Her Bullet Was My Final Payday

In the end, during that final mission, Regina didn't hesitate. She pulled the trigger to save the man who had always been the ghost in our relationshipher one who got awayand the bullet tore right through me.

She knew. She knew I had the Protocol backing me up. To her, my death was nothing more than a temporary glitch, a brief nap before the reboot.

For three days, she stayed by Beckets side, nursing him, comforting him, erasing me from her mind as if Id never existed. By the time she finally remembered I was a person who actually occupied space in her life, she wasn't greeted by a sleeping fianc. She found a corpse beginning to succumb to the heat.

I remember asking her, just before we set out, clutching onto a final, pathetic shred of hope: "Would you ever actually kill me, Reggie?"

She had gone quiet for a long time before the words tumbled out: "No."

At that moment, both I and the Protocol felt a heavy sink in our collective chest. We knew it was a bad omen. If she had just said yesif she had actually killed me by choicemy mission would have ended right then and there. But that "no" made me delusional. It made me think she actually loved me. It made me think the mission was about to get a whole lot more complicated.

Looking back, all that worrying was for nothing. It wasn't love. It was just me, making a fool of myself until the very end.

I sat on the edge of the roof, reaching out as if I could brush the stars with my fingertips.

Before I could lean out too far, the Protocols voice hissed in my ear, sounding genuinely bewildered: [Host, please tell me you arent doing something stupid. Weve put in too much work to get this close to the finish line. Don't you dare jump.]

My mouth twitched into a grimace. "Relax. Im just catching the breeze. Do you really think Im that fragile?"

In fairness, the view from the roof was spectacular. It gave me a front-row seat to my fiance wrapped in another mans arms in the garden below.

Becket looked like the protagonist of a tragic indie film, his eyes brimming with a manufactured sorrow. "You have to forget me, Regina. Were a secret that cant survive the light. This isn't going to end well for us."

Regina spoke to him with a tenderness I had never once been allowed to taste. "Ill take care of everything. I just need a little more time."

But Becket wasn't playing along this time. "Im almost thirty, Reggie. How much more time am I supposed to waste waiting in the shadows?"

Regina started to say something, her lips parted in a desperate plea, but Becket cut her off with a sharp wave of his hand.

"Ive agreed to the setup my mother arranged. A blind date. A real future. Reggie, Im begging you... let me go."

Regina turned her face away, her jaw tight with irritation. "Becket, stop being dramatic, okay?"

He gave a hollow, bitter laugh and turned on his heel, disappearing into the darkness of the driveway.

I watched her standing there, a lonely silhouette against the manicured lawn, and shook my head. "See that? Thats the tax you pay for an affair."

The Protocol chimed in: [Technically, you two aren't married yet.]

I rolled my eyes. "You don't know a damn thing. Watch this. Im going to go down there and push her buttons. If Im lucky, shell get pissed enough to just stab me and get it over with."

The Protocol gave me a mental thumbs-up. [High-risk, high-reward. I like it.]

I kept my pace light and bouncy as I walked down the stairs, finding Regina exactly where I expectedlooking like a woman whose world had just collapsed.

"Ouch. You look like you just got dumped. Want to talk about it? Im a great listener," I said, flashing a grin and throwing an arm over her shoulder.

Her face remained a mask of stone. She shoved my arm off with a cold efficiency. "Its nothing."

Nothing? No, that wouldn't do. I needed more fire than that.

"Come on, Reggie. I saw the whole thing from the roof. Getting dumped isn't the end of the world, it's just"

I didn't finish the sentence. Her hand flew out, catching me by the throat with a strength that felt like iron. She looked like something that had crawled out of a nightmare.

"You were spying on me?" she hissed. Her eyes were bloodshot, shimmering with a terrifying intensity. "Have I been too kind lately? Have you forgotten who you are in this house?"

Looking into her murderous eyes, I felt my lips curl upward. Yes. Thats it. Just squeeze. Kill me. Let me go home.

"Yeah, I followed you. So what?" I gasped out, leaning into the pressure of her grip. "Are you really that ashamed of being caught acting like a common tramp? I don't blame him for leaving. A woman who wants the whole world while shes already got a man at home? Even Im starting to find you pathetic."

I poured every ounce of venom I could into my voice, terrified she might soften.

Her grip tightened. Her knuckles turned white. To be honest, the sensation of dying isn't pleasantit's a panicked, primal sort of pain. But the thought of home, of ending this grand humiliation, was a powerful anesthetic.

Then, abruptly, she let go.

I crumpled to the pavement, my lungs burning as I hacked and coughed, trying to pull in air.

"I was wrong to snap," she said, her voice dropping back into that terrifyingly cool professional tone. "Ill keep my distance from him from now on."

