Ghost in the Network

Chapter 6

I felt a shiver run down my spine.

Who knew me in the past? Who was the devil that was also reborn?

Thinking of my next possible line of action, I decided to trace the address using my MIT coding skills right on my phone. I bypassed the security protocols and decrypted the data path. The screen flashed: Singapore. Iceland. Then... nothing.

Whoever this was, they were absolute ghosts in the network.

The phone buzzed again in my palm. The exact same number.

You're looking for me in the wrong place.

I tried reaching out by texting back, but the screen instantly flashed an error. It was a private, completely unreachable number.

I held firmly to the phone, my knuckles turning white, when a smooth voice suddenly dragged me out of my thoughts and back into reality.

“A woman who just promised to burn down an empire shouldn't look so hunted by a glowing screen.”

I turned around sharply. A tall figure was leaning casually against the stone railing, his silhouette cutting a dangerously handsome profile against the shimmering city lights.

The figure moved closer, stepping out of the shadows and revealing full details of exactly who was standing in front of me.

Julian Edelman.

The single biggest rival to the Hale Company. Lucas’s absolute worst enemy. The ruthless man who had bought out three Hale subsidiaries just last quarter simply to watch them go broke. He was the undisputed king of tech, the Hale family’s ultimate nightmare, and the one man Lucas could never beat in a boardroom.

“Spying on my conversations, Mr. Edelman?” I asked, my voice instantly dropping its panic. I smoothly slipped the phone into the hidden slit of my red dress. “That’s a low blow for a billionaire.”

Edelman took a slow drag from his cigarette, an amused smirk playing on his lips. “I wasn't spying, Mrs. Hale. You were just shouting your death threats loud enough to wake the dead. ‘On your knees begging,’ was it? Quite a performance for a bride.”

He walked closer, his heavy leather shoes absorbing the sound of the cold marble floor. He stopped exactly two feet away from me. He smelled like expensive tobacco, fresh rain, and pure, untouchable power.

His eyes slowly drifted down to the small cut on my cheek—the bleeding line that Victoria’s ring had left behind. Instead of offering a handkerchief or useless pity, he leaned down slightly, his voice dropping to a low, gravelly whisper.

“A woman who wears blood so beautifully shouldn't let lesser people mark her,” he murmured.

I looked right back into his dark, dangerous eyes without flinching. “The person who marked me already paid the bill. With interest.”

Julian laughed out loud, a rich, dark sound. “I see. Victoria is currently in the powder room trying to ice her foot while screaming about lawsuits. I must say, I’ve been trying to ruin the Hales for five years, but you managed to cripple their matriarch in five minutes.”

“I’m just getting started,” I said, stepping past him toward the edge of the railing.

I couldn't get that cryptic text out of my head—it was still burning a hole in my mind. But right now, I needed an ally. I needed a weapon. And Julian Edelman was the biggest, sharpest blade in this city.

“The Hales are launching their new security infrastructure tomorrow morning,” I continued coldly. “Their stock is predicted to jump twenty percent.”

“It will,” Julian said, his easy amusement fading instantly into serious, cold business. “Their encryption algorithm is tight. Even my elite team couldn't find a backdoor.”

I turned my head, my red hair catching the sharp night wind. I smiled at him—the sharp, ruthless smile of an MIT genius who had already lived through the future.

“That's because your team didn't write it,” I whispered. “I know the blind spot in their code, Mr. Julian. I can give you the exact patch to exploit their flaw tonight. By 9:00 AM tomorrow, the Hale Group won't be jumping twenty percent. They’ll be crashing straight into bankruptcy.”

Julian’s gaze locked onto me with absolute intensity. He flicked his cigarette over the edge of the terrace, watching the ember fall.

“And what does a rogue Mrs. Hale want in exchange for handing me her husband's head on a silver platter?”

I stepped right into his space, my front pressing near his chest as I looked up at him.

“I want thirty percent of the acquisition shares when you crush them. And I want a partnership. Let's call it Vale Industries.”

Julian didn't hesitate. “Very well, Mrs. Elena. It's a deal then.”

Just then, a sudden call vibrations interrupted our conversation. Julian pulled out his phone. I couldn't clearly see the caller ID numbers, but written boldly across the top dark corner of his screen was a specific phrase.

REBORN ELENA FILES

My pulse slammed violently against my throat. What was this supposed to mean?

“And what is this suppose to mean?” I demanded, drawing his attention back instantly. “Why is there an Elena file boldly on your screen?”

I extended two fingers, forcefully tilting the phone toward my face to look closer. Julian didn't pull the phone away from my grip, and he didn't try to lie. He just looked down at me. That cold, calculating business look faded from his features for half a second, replaced by something much darker and deeply intense.

He swiped the screen, ending the call without answering it. Then, he met my eyes again.

“You want to know why I have a file with your name on it, Elena?”

I nodded, my hands clenching into tight fists at my sides.

Julian leaned back against the stone railing, completely relaxed. “Because I liked how you became who you are.”

I frowned, my defenses rising. “What?”

“I’ve been following you for a while now,” he admitted calmly, as if he were simply discussing weather patterns or stock margins. “Long before tonight. Long before you ever married Lucas Hale.”

He paused, dragging his thumb lightly across his darkened phone screen.

“You were timid,” Julian continued, watching me intently, like he was playing a video file back in his head. “Two years ago, you were MIT’s golden girl. Brilliant, yet you sat in the back of every boardroom, took notes, and never spoke unless spoken to. You were just Lucas’s shadow. The perfect, obedient fiancee-in-training.”

He took a step closer, closing the distance between us.

“Then you changed overnight. Out of the blue. Timid Elena disappeared. In her place stood a woman who looked at Victoria Hale like she was absolute nothing. A woman who promised to burn down an empire and entirely meant it.”

He shook his head slightly, a dangerous glint in his eye. “I study patterns, Elena. I study power. And you... you broke every single pattern I knew. One day you were flinching when Lucas raised his voice. The next, you were standing on a terrace telling the king of tech how to crash his rival’s multi-billion-dollar company before breakfast.”

“So you made a file,” I stated coldly.

“I made ten,” he corrected, showing absolutely no shame. “Psych profiles. Behavioral shifts. Digital samples from your college thesis. Everything I could possibly get on the woman who went from a helpless ghost to a ghost-maker in one single night.”

He held the phone up slightly between us, the screen catching the dim light.

“REBORN ELENA FILES. Because that’s exactly what you are. Reborn. And I wanted to know why.”

I stared at him, my heart hammering against my ribs. “And did you find out?”

Julian’s small, dangerous smile returned.

“Not yet,” Julian whispered against my lips, his grip on my jaw tightening just enough to make me feel his absolute dominance. “That’s why I’m standing out here on this terrace instead of sending my army of lawyers after Hale. I don’t want his company, Elena. Not just his company.”

He slowly lowered his phone, but his eyes never left mine.

“I want the woman who changed overnight. I want to know exactly what woke you up.”

He leaned in even closer, his voice turning into a deep, heavy command that echoed in the quiet night air.

“Marry me, Elena, and I promise to make every single drop worth it.”