Chapter 126: What Really Happened That Night?

Aylin shrugged. "Or a desperate insider. People team up with you for power—some hide their families just to get in. My searches showed a lot of folks ditching everything to work for you."

Zayden laughed darkly. "Really? So you think someone’s lying about their connections?"

"Yeah." Aylin’s voice became intense, her eyes shining like a lioness. "I’ll dig into everyone’s background. We’ll find the mole. And Selina’s on it too. It’s strange; she doesn’t even know about the mole. Does Alpha not trust her that much?"

Zayden tightened his jaw, anger bubbling below the surface. "Could be. They used to be tight—her, Alpha, Maksim. But after your expose, things got rocky. Selina’s in a tough spot now; Alpha and Maksim are after my throne. They think they can take me out and grab it for themselves." He laughed, a cold, menacing sound.

Aylin rolled her eyes, smirking. "In their dreams."

Zayden threw his head back, laughing genuinely. "That’s my girl."

He said, "Alright, you can work here. I’m going to check in on my ’pain in the ass’ brother."

Aylin replied, "No way, I’m not feeling like working. I want to come with you. I want to meet my brother-in-law."

Zayden chuckled, "Alright then, let’s go."

*****

In Zayden’s huge mansion, his brother, who looked just like him but had a carefree vibe, was chilling in his room on the family floor. With a video game controller in hand and chips crunching, he was all about blasting aliens on the giant screen.

Then, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," he shouted, hitting pause on the game.

A staff member, a guy in his mid-40s in a sharp uniform, walked in. "Young Master, the Boss wants you in his room."

The brother rolled his eyes and smirked. "Now? He can wait—just like I had to wait before."

The staffer looked a bit freaked out. "What should I tell him?"

He grinned even more. "You don’t need to say anything. Just ignore him."

The staff member’s eyes went wide with panic. "Seriously, Young Master. I have to let him know, or I’m done for."

The brother laughed, easygoing and playful. "Alright. Just tell him what I said."

The staffer nodded, looking nervous, as he backed out of the room. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Meanwhile, Zayden was pacing in his room, while Aylin watched him. "Where’s my brother? I called for him ages ago."

Aylin tilted her head. "He’ll show up. Family, right?"

Zayden chuckled lightly, feeling fond. "Classic annoying family."

Another knock sounded at the door—this time it was the staff member again.

"Well?" Zayden snapped.

The guy gulped nervously. "Young Master says... let you wait. Just like you made him wait."

The room went silent.

Zayden’s eyes narrowed in irritation, but then he laughed, surprised at his brother’s guts.

Aylin giggled. "Siblings."

In the brother’s room, he hit play on his game again, grinning.

But as explosions flashed on the screen, one thought kept bugging him: Who’s this Lady Boss? Who’s the one that managed to get through to the cold old man?

The mansion felt like it was holding its breath, secrets hissing inside the walls.

Back in the room, Aylin’s breath hitched when Zayden’s intense steel-blue eyes met hers. The dim light in the cabin created shadows on his rugged face. They sat on the edge of the worn couch, the fire crackling softly in the hearth, but the warmth did nothing to chase the chill from her bones. His hand rested lightly on her knee, a rare moment of softness from the guy who’d been nothing but sharp edges since they met.

"You never told me," he said, his voice low and steady, cutting through the silence. "How on earth did you end up in that forest? Running like your life depended on it?"

She swallowed hard, her golden-brown eyes filling with tears she didn’t want to cry. But the weight of it all—the fear, the loss, the constant running—pressed on her until the words came tumbling out, raw and unguarded.

"Michael... he got me the night after I outed him," she whispered, her voice shaking. "They locked me up, tied me up like an animal. They were gonna auction me off live on their black market—human trafficking, the worst kind. But I..."

She paused and then continued. "I managed to hack their system from the inside. Instead of streaming me, I flipped it on them. Their files went public, everything came out, names, deals, evidence. Total chaos. I escaped, taking down two of his bodyguards in the process." Her fists tightened in her lap, knuckles going pale. "I ran to a safe house that was off the radar, got a fake passport, and took off to Turkey. Istanbul. To my little sister."

Zayden’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t say anything. His thumb traced slow circles on her arm, silently supporting her as she pushed on, building momentum, the memories rushing in like a flood.

"We had six months of peace. Just... regular life. Until they found her. They took her." Tears streamed down her cheeks, hot and unstoppable. "Michael sent me a video, Ayla, crying and sobbing, while Selina ripped at her clothes, and the guard... he was touching her chest. Laughing. They told me to get to a certain place, or she’d die. I didn’t think twice. I did exactly what they said."

Her voice cracked as she paused to wipe her face with her hand. Zayden’s grip on her arm tightened just enough to steady her, his steel-blue eyes burning with a quiet anger she hadn’t seen before.

"When I got there, they injected me with something. I woke up in a dark room, disoriented and scared. Then they took me to the auction hall—made me look like merchandise, forcing me into a corset, putting on makeup, all that."

She shuddered, pulling her knees up. "But I found a wire hidden in the corset. Two of Michael’s guards, Jax and Jane. They helped me and Ayla escape. We ran through the chaos, but one of the other guards shot Ayla during the getaway. I thought I lost her, blood everywhere, her eyes closing..."

A sob escaped her, and Zayden moved closer, his presence a shield against the storm inside her.