My heart stopped for a different reason. I looked up at her, eyes wide with disbelief. But she didn't look back. She just gave me the cold view of her retreating back.

"Protocol... what the hell was that?" I whispered, my voice trembling.

The Protocol sounded just as stunned. [She let you go? Are you kidding me? A woman who treats men like disposable tissues actually showed mercy?]

I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt. But nothing could change the fact that I was still here.

By the time I was halfway through my third bag of chips in the kitchen, the Protocol finally spoke up. [Host, why are you eating your feelings?]

I crunched down viciously on a chip. "I'm going to get so fat she can't stand the sight of me. Maybe then she'll finally put a bullet in my head."

The Protocol decided I had finally snapped and went quiet, leaving us both to sit in our shared misery. It was a pathetic scene: one man and one invisible AI, failing at suicide-by-fiance.

I was plotting my next move when a knock sounded at the door. It was Becket. He stood there with a thin, polite smile, holding a crisp white dress shirt.

"Im so sorry to bother you," he said, his voice dripping with faux-humility. "Regina stayed over at my place a few nights ago and I... well, I accidentally got some wine on her shirt. I didn't want you to get the wrong idea if you found it, so I brought it back myself. You aren't upset over such a small thing, are you?"

I knew what he wanted. He wanted the explosion. He wanted me to scream and throw a punch so Regina could come running to his rescue.

But I had too much on my mind to play my part in his melodrama. "Thanks. Appreciate it," I said, reaching for the shirt.

Beckets smile faltered. The lack of a reaction clearly bothered him. He suddenly grabbed my wrist, his grip surprisingly tight.

"What are you acting for?" he spat, his voice dropping the polite facade. "Im telling you, it doesn't matter how 'understanding' you are. shell never truly look at you. If I hadn't moved away, you wouldn't even be a footnote in her life. Youre just a cheap placeholder. A discount version of me."

It was a textbook provocation. Amateur hour.

"Believe whatever helps you sleep at night," I said. "Now let go."

I tried to pull my hand back, barely using any force, but the moment I moved, he went limp. He collapsed toward the floor like a puppet with cut strings.

"Ah!" he cried out.

Before he could hit the hardwood, Regina appeared as if summoned by a spell. I didn't even have time to blink before her palm connected with my face.

Crack.

"Ewan, Ive warned you so many times," she said, her voice trembling with rage. "Why cant you just behave?"

My cheek burned. The pain was sharp enough to bring involuntary tears to my eyes. I didn't defend myself. I just stared at Becket.

He buried his face in Reginas shoulder, a calculated sob escaping his throat. "Reggie, its my fault. All my fault. I shouldn't have upset him. You two are getting married... don't let me be the reason you fight."

He made a weak motion as if to pull away. "I just wanted to see you one last time. Now that I have, Ill leave you both in peace."

Regina wasn't about to let that happen. She gripped his hand with a fierce protectiveness and led him toward the master bedroom, brushing past me as if I were a piece of furniture. She didn't even give me a second glance.

The look she had given methe sheer, unadulterated disgustleft no doubt in my mind. If Becket hadn't been there to play the victim, she might have actually finished what she started earlier.

"What are you still standing there for?" Reginas voice drifted back, cold and hollow. "Get out."

I looked down at my phone. A message had just come in from the rescue coordindator.

I felt a ghost of a smile touch my lips. "Regina," I called out. "If I keep hurting him... would you kill me?"

She went silent. I already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it. If the end was already written, I wanted the closure of the spoken word.

She didn't answer right away. I didn't wait. The rescue team was blowing up my phone. A notorious cartel cell had moved into the valley. People were dying, the medical teams were overwhelmed, and they needed every able body.

I sighed. "The protection is in the drawer. I probably wont be back for a while. Do whatever you want."

I shouldered my pack and turned to leave. But just as my foot hit the threshold, I heard it. Her final answer.

"No."

Two days of grueling travel later, I arrived at a hidden mountain village. The team leader barely looked up before tossing a trauma kit at my chest.

"Move! Weve got casualties that won't last another hour!"

Id heard stories, but the reality was a visceral shock. The ground was littered with the wounded, their cries a dissonant chorus of agony. It was a slaughterhouse.

"How did it get this bad?" I asked, already kneeling over a man with a jagged shrapnel wound.

The leaders face was grim. "These people are monsters. Right now, our priority is getting the hostages out of the compound across the ridge."

I frowned. "There are more?"

The compound was a fortress. Trying to pull someone out of there was a suicide mission.

The leader sighed. "Yeah. Some poor kid. Apparently, he was lured out here by a girl he met on a dating app. Hes been in there for twenty-four hours. God knows whats left of him."

My heart went out to the guy. Even in this "scripted" world, Id spent enough years here to feel for the locals. Most of them were just ordinary people trying to survive, no different from the office drones I knew in my real life.

