Chapter 5 – The Cyber War Begins

Lyra forced herself to remain calm as Ethan Vaughn walked away, his words still lingering in her mind.

"You can pretend all you want, but I know a liar when I see one."

She had expected suspicion, even caution. But the way he watched her, as if he were already playing a game she wasn’t aware of, made her uneasy.

He was testing her.

And that meant she needed to be even more careful.

Taking a slow breath, she gathered her things and left the classroom. But as soon as she stepped into the hallway, she found herself face-to-face with another problem.

Seraphina Xian.

The fake heiress stood waiting with her arms crossed, surrounded by a group of students who were all too eager to watch the upcoming drama.

Lyra internally sighed. Here we go again.

"I don't know what game you’re playing," Seraphina said, her voice dripping with mock sweetness, "but you’re getting a little too comfortable in my school."

Lyra tilted her head. "Your school? Funny, I didn’t see your name on the deed."

The students around them stifled gasps and laughs, but Seraphina’s expression darkened.

"Listen, orphan," she sneered. "You might have fooled some people, but you’re nothing. A charity case who doesn’t belong here."

Lyra felt something cold coil inside her.

She could have destroyed Seraphina in an instant.

With one keystroke, she could wipe out her bank accounts, expose every lie she had ever told, and turn her into a joke overnight.

But that wasn’t the plan.

Not yet.

So instead, she smiled. A slow, knowing smile that made Seraphina falter.

"You're right," Lyra murmured, stepping closer. "I am nothing."

She leaned in, lowering her voice so only Seraphina could hear.

"And that makes me dangerous. Because I have nothing to lose."

Seraphina’s confidence wavered for just a second, but before she could recover, Lyra stepped past her and walked away.

She could feel Seraphina’s glare burning into her back.

Good.

Let her be angry.

Let her be scared.

Because soon, she’d learn what it meant to steal from a ghost.

The city skyline glowed in the darkness, neon lights flickering against the night sky. Inside her apartment, Lyra sat before her holographic screens, fingers poised over the keyboard.

Her mission tonight was simple: send a warning.

Ethan Vaughn was suspicious of her. That meant he was likely already digging into her past, searching for cracks in her disguise.

She couldn’t allow that.

So, she was going to give him something else to worry about.

She was going to hack into Vaughn Industries again.

Not to steal.

Not to destroy.

Just to remind him that he was not the one in control.

Her fingers flew across the keys, weaving through layers of security, bypassing encryption as if it were child’s play. Within minutes, she was inside.

A live security feed appeared on her screen, showing the interior of Vaughn Industries’ headquarters—empty and silent.

Perfect.

She pulled up Ethan Vaughn’s personal files, encrypting a simple message into the system.

"Try harder, Mr. Vaughn. – Shadow Ghost."

She smirked and prepared to log out—

Until the screen glitched.

A warning flashed in red.

"ACCESS RESTRICTED. TRACE INITIATED."

Lyra’s stomach dropped.

Shit.

Her fingers flew over the keyboard, rerouting her signal, setting up false locations, creating digital decoys.

The screen flickered again, and then—