L
The morning after changed everything.
Zayden didn't sleep. His mind replayed every word the Oreka men said, like echoes bouncing off cracked walls in his head.
He wasn't just angry anymore — he was focused.
> "If we take down Oreka, we take him down from the inside… starting with the one person he underestimated."
Mariella.
---
Eleganza High — Behind the Library
Mariella sat alone again, pencil dancing on paper. Her sketch this time: a chained bird with broken wings.
> "Why always pain in your art?" Zayden asked as he approached.
She looked up, startled.
> "Because pain tells the truth."
Zayden sat beside her, silent.
His heart pounded in his chest like war drums.
It was time to tell her everything.
---
> "Mariella… I wasn't honest with you."
"Okay…" she said slowly, cautious.
"I didn't meet you by chance. I was sent to get close to you… by people who hate your father."
She blinked, frozen.
> "So… this was fake?" she asked, voice cracking.
"At first, yes. But now? I don't know. I didn't expect you to be…"
"What? Human? Real?" she snapped. "Not a villain like him?"
He nodded.
She looked away, biting her lip to stop it from trembling.
Then, after a moment…
> "You were right about one thing," she said quietly. "He's not my father. Not anymore."
---
Flashback — Mariella, Age 12
She'd walked in on a heated phone call. Oreka, shouting in the study. Her name mentioned. His voice venomous.
> "She's not mine. I don't care what the test says. Her mother was a liar."
She ran.
That night, her mother overdosed.
The next morning, she was shipped to her aunt in Badagry — and never saw her father again.
---
Present
Zayden stared at her, the pieces clicking together.
> "He denied you."
"Like I was some virus," she whispered.
She wiped her face, stood up, and turned to him.
> "If you're really done lying… then help me destroy him."
Zayden blinked.
> "You want revenge?"
"No," she whispered. "I want truth.
And I want him to feel everything he made me feel."
For the first time, Zayden saw it:
Not just pain in her eyes…
But fire.
---
Later That Night — Phantom HQ
Zayden met with Drex under the flickering light.
> "I'm not killing the girl," he said.
"We're going after Oreka together."
Drex chuckled coldly.
> "You think I'll let you flip the plan?"
"You don't need to. I already did."
Then he dropped the real bomb:
> "Mariella's got a drive. Digital files from her aunt's house. Bank statements. Crime records. Oreka's entire criminal network… ready to leak."
Drex's smile vanished.
> "Then maybe she's more useful alive after all…"
---
End of Chapter 4
➡️ Next Chapter Preview:
Zayden and Mariella form an uneasy alliance, but someone in Phantom Crew smells betrayal — and is watching their every move.
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