"What’s going on?" Leo noticed the charged vibe in the room.
"We’re looking out for Ayla," Zayden said plainly. "Alexander Kane is going to start checking into who she is. We need to make sure he doesn’t find any links to Marcus Alston."
Leo’s eyes went wide. "Crap. I didn’t think about that."
"None of us did," Aylin said softly. "We were so focused on keeping her safe that we didn’t think he’d dig into her past this fast."
"So what’s the plan?" Reyes asked, crossing his arms.
"We keep Emma and Ayla friends," Zayden explained. "We can’t break them up without raising eyebrows. But we need a cover story for Ayla that accounts for the security without revealing who she really is."
"What kind of cover story?" Leo asked.
Aylin bit her lip, thinking hard. "What if... we tell him part of the truth?"
Everyone turned to look at her.
"Hear out," she kept going. "If we want Alexander to think Ayla cos from a powerful family, which would explain the security, we need to give him sothing legit. Sothing he can actually check out."
"What are you getting at?" Zayden asked.
Aylin took a deep breath. "We tell him Ayla is my sister."
"Aylin," Zayden said, starting to object, but she interrupted.
"Wait. Just hear out." She held up a hand. "We say Ayla is Hazard King’s girlfriend’s sister. That covers the security, the resources, everything. But we can’t ntion my na. He can never see . Not even once."
Zayden frowned. "Why’s that?"
"Because I look just like my mom," Aylin replied, her voice shaking a bit. "Alexander knew my mom. If he sees , even for a second, he’ll pick up on it. He’ll connect the dots."
The room went quiet.
"She’s right," Leo finally said. "If Aylin looks like Sibel, Alexander will know right away."
"So we keep Aylin out of sight," Reyes said slowly. "We tell Alexander that Ayla is HK’s girlfriend’s sister, but we don’t ntion who the girlfriend is."
"But that brings up another issue," Leo pointed out. "Alexander knew Marcus had two daughters, one nad Ayla and one nad Aylin. If we say that HK’s girlfriend has a sister nad Ayla..."
"He might connect the dots," Zayden finished with a serious look.
"Exactly," Leo agreed. "So we need to change Ayla’s na in the cover story."
"What?" Aylin said, looking confused.
"Think about it," Leo said while pacing. "If we’re presenting Ayla as your sister, we need to give her a different na, one that won’t remind anyone of Marcus Alston."
"That sounds complicated," Reyes muttered. "How do we tell Emma that her friend Ayla is suddenly using a different na?"
"We don’t," Leo replied. "Emma can keep calling her Ayla, but in any official paperwork, any records, she’ll have to be soone else."
"This is getting ssy," Zayden said.
"It’s the only way to keep them safe," Aylin insisted. "Emma and Ayla can still be friends, but we need to create enough confusion around Ayla’s identity so that Alexander can’t link her to Marcus."
"Wait," Reyes said out of nowhere. "Why do we need to keep Aylin’s na under wraps? Why not just say Ayla’s sister is called sothing else?"
"Because," Leo replied patiently, "Alexander knows Marcus had two daughters. If he starts looking into it, and he definitely will, he’ll find that info. So when he hears that HK’s girlfriend has a sister nad Ayla, he might start wondering if it’s the sa Ayla from Marcus Alston’s family."
"We have to make sure he never finds out HK’s girlfriend’s na," Aylin said firmly. "That’s the bottom line. He can know about the sister; he can even et Liam and the security team, and see the protection. But he can never know that the girlfriend’s na is Aylin."
"And he definitely can’t see you," Zayden added, glancing at Aylin with a worried expression.
"Never," she agreed. "The mont he sees my face, everything goes sideways."
Zayden took out his phone. "I’m calling Liam. He needs to know about this."
As the phone rang, Aylin turned back to her computer. "I’ll start wiping Ayla’s real info and set up a new identity for her, sothing clean that won’t raise any eyebrows."
"Make her backstory airtight," Zayden said. "A wealthy family, so connections, but nothing too detailed. We want to keep Alexander curious without giving him anything to dig into."
"Got it," Aylin responded.
Liam picked up, "Yeah?"
"We’ve got an issue," Zayden said. "Putting you on speaker."
He pressed the button, and Liam’s voice filled the room. "What’s up?"
"Alexander Kane is about to start digging into Ayla," Zayden explained. "We need to make sure he doesn’t connect her to Marcus Alston."
"How do we do that?"
"By controlling what he discovers. Aylin is currently clearing Ayla’s real records. We’re building a cover for her. But here’s the critical part: Alexander can never know Aylin exists. He can’t see her or hear her na in relation to Ayla."
"Why?" Liam asked.
"Because Aylin looks just like her mother," Leo jumped in. "If Alexander sees her, he’ll make the connection instantly."
"Shit," Liam breathed. "Alright. What do I need to do?"
"Keep Ayla safe," Zayden said. "And make sure she knows that if Alexander ever cos around asking questions, she should never drop her sister’s na. She can ntion that she has a sister who’s dating soone important, but she should never, ever say Aylin."
"What if Emma brings it up?" Liam asked.
"Aylin said, "Emma doesn’t know. She’s aware Ayla has a sister, but since they just t, they haven’t had ti to talk family stuff."
"We need to stick to that boundary," Zayden added. "At least until we figure out how to deal with Alexander for good."
"Got it," Liam answered. "Is there anything else?"
"Yeah. If Alexander shows up at the hospital, call right away. Don’t engage with him or answer any questions, just call ."
"Understood," Liam said.
Just before hanging up, Zayden said, "Also, let Ayla know that if she ever runs into Alexander, she shouldn’t panic."
"Yeah, got it," Liam replied.
Zayden hung up and looked at his team.
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