Names You Bury, Names That Return
The mirror never stopped watching her.
Rhea stared at her reflection in the hotel room's pale light, the makeup half-done, her hair pinned precisely the way the firm expected. And still—she didn't look like Rhea.
She looked like Muri with a mask.
She touched her jawline lightly, remembering the exact spot where Lex used to rest her hand during late-night walks. Stupid memories. Soft ones. Dangerous ones.
She turned away.
Earlier That Night — Post Dinner
Lex's voice still rang in her ears.
"Do you… know Rhea Malin?"
She had almost choked on her wine when Siddharth asked her that. She'd felt his gaze from across the restaurant—steady, watchful. Siddharth was smarter than people gave him credit for. He wouldn't just let it go. And Lex… Lex never did.
She had told herself that if they ever crossed paths again, she would look right through her. Pretend not to know. Let the new name do its job.
But Lex remembered. Of course she did.
Because Lex never forgot anything she loved.
Midnight
Rhea sat at the edge of the hotel bed, laptop closed, untouched.
They were watching her—still. She knew how this worked. The Eden Group had let her go, but with threads still attached. Strings that tugged when she got too close to her old life. The moment Lex said her name aloud, something shifted.
She'd seen the change in Siddharth's face too. He suspected.
The wine had tasted like ash by the time she left.
Flashback – Geneva, 2017
The room had no windows. Only light from above and a mirrored wall that didn't reflect back.
She'd sat across from a woman in a white coat, notepad blank.
"They'll say it's a lie," Muri had whispered. "They'll erase everything I show you."
The woman had nodded. "Then show me something they can't erase."
So she had.
And afterward, they gave her a new name.
A job.
A life she didn't choose but had to accept.
Now
The mirror in the hotel pulsed faintly at the edges. She wasn't sure anymore if it was the lighting or the residual effect of what she'd carried out of Eden. Sometimes, she still heard it whisper.
"Muri…"
Rhea closed her eyes. "Stop."
She reached for her phone to silence the noise. But a new message lit the screen before she could touch it:
LEX IS DIGGING.
WE MAY HAVE TO INTERVENE.
She felt her stomach twist.
Lex wasn't just remembering.
Lex was searching.
And that meant time was running out.