Chapter 52: The reason

In the dimly lit room, a lone figure sat in front of a glowing screen, her fingers dancing gracefully over the keys of a mechanical keyboard. Each tap reverberated with purpose, her eyes reflecting the chaotic dance of numbers and symbols scrolling across her screen. Her mind was sharp, relentless, obsessed.She was known in the digital underground as Mistress Black the second-best hacker in the world.

But she had never wanted second place.

Her mind drifted back to when it all begin.Ten years ago, she had been a prodigy, a self-proclaimed queen in the hacker world at just 14 years old. No one could touch her; she was untouchable. Or so she thought. She still remembered the day it happened her world came crashing down in less than three minutes.

She still remembered it with crystal clarity. The moment her world came crashing down. Her screens flickered and died, her systems overloaded with a force that felt like it came from another world. All her firewalls, all her layers of security obliterated in a matter of minutes. Panic set in as she scrambled to stop the attack, to regain control, but it was hopeless.

She was fighting a battle she had already lost.

Her heart raced, her palms sweating as she watched in horror as her most protected systems crumbled before her eyes. And then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it was over. Her screens came back to life, and there it was, a message burned into her mind forever.

"I'll be taking the position of greatest from now on."

That was it. No gloating, no insults. Just pure, unshakable confidence from a man who knew he was superior to her. In that single sentence, her pride was obliterated.

From that day on, she became obsessed with finding the person behind the screen. The one who had taken everything from her. Black. That was the only name she knew. That was the ghost she chased for the next ten years. She followed every lead, hacked every system that might hold a clue to his identity.

But no matter how hard she tried, she could never get close. It was like chasing a shadow.

In the beginning, it had been about reclaiming her throne. She wanted to defeat him, to prove to herself and the world that she was the best. But as the years went by, something inside her shifted. It was no longer just about being the greatest. It became about him.

The more she pursued him, the more she fell in love with the idea of him. His skill, his mastery, his power. She didn't know who he was, or what he looked like, but none of that mattered. He had become her obsession, the person she admired and yearned for more than anything.

She fantasized about him, dreamt of the day they would meet, of the day she would finally be able to stand by his side as an equal.

She tried everything every trick, every method but he was always ten steps ahead. It was as if he was playing a game with her, toying with her, leading her on only to pull away just when she thought she was close. It was maddening. And yet, she couldn't stop. She was addicted to the chase, to the mystery of him. She wanted to see his face, hear his voice, know the person behind the code.

She didn't know who he was. Not his face, not his voice. She didn't even know if he was male or female. But she didn't care. In her mind, he was everything. The way he had torn apart her systems, the way he had never even bothered to acknowledge her existence again after that single sentence his arrogance, his skill it had all become the foundation of her twisted adoration.

But she never did. Not until it was too late.

One day, out of nowhere, her computer flickered to life. A message appeared on her screen, and her heart raced with anticipation. She recognized the signature immediately it was him. Black. The man she had chased for a decade. The euphoria of seeing his code, of knowing he was reaching out to her, was overwhelming.

But then she read the message, and her world shattered once again.

"If you are seeing this, I am dead."

The words hit her like a freight train. Her breath caught in her throat, her hands trembling as she stared at the screen in disbelief. No. It couldn't be. He couldn't be dead. Not now.

Not when she was so close. Not when she had spent years chasing him.

But the message continued.

"You worked so hard, didn't you? Chasing me. Trying to catch up to me. I admired that about you. Really, I did. It's rare to find someone as relentless as you.

Someone who never gives up, no matter how hopeless the fight."

Her heart squeezed in her chest, the familiar warmth of admiration quickly turning cold.

"But I knew. I always knew you wouldn't be able to beat me. Not because you weren't good enough but because I didn't want you to."

Her hands shook, fingers hovering over the keys as her brain tried to make sense of the words. What was he saying? That he held back.

"I kept you chasing after me. For fun, maybe. Or because I was lonely. Or maybe I just liked knowing that someone out there still cared about the game. I liked knowing you were there, pushing me to be better. But now I'm gone, and the game's over."

Gone. Dead. The words echoed in her mind.

"You were the best opponent I ever had. You might've even beaten me one day, given enough time. Ten more years, and maybe you would've taken my title for real. But life doesn't always give us time, does it? Now you're number one. Congratulations."

Her eyes welled up with tears as the message continued. His words cut through her like a knife sharp, final, and filled with a kind of sorrow she hadn't expected.

"I'm sorry, truly. I know this isn't the ending you wanted. But maybe it's better this way. You don't have to chase anymore. You've won. You're the best.

But if you're reading this, then maybe you know by now, the title means nothing without someone to compete against."

She couldn't breathe. Her chest tightened with every sentence. She had spent so many years chasing him, and now he was gone, leaving her with a hollow victory.

Her fingers had trembled over the keyboard, tears welling in her eyes for the first time in years. The person she had spent a decade chasing was just… gone. Just like that. She didn't even know his name.

