Badass bin /bDisguise

Chapter b290 /b

bCompared /bbto /bEthan Haxton–a businessman who navigated corporate sharks dally—I was more naturally bsuspicious/b. I’d spent my previce blife /bbas /bbShadow/bb, /bwalking the razor’s edge between life and death, encountering more viins than most people could Imagine. I was implied bto /bbe a ghost, to infiltrate, to be someone else.

I trusted no one. Not even the dead.

There are no such things as coincidences in my world. When Ss Murphy suddenly appeared in my life with bthat /bfaceb–/bbthat /bface so identical to someone I once knew–how could I not be suspiciousb? /bThe likelihood that he just happened to look bexactly /blike Dusk, that just happened to attend the same university as me, that he just happened to need tutoring… The odds were astronomical.

From the first moment, I’d been watching him, analyzing his every move, waiting for him to reveal his true purpose.

“ying along with you was exhausting,” I said, circling him like a predator. “And incredibly boring.”

Ss’s eyes widened. “You were acting? The whole time?” His voice cracked. “Even with Ethan Haxton?b” /b

Iughed, the sound sharp and cold in the quiet apartment. “You were taking too long to make your move. Ethan bwas /bbactually /bbgetting /bjealous, and I was running out of patience.”

Of course it was all an act. After the second scene, Ethan had texted me on his way home: iDid /iiyou /iihave /ibto /bibring /ibup /bthe age ithing/i?

I’d replied: iGetting /iitoo /ideep iinto /iicharacter/ii? /i

It’s ithe /iitruth/ii, /iihard /iinot /iito /iitake /iit ipersonally/ii, /ihe’d written back.

Wasn’t iinsulting /iiyou/ii. /i

iHow /iwas imy /iiperformance/ii? /iEthan had asked.

Dialogue was icheesy/i, I’d replied.

You were brutal. iI’ll /iiimprove /inext itime/i.

The entire “breakup” had been choreographed down to thest detail. Ethan had practiced his hurt expressions for days, perfecting bthat /bwounded look in his eyes. The rumor about him being dumped had spread through campus exactly as we’d nned, setting the perfect stage for Ss to make his move.

Ss stared at me, processing this revtion. “Chris Jensen too?”

“He said your hypnosis techniques were impressive.”

Ss couldn’t have known that while he’d been eavesdropping outside the door as Chris pretended to call me, reporting on Ss’s condition and even trying to y matchmaker, Chris had texted me immediately after Ss left: This iguy’s /iihypnosis /iiis /iilegit/i. I almost fell ifor /iit. Be icareful/ii. /i

“He was never on the phone with meb,/bb” /bbI /badded, twisting the knife. “That entire conversation bwas /bbfor /bbyour /bbbenefit/b, while bhe /bbtexted /bbme /bwarnings about you under the table.”

1/3 fn5af6 Read full story at find·novel/fn5af6

b8:18 /bTue, Sep b30 /b

Ss looked like he’d been pped. He’d thought his portrayal of Ss Murphy was wless, convincing even Murphy’s parents. But he never suspected he was the one being yed.

“I’m actually impressed, I said, leaning against the wall. “This is my first time meeting someone from Sleepers. I watched his face for reaction. “Your hypnosis skills really are exceptional.”

His expression shifted, the wounded victim mask falling away to reveal something cold and calcting. ‘What do you know about Shadow Organization? What’s your connection to Dusk?”

I moved closer, staring directly into his eyes. “Where is the real Ss Murphy?”

His face hardened, any pretense of humanity vanishing. “Dead, naturally.”

I froze, a chill running through me. “You killed Ss?”

“A killer killing someone. Is that so strange?” His voice was t, emotionless.

“You bastard!” My voice shook with genuine rage. “He was your brother!”

Confusion flickered in his eyes. “Brother? Ss’s brother was Dusk from the Shadow Organization. He’s been dead for years.”

“You idiot!” I grabbed his cor, mming him against the wall. “Why do you think you and Ss looked identical? Just a coincidence?” I snarled into his face. “Ss was your twin brother! Dusk was your older brother!”

The confusion in his eyes deepened. I could see him processing this information, searching for lies.

“When Mrs. Murphy was hospitalized, I got her talking,” I exined, releasing him with disgust. “She told me she had three sons. The eldest was taken from them—that was Dusk. Then she had twins. One of those twins–you–was sold by your father. It nearly destroyed her. If not for her youngest son, the real Ss, she might have ended her life.”

I watched the information sink in. “The son your father sold became her deepest pain. She couldn’t bear to speak of it. Even Ss never knew he had a twin brother.”

Mrs. Murphy had wept as she told me the story, her thin hands shaking with emotion. “My husband,” she’d whispered, “he was a gambler, worse back then than now. He owed money to terrible people. They were going to kill him.” Her voice had broken. “So he sold our child instead. My baby.”

Ss–or whatever his real name was–stared at me with cold eyes. “And so what?”

His face was identical to the real Ss’s, down to the smallest detail. Anyone would have wondered about such a perfect resemnce.

But for someone raised in the Shadow Organization from childhood, someone who had experienced nothing but brutal training where falling half a step behind meant death, someone numb to everything in the world–family ties meant nothing.

He had never wondered about his origins, never questioned whether he was kidnapped or abandoned. He didn’t yearn for family, friends, or a normal life. In his eyes, there was only the Shadow Organization, only training and survival.

The organization’s orders were absolute.

Even if he had suspicions, he followed those orders. Mrs. Murphy, the real Ss–they were nothing to him but targets.

8:18 Tue, Sep 30

(3)

I took your DNA,” I said, forcing my rage back under control. I ran testsparing it to your parents. They are your biological parents.”

When the fake Ss first appeared, I had hacked into the Shadow Organization’s database, stealing Dusk’s DNA topare with Mrs. Murphy’s. I suspected it might be a setup, that the data might be falsified.

I couldn’t be certain Dusk was truly the Murphys‘ child until Mrs. Murphy revealed Ss was a twin.

Familiar with how the Shadow Organization operated, I formed a theory. I ran another DNA test on Mrs. Murphy, Mr. Murphy, and the bfake /bSs, confirming he was indeed their biological son.

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