."
"Thank you, Chairman."
"Atlas," he corrected, eyes narrowing. "My name is Atlas."
Atlas.
He didn't remember the name he once had.
He didn't remember the life we shared.
He didn't remember the fire.
But hearing that new name felt like meeting a ghost in a different body.
"Okay," I whispered. "Thank you… Atlas."
Something flickered in his eyes again.
Recognition?
Deja vu?
Or something deeper?
He dismissed me with a nod.
And as I walked out of the room, my knees nearly buckled.
Because no matter how much I tried to deny it…
I knew the truth.
The universe had returned him to me.
Alive.
Powerful.
And with no memory of the girl he once loved—or the fire that killed us both.
But this was my tenth life.
And nothing about it was going to be simple