Tears welled up in her eyes, her chest tightening as the realization sank in. She had won. She was number one. But the victory was hollow. There was no joy, no satisfaction. Without him, without her rival, the title meant nothing.

"As an apology, I'm leaving you everything. All my codes,my information,all my knowledge. Everything that made me 'Black.' But here's the thing you're going to be disappointed when you learn who I really am."

Her hands flew to her mouth, stifling the sob that threatened to escape. He had seen through her, known how desperately she had wanted to know him, the real him. And now he was going to tell her.

"I didn't tell you my real name because I didn't want you to be disappointed. And you will be. Because I'm nothing like the person you imagined."

She had waited, breathless, her heart pounding as the file downloaded. When it opened, she had learned the truth. The man she had loved, the man she had obsessed over for so long, was Lucian Kane. The son of the Kane family, a man born into wealth, but unloved. A man who had given everything for a girl who didn't even shed a tear for him when he died.

Her obsession had turned to heartbreak in that moment. The man she had worshipped from the shadows, the man she had fantasized about, was nothing more than a broken soul. A genius, yes, but a genius who had been crushed by his own feelings for a girl who never cared for him. He had wasted his brilliance, his life, on someone who wasn't worthy of him.

She had cried that day, for the first time in her life. Cried for him, for the man she never knew she loved until it was too late.

As her eyes reached the final words of Lucian's message, her breath caught in her throat. She felt as though the ground had crumbled beneath her feet, leaving her suspended in a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity.

"Goodbye. You were the strongest, best rival of mine. I would have loved to have friendship with you, but I was afraid that you would be disappointed when you saw in reality who I was..."

Her heart twisted painfully. Disappointed? How could he even think that? She idolized him, worshipped him. The very thought of him doubting his worth in her eyes felt like a dagger to her soul. Tears welled up once more, but this time they were not born from frustration they came from an overwhelming grief and tenderness.

She could feel his vulnerability in those words, his fear of being unworthy of her respect, and it shattered her.

Her chest tightened, breath ragged as she read the final line.

"I would love to be friends with someone as intelligent and genius as you. I really admire you... you might not realize it, but I do."

Her heart stopped.

"Princess Celestia."

He knew.

"Princess Celestia." Sёarᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Those two words hit her with the weight of everything she had ever longed for: recognition from the one person she admired most. Lucian hadn't just been her distant idol he had seen her, known her, perhaps even watched her from afar, just as she had watched him. That realization sent her heart spiraling, not in shock, but in the profound intimacy of the connection she had always craved.

"You might not realize it, but I do admire you."

She closed her eyes, biting her lip to keep herself from breaking down. Lucian the Black admired her. It wasn't a casual compliment; it was from someone who had always been a step above her, untouchable. He hadn't seen her as just another rival. He had valued her, respected her, even if she hadn't known it until now.

Her fingers trembled as they hovered over the keyboard, unable to continue typing. Her eyes glazed over the final line again, heart aching.

"If in the next life, you ever had a chance, please... give me one or two slaps for disappointing you like this." Continue reading on мѵʟ

A soft, bittersweet smile tugged at her lips through the tears. He didn't understand that there was nothing to forgive. No disappointment. He had been perfect in every way more than she could ever have imagined. But that was just like him, wasn't it? Even in his final message, he underestimated his worth to her.

The idea of slapping him was absurd. If anything, she would embrace him, show him that he had been everything she ever needed.

She sat back in her chair, letting out a long, shaky breath. The emotions simmered in her chest, a mixture of sadness, relief, and something deeply obsessive. Lucian was gone in her last life, but now she had the chance to find him again. This time, she would make sure he knew just how much he meant to her.

It wasn't shocking that he had known her real name. But it was deeply, profoundly emotional. He had given her the acknowledgment she had craved for so long.

It broke her heart.

For the first time in her life, she cried for someone other than herself. She cried for the boy who had given everything to a world that didn't deserve him. She cried for the man who had wasted his brilliance on a love that wasn't real. She cried because, in the end, he had been just as lonely as she was.

The days that followed were a blur. She studied everything he had left behind the codes, the data, the skills he had mastered. She poured over it all, trying to understand how she had been so outmatched, so far behind him. And the more she learned, the more she fell in love with him. His genius, his creativity, his vision. It was all there, in the lines of code he had written.

It was the last piece of him she had, and she cherished it like a sacred relic.

But it wasn't enough. She wanted more. She wanted him.

And then, one day, something miraculous happened.

She woke up, and she was back in time.

It was impossible. Unbelievable. But it was real. She had been given a second chance. A chance to fix everything. To save him.

To make him hers.

Lucian Kane was still alive, and this time, she wouldn't waste the opportunity. This time, she wouldn't let him slip away. She would protect him, love him, and make him see that they were meant to be together. He didn't know it yet, but he belonged to her. He always had.

As she cracked the final layer of protection on his phone, her fingers trembling with excitement, she whispered to herself, "This time, Lucian... this time, I won't lose you."

hey guys please send some... motivation comments i dont mind if you guys curse...but well ... please not let me become this lazy

thanks fir reading