"Ghost Net is Azalea," Liam said.
He insisted, "Your sister. She’s been running the whole thing. Handing out jobs. Managing info. She got involved."
He took a mont, then added, "She told to get close to Ayla to gather intel on Aylin. Through Ayla, I learned that Aylin is not just so regular girl; she’s a hacker, Lunel. I figured out who Lunel is, the one working with Ghost Net."
Aylin felt like she was about to fall over. "No. That can’t be true. "Azalea is—she’s a businesswoman. A princess. She doesn’t—".
"She’s Ghost Net," Liam said firmly. "I’ve seen her. I’ve worked with her. She’s the one who saved my dad. She’s been pulling the strings all along."
Zayden suddenly stood up, pacing as thoughts raced through his mind. "My sister. My twin sister. She’s been, " He turned to Liam. "Does she know I’m Hazard King?"
"No, I didn’t even know that until now," Liam replied. "She knows you have secrets, but she has no idea about the mafia or HK. She’s curious to find out, though. That’s part of why she showed up today."
Aylin’s hands shook. "She’s the one who’s been hooking up with jobs? For years? She’s been—"
She looked at Zayden, her voice breaking. "She’s been watching us this whole ti."
Zayden’s jaw tightened, anger and confusion swirling on his face. "She’s my sister. My twin. How did I not catch on?"
"Because she’s that good," Liam replied.
"She’s Ghost Net," Liam said quietly. "No one knows...not your family, not her business partners. Just , my dad, and now you two."
Aylin got up and walked over to Zayden. "We need to talk to her. Confront her."
"No way," Zayden shot back. "Not yet. If she doesn’t know I’m HK, we need to keep it that way, at least until we figure out what she’s really up to."
He turned to Liam. "You said you don’t trust her. What’s up with that?"
Liam hesitated. "Because she’s been ssing with everyone. Sure, she helped my dad, but she also used to spy on Ayla and Aylin. She’s playing a long ga, and I can’t tell whose side she’s really on."
"She’s on her own side," Aylin said slowly, starting to connect the dots. "She’s always been three steps ahead. That’s how she survived in the business world. That’s how she created Ghost Net without anyone catching on."
Zayden’s face was hard to read. "My sister is so kind of ghost hacker genius. Great."
Despite everything, Liam almost smiled. "Your family situation is... sothing else."
"You really have no idea," Zayden muttered.
Aylin turned to Liam. "Wait a second, how did you find out about Ayla getting kidnapped by Alpha and ? Two years ago? How do you even know we were both there? I didn’t even realize they brought us to the U.S. from Turkey."
Liam chuckled. "Oh, that? Let’s just say it was luck. I gave Ayla the earrings for her birthday, just two days before you got kidnapped, and luckily, she was wearing them."
Aylin interrupted him. "What do the earrings have to do with the kidnapping?"
Liam replied, "Uh, I put a tracker in the earrings so I could keep tabs on her. Knowing you’re a hacker too, I was worried about her safety, so I chipped them and gave them to her. That’s how I found out about the kidnapping."
Aylin asked, "Do you know Jax and Jane?"
Liam said, "No, I don’t know them, but they were a bonus for . Without them, I couldn’t have rescued you from there. By the ti I got there, they’d already helped you both escape. One thing I didn’t get was why they decided to help you."
Zayden nodded. "Jax and Jane are my security team. I put them there, and Black Panther ordered them. They thought they were taking orders from , but that wasn’t it. Their mission was to save Lunel. I didn’t even know she was alive."
Aylin looked at Liam, her expression softening. "But I still don’t have an answer about the forest. When Alpha’s n attacked at the cabin, two of them got shot. I didn’t shoot them. Was that you, Liam?"
Liam shook his head. "No. We ran into the forest with you after leaving the hospital, but you split off from us. We searched for you the next morning but couldn’t find you. We figured..."
He swallowed hard. "At first, we thought you’d gotten away, but then we thought you were dead until your server pinged, two years later in Malaysia."
Aylin scrunched up her brow. "So, who shot them?"
"Not ," Liam said. "We were way far away by then. Ayla had just gotten out of the hospital, and we had already left the country with Jax and Jane. I don’t know where they went after that."
Zayden squinted a bit. "It wasn’t Leo. He was with the whole ti."
"Not my brother," Zayden added. "He wasn’t even in the country."
The three of them shot each other looks.
"Then who?" Aylin whispered.
The question just hung there, unanswered.
Soone had helped her that night. Soone good enough to take out two trained rcs. Soone who vanished without a trace.
"Another ghost," Liam said quietly.
Aylin felt a shiver. "How many people have been keeping an eye on us all this ti?"
Zayden pulled her in closer. "We’ll find out. All of them. Starting with my sister."
He glanced at Liam. "You ca back for Ayla. That took guts. But she gets to decide if she wants to hear your side of things. Not , not Aylin, her."
Liam nodded. "Got it."
"Then let’s go," Zayden said. "Ti to face the music."
They went back to the lounge, where Ayla was still sitting, exactly where they left her, with Azalea next to her, talking softly.
When Ayla saw Liam, she stood up, her eyes red but determined.
"Ayla," Liam started, his voice shaking. "I’m really sorry. I can explain, "
"Then explain," she said, her voice stronger than she felt. "Tell everything. And don’t you dare lie to ."
Liam took a deep breath and began to share.
If Azalea is Ghost Net, what else is she hiding?
And who is the ghost that saved Aylin, the one nobody saw coming?
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