The notification appeared in my vision like a crack in reality itself. **MISSION FAILED. ERASURE PROTOCOL INITIATED. TIME REMAINING: 24:00:00.** I blinked. The words didn't disappear. I was standing in the hospital corridor, watching through the window as Evan held my twin sister's hand. Iris had just opened her eyes after three weeks in a coma. He was crying. Actually crying. He hadn't cried at our engagement party. He hadn't cried when he proposed. But for her? Tears. The countdown timer pulsed in the corner of my vision. 23:59:47. 23:59:46. My hands started shaking. **ALTERNATIVE MISSION AVAILABLE. OBJECTIVE: OBTAIN GENUINE DECLARATION OF LOVE FROM PRIMARY TARGET WITHIN 24 HOURS. SUCCESS RATE: 3%. ACCEPT?** I pressed my palm against the cold hospital wall. This couldn't be real. This had to be some kind of breakdown. Stress. Exhaustion. Watching your fiancé choose your sister does things to your mind. But then I remembered the journal. Three days ago, I'd found Iris's diary hidden in her apartment while looking for her insurance information. The pages were filled with impossible things. Missions. Targets. Point systems. And one line that made my blood freeze: *Target: Evan Carter. Seduction Protocol Active. If I fail this mission, I die.* I thought she was having a mental health crisis. I thought the stress of her modeling career had finally broken her. I didn't know we were both players in the same game. The system interface flickered again. **ACCEPT MISSION? YES/NO. WARNING: REFUSAL RESULTS IN IMMEDIATE ERASURE.** Through the window, Evan was stroking Iris's hair. The same way he used to stroke mine. My mother stood beside them, smiling. My father had his hand on Evan's shoulder like he was already his son-in-law. Like I had never existed. My phone buzzed. A text from my mother. *Lena, give them space. Iris needs Evan right now. Be the bigger person.* Be the bigger person. I'd been the bigger person for three weeks. I'd been the bigger person when Evan stopped coming home. When he moved into the hospital. When he started planning a wedding to my unconscious sister using the venue we'd booked, the flowers I'd chosen, the dress I'd ordered. When he looked at me with those empty eyes and said, "I'm sorry, but I love her. I've always loved her." The countdown hit 23:58:00. I thought about disappearing. About letting the erasure happen. Maybe it would be easier than watching them build a life on the ruins of mine. But then Evan looked up. For just a second, his eyes met mine through the glass. And I saw something flicker there. Something that looked almost like regret. The system pulsed. **ACCEPT MISSION? YES/NO.** I pressed YES. The world shifted. Colors became sharper. Sounds became clearer. And suddenly, I could see things I'd never noticed before. A faint golden thread connecting Evan to Iris. Pulsing. Artificial. And a broken, frayed thread that used to connect him to me. **MISSION ACCEPTED. OBJECTIVE: OBTAIN GENUINE DECLARATION OF LOVE. TIME REMAINING: 23:57:33. GOOD LUCK, PLAYER.** The door to Iris's room opened. Evan stepped out, his face exhausted. He saw me and froze. "Lena. You're still here." His voice was flat. Like I was a stranger. I straightened my spine. Twenty-four hours. That's all I had. "We need to talk," I said. He shook his head. "There's nothing to talk about. I'm marrying Iris. The wedding is in two weeks. Your mother already helped me send out new invitations." "Our wedding was supposed to be in two weeks." "That was before I understood what I really felt." He wouldn't meet my eyes. "Before I realized I'd been lying to myself. To you." The golden thread between him and Iris pulsed brighter. I took a step closer. "Do you remember the night you proposed?" His jaw tightened. "Lena—" "Do you remember what you said to me?" "That was different." "You said you'd loved me since the moment we met. You said I was the only person who made you feel real." My voice cracked. "Was that a lie?" For a moment—just a moment—something flickered in his eyes. The same thing I'd seen through the window. Then my mother appeared behind him. "Lena, stop this." Her voice was sharp. "Your sister almost died. Evan realized his true feelings. Accept it with grace." "Grace?" I laughed, and it sounded broken even to my ears. "You want me to gracefully watch you help him marry my twin sister with my wedding plans?" My father emerged from the room. "You're being selfish. Iris needs support right now. We all need to focus on her recovery." "What about me?" The words burst out before I could stop them. "What about what I need?" My mother's expression hardened. "You're not the one who was in a coma." The countdown in my vision hit 23:55:00. Evan turned away. "I'm going back inside. Iris needs me." "Wait." I grabbed his arm. He flinched at my touch. "Just give me one day. Twenty-four hours. Let me remind you of what we had." "We didn't have anything real." His voice was cold now. Final. "I was confused. I mistook comfort for love. But with Iris... it's different. It's real." He pulled away and walked back into the room. The door closed between us. Through the window, I watched him return to Iris's bedside. She smiled up at him—weak, but radiant. He kissed her forehead. My mother touched my shoulder. "Go home, Lena. Get some rest. This will be easier once you accept it." I looked at her. Really looked at her. "Did you ever love me as much as you love her?" She didn't answer. She just walked back into the room. I stood alone in the corridor, watching my family gather around my sister and my fiancé. Watching them plan a future that erased me. The system notification appeared again. **TIME REMAINING: 23:54:12. HINT: THE TARGET'S MEMORIES HAVE BEEN ALTERED. FIND THE ANCHOR POINT.** Altered memories. I pulled out my phone and opened my photos. Scrolled back to six months ago. There—Evan and me at the beach house. His arms around me. His smile genuine and warm. I remembered that day perfectly. He'd told me he wanted to spend his whole life making me happy. But when I looked closer at the photo, I saw something strange. A faint distortion around the edges. Like reality had been... edited. My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number. *You're not the only one who's been played. Check your sister's hospital room. Tonight. 3 AM. Come alone.* I looked up at the window. Iris was awake now, talking animatedly. Evan was laughing at something she said. The golden thread between them pulsed like a heartbeat. And I realized: if I wanted to survive, I'd have to destroy the person I'd loved most. Or discover that everything I thought I knew about love was a lie.