"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 me out," she kept going. "If we want Alexander to think Ayla comes from a powerful family, which would explain the security, we need to give him something legit. Something 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 me 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 mention my name. He can never see me. 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 me, 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 mention who the girlfriend is."

"But that brings up another issue," Leo pointed out. "Alexander knew Marcus had two daughters, one named Ayla and one named Aylin. If we say that HK’s girlfriend has a sister named Ayla..."

"He might connect the dots," Zayden finished with a serious look.

"Exactly," Leo agreed. "So we need to change Ayla’s name 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 name, 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 name?"

"We don’t," Leo replied. "Emma can keep calling her Ayla, but in any official paperwork, any records, she’ll have to be someone else."

"This is getting messy," 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 name under wraps? Why not just say Ayla’s sister is called something 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 named Ayla, he might start wondering if it’s the same Ayla from Marcus Alston’s family."

"We have to make sure he never finds out HK’s girlfriend’s name," Aylin said firmly. "That’s the bottom line. He can know about the sister; he can even meet Liam and the security team, and see the protection. But he can never know that the girlfriend’s name is Aylin."

"And he definitely can’t see you," Zayden added, glancing at Aylin with a worried expression.

"Never," she agreed. "The moment 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, something clean that won’t raise any eyebrows."

"Make her backstory airtight," Zayden said. "A wealthy family, some 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 name 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 comes around asking questions, she should never drop her sister’s name. She can mention that she has a sister who’s dating someone 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 met, they haven’t had time 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 me right away. Don’t engage with him or answer any questions, just call me."

"Understood," Liam said.

Just before hanging up, Zayden said, "Also, let Ayla know that if she ever runs into Alexander, she shouldn’t panic." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Yeah, got it," Liam replied.

Zayden hung up and looked at his team.