The cartel had sent word: they would trade the hostage, but only for a medical professional and a full trauma kit. They were bleeding out over there, too, and they were desperate.

I volunteered.

It wasn't because I was a hero. It was because the Protocol guaranteed my resurrection as long as the mission wasn't "complete." Regina knew that. It was the safety net that allowed her to be as cruel as she wanted.

I walked toward the enemy lines, the trauma kit heavy in my hand.

When I was only a few yards away, a sharp gasp cut through the mountain air. "Ewan?"

I looked up. My heart skipped a beat. Looking back at me, his eyes wide with terror, was Becket.

What the hell was he doing here?

The cartel gunman didn't give us time for a reunion. He pressed the barrel of his rifle against Beckets temple. "Don't just stand there! Hand over the kit if you want him to live!"

Becket was a messbruised, bloody, and shivering. He looked broken. "Are you deaf? Give it to them! Move!"

If I weren't a member of this team, if I didn't have a code of ethics to uphold for every life, I would have dropped the bag and walked away.

I took a breath and held out the kit. "Take it. Now let him"

Before I could finish, men surged from the brush on either side. A heavy boot slammed into the back of my knee, and I hit the dirt hard.

"You bastards! We had a deal!" I snarled.

the leader laughed, a cold, rasping sound. "You talk about deals with us? Heres the truth: we never planned on letting you go. An extra hostage is just an extra insurance policy."

I felt a surge of genuine fear. Resurrection or not, the pain was real. These men weren't the type to give you a quick, clean exit.

"Why waste your breath on him? Hes a dead man anyway."

I was already calculating my escape when I saw it. Becket wasn't being held down anymore. He calmly untied the ropes around his wrists and sat down on a grimy sofa in the back of the room.

The realization hit me like a physical blow. The wounds, the terrorit was all a performance. He wasn't a victim. He was a partner.

"Why?" I asked.

I used to think he was just a petty, jealous man. But this? This was a different level of evil.

He chuckled, leaning back. "You really thought I was at university in Europe all those years? Please. I dropped out months in. This business pays way better than a desk job. Every man for himself, right, Ewan?"

I went quiet. When I looked up, I just felt a weary kind of pity. "What do you want?"

He pulled a knife and traced the flat of the blade along my cheek. He gave me a brilliant, manic smile. "I want to play a game."

A cold pit formed in my stomach. "What game?"

He checked his watch. "Regina will be here in a few minutes. I want to see who she chooses. You... or me?"

All this effort, all this blood, just to play a sick game of "who do you love more" with Regina. I didn't know whether to be disgusted or impressed by the sheer scale of his obsession.

But I couldn't say a word. They taped my mouth shut before I could respond.

Time became a blur of silence and mountain wind. Eventually, the sounds of an arrival echoed from outside.

"Miss Thorne! What an honor to have such a powerful woman visit our humble home!"

The cartel leader grinned and shoved both Becket and me toward the door. We were bundled like cargo.

Reginas eyes swept over the scene. Her gaze didn't even pause on me; it locked onto Becket immediately. "Let them go. Name your price. I have the wire transfer ready."

The leader scratched his ear. "You misunderstand, Regina. Its not about the money anymore. I want to play."

"What?" Reginas eyes narrowed, her hand drifting toward her holster.

"I know youre armed," the leader said. "But my boys have their fingers on the triggers. One wrong move, and we all go up in flames."

Regina stopped. "What do you want?"

He pointed at the two of us. "Simple. You can take one man with you. The other... you have to shoot him yourself."

"...Name a price for both. Im not playing this," Regina said after a long, agonizing silence.

The leader barked out a laugh. "You think youre in a position to negotiate? You have ten seconds. If you don't choose, Ill kill them both."

I looked at Becket. He was actually risking his own life for this. If Regina chose me, hed die. He was insane.

Bang.

The bullet tore through the air before I even realized what was happening.

I felt the impact, a sudden, blinding heat in my chest. My body began to tilt backward.

Blood sprayed into the air, vivid and bright against the gray sky.

Regina hadn't even hesitated. She had made her choice in a heartbeat.

All those promises, those years togetherthey meant nothing. Not even a second of doubt.

As my spirit drifted from my body, I stood there, a ghost watching the wreckage. I watched her sprint past my cooling corpse, not even looking down as she stepped over my arm to reach Becket. She gripped his hands, her voice frantic as she checked him for injuries.

She really did hate me that much.

Suddenly, a triumphant chime echoed in my head.

[Congratulations, Host! Mission Complete. Proceed to return to the real world?]

[Warning: Upon return, this body will be truly deceased. No further resurrections will be possible in this plane.]

I watched Reginas retreating back as she led Becket away. I smiled.

"Yes. Do it."