The man's smile faded into a cold, calculating expression as he continued to stand before Aila, who had the gun trained on him but was still trembling. Her hands were shaking from more than just fear—her body was on the brink of breaking, but she refused to let herself fall apart. Not now.
"You really think you can stop me with that?" the man asked, his voice low and mocking. "You're so naïve, Aila."
Aila's breath quickened, but she didn't lower the gun. "I'm not naïve. I'm not going to let you have what you want. Not after everything that's happened."
He laughed, a low, guttural sound. "You don't have a choice. You're already in too deep."
The room felt smaller with each word he spoke. Aila's mind raced. He was right—she was in too deep. She'd walked into this web of lies and danger without knowing who she could trust or what the stakes truly were. Her whole life had been a lie, and now the truth—whatever it was—was tearing her apart.
But the one thing she did know was that she wasn't alone anymore. Liam had been with her. He hadn't betrayed her. He couldn't have.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash from the hallway, followed by a shout. Aila's heart stopped. Had Liam returned? Was this the moment she'd been waiting for?
Before she could react, the door to the room slammed open, and Liam stood there, his face bruised, his hair disheveled. But it wasn't just him—another man was behind him, holding him by the arm, forcing him into the room.
Aila's breath caught. What was happening?
Liam's eyes locked with hers, and in that brief moment, she saw something that shook her to the core—fear. Fear in his eyes.
"No," Aila whispered, taking a step back. "Liam…?"
The man who had been holding Liam released him with a shove, and Liam stumbled forward, his arms going instinctively to catch himself. He looked at Aila, his face pale and filled with regret.
"I'm sorry, Aila," Liam said, his voice rough. "I didn't want you to know this. But… I didn't have a choice."
Aila felt as if the floor had dropped out from under her. The gun in her hands suddenly felt heavy, as if it was no longer a weapon but a burden. "What are you talking about? What's going on? Who are these people?"
The man who had been holding Liam smirked. "Oh, she doesn't know yet, does she? How cute."
Liam closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Aila, everything I've done—everything I've told you—it was to protect you. I swear. But now…" He paused, his voice faltering. "Now I can't keep lying to you. You deserve to know."
Aila felt the walls closing in on her. The tension in the room was suffocating. Every word out of Liam's mouth felt like a blow, a betrayal she wasn't prepared for.
"Liam, no…" she whispered, her heart racing. "Please. Don't say it."
But he did. He looked up, meeting her gaze, and his words were the knife that plunged into her chest.
"I've been working for them, Aila," Liam said, his voice strained with the weight of the truth. "From the beginning. From the moment you came back here, I knew who you were. I knew what you were looking for."
Aila couldn't breathe. The gun dropped from her hand, hitting the floor with a soft clatter. Her knees buckled, and she had to grip the back of the chair to steady herself.
"No," she whispered again, more to herself than to him. "No, this isn't real. You're lying."
Liam shook his head, his face twisted with regret. "I never wanted this to happen. But they had leverage. They knew everything. They knew about your mother and the investigation. They knew how close she was to uncovering everything, and they used me to keep you in the dark."
Aila's mind spun. Everything she thought she knew about Liam was a lie. All the trust she had placed in him, all the moments she had believed he was protecting her—everything had been built on deception.
"You…" Aila's voice trembled as the tears she'd been holding back began to spill over. "You were part of this. All along. You lied to me, Liam. You let me walk right into their hands."
Liam reached out, but she stepped back, her eyes wide with betrayal. "I didn't want to hurt you. But you don't understand. You're in too deep. If they get what they want, it's over. For both of us."
"Then why are you still here?" Aila asked, her voice sharp with anger. "If you're working for them, why are you helping me?"
Liam's eyes were full of conflict, but there was no escaping the truth. "Because I'm not the person they think I am. I've been trying to find a way out, Aila. But it's hard to get out of something like this. The things they've done—what they're capable of—it's more than I can fight alone. And now, it's too late for both of us."
The other man in the room, the one who had been silent until now, stepped forward. His cold eyes locked onto Aila's, and his voice was ice. "You're not going anywhere, sweetheart. Not now. We have everything we need, and your little games are over."
Aila's chest tightened. Her heart was racing, and she could feel the weight of everything she had just learned pressing down on her. She had trusted Liam with her life, and now he was the reason she was standing at the edge of something much darker.
"No," Aila said, her voice breaking with emotion, but a spark of defiance rising within her. "No, I'm not done yet. Not until I find the truth. Not until I find out why they killed my mother."
Liam's face twisted with regret. "Aila, don't do this. You don't understand what you're up against. They're going to kill you too."
"I'll take my chances," she said through clenched teeth. "But I'm not afraid of you."
The man who had been standing at the doorway sneered. "You'll learn soon enough."
The tension in the room thickened, and Aila could feel her heart pounding in her chest. The storm outside seemed to mirror the chaos inside, the wind howling louder as she stood in the eye of a storm she couldn't control.
But one thing was certain: She wasn't going down without a fight.