# **CHAPTER 9**
## **THE TWIN BROTHER**
The car continued speeding through the dark streets.
Arga still couldn't process his mother's words.
**His father had a twin brother.**
And that man was still alive.
Worse yet…
that man was suspected of being behind his father's death.
Raka kept watching the rearview mirror.
The two black cars were still following them.
“They're still behind us,” he said.
Maya looked at Arga.
“We need to head to the old house.”
Arga shook his head.
“No.”
Maya was startled.
“Why?”
“If they're following us, they'll find out where the house is too.”
Maya fell silent.
Arga continued,
“Let's find somewhere else.”
Raka nodded.
“There’s a safe warehouse on the outskirts of the city.”
“Take us there.”
The car turned.
A few minutes later, the cars chasing them took a different route.
Raka let out a breath.
“We lost them.”
Arga looked at his mother.
“Now tell me everything.”
Maya didn't answer right away.
She stared out the window.
“Your father's real name wasn't just Arman Mahendra.”
Arga fell silent.
“He had a twin brother named Adrian Mahendra.”
“Why didn't I ever know?”
“Because after they grew up, their relationship changed.”
“They became enemies?”
Maya nodded.
“At first, they worked together.”
“With the K Consortium?”
“The K Consortium didn't exist back then.”
Maya took a breath.
“Your father and Adrian built a business together. They were very close.”
“Then what happened?”
“Adrian had different ambitions.”
Maya looked at Arga.
“He believed business wasn't just about creating something.”
“Then what was it about?”
“Business was about controlling something.”
Arga fell silent.
“Adrian began building a network.”
Shell companies.
Secret investors.
People in the government.
Banking.
Logistics.
Media.
Everything gradually became connected.
“Your father realized that network was growing larger.”
“And he tried to stop it.”
Maya nodded.
“At first, it was just a difference in principles.”
“Then?”
“Adrian began using their companies to move assets.”
Arga remembered the data found on the hard drive.
SLN Property.
Orion Pacific.
Mahendra Capital.
“So it all started with them?”
“Yes.”
Arga looked at his mother.
“Then what about the K Consortium?”
Maya answered quietly,
“Adrian formed it.”
Arga fell silent.
“With Leonard?”
“Leonard was one of the first people to join.”
“Richard?”
“Later.”
“Daniel?”
“He used to be part of that network, but later tried to get out.”
Arga let out a breath.
“And Dad?”
Maya looked at him.
“Arman joined the K Consortium to destroy it from within.”
Arga remembered the words in his father's notebook.
**I built this monster to destroy it from within.**
Everything was beginning to make sense.
But one question remained.
“If Adrian is the leader of the K Consortium…”
Arga stopped.
“…why does everyone call Leonard the leader?”
Maya smiled bitterly.
“Because Adrian never appears.”
“Why?”
“Because the world knows Adrian Mahendra as a dead man.”
Arga froze.
“What?”
Maya nodded.
“Fifteen years ago, Adrian made the world believe he had died.”
“So…”
“Legally, Adrian Mahendra is dead.”
Arga stared at his mother.
“But in reality?”
Maya answered,
“He’s still alive.”
They arrived at the warehouse around three in the morning.
Maya got out of the car.
Raka locked the doors.
Nadia carried in some equipment.
Arga walked at the back of the group.
His mind was full of questions.
He looked at a photo of his father.
Then at the photo they had found.
Two nearly identical faces.
Only their hairstyles and gazes were different.
Arga suddenly realized something.
All this time, several photos of his father had always been taken from a certain angle.
The right side of his face was never clearly visible.
Maybe it wasn't a coincidence.
Maybe his father had deliberately hidden something.
Maya called out to him.
“Arga.”
Arga turned.
“Yes?”
“We need to talk privately.”
They entered a small room.
Maya sat down.
Arga stood in front of her.
“Why did you leave me?”
The question finally came out.
Maya lowered her head.
“Because your father asked me to.”
“Why?”
“He knew that if I stayed with you, they would use you to find me.”
Arga shook his head.
“I was still a child.”
“I know.”
“And you just left?”
Tears began to stream down Maya's face.
“Every day, I wanted to come back.”
“Then why didn't you?”
“Because every time I tried…”
Maya stopped.
“…someone died.”
Arga fell silent.
“People who helped me.”
“How many?”
Maya looked at him.
“Six.”
Arga was unable to speak.
“Those people were killed just for hiding me.”
Maya wiped her face.
“After the sixth person died, I realized that if I stayed close to you, one day they would come for you.”
Arga lowered his head.
“So you chose to make me believe you were dead.”
Maya nodded.
“I’m sorry.”
Arga didn't forgive her right away.
But he couldn't hate her either.
Because for the first time, he understood that losing his mother might not have been because she didn't love him.
It might have been because she loved him too much.
5:10 a.m.
Arga left the room.
Nadia was still sitting in front of the laptop.
“What is it?”
“I found an address.”
“Whose?”
“Adrian Mahendra's.”
Arga immediately moved closer.
“Where?”
Nadia showed him the screen.
“According to old data, Adrian once owned a company in Singapore.”
“Is it still active?”
“No.”
“Last known address?”
Nadia pointed to a location.
“Jakarta.”
Arga frowned.
“Jakarta?”
“Yes.”
“Why did he come back here?”
Nadia shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Arga read the company's name.
**AM Holdings.**
Then he opened the ownership data.
It was blank.
“There’s no name?”
“No.”
“Search the transactions.”
Nadia began typing.
A few seconds later, a list of transactions appeared.
Arga examined them one by one.
Then his eyes stopped.
A massive transfer.
120 billion rupiah.
Destination:
**Nusantara Data Exchange.**
Date:
Two weeks ago.
Arga stood up at once.
“He’s already made a move.”
Raka came closer.
“What?”
“Adrian.”
“He bought NDE?”
“Not yet.”
Arga pointed at the screen.
“But he put money into the company.”
Nadia nodded.
“Then he’s preparing something.”
Arga smiled faintly.
“Good.”
Raka stared at him.
“Good?”
“Now we know he wants NDE too.”
“Then?”
“We take it first.”
That morning, Arga called an emergency meeting.
Every member of the team was there.
Dimas came too.
Arga watched him closely.
Nothing seemed different.
But now Arga knew there was a chance information from their meetings was being leaked.
He couldn't trust anyone completely.
“Starting today,” Arga said, “we’re dividing the information.”
Dimas frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Not everyone will know every plan.”
Raka understood what he meant.
“For security.”
Arga nodded.
“We’ll be running three separate strategies.”
He wrote on the board.
**STRATEGY A — NDE**
**STRATEGY B — SLN**
**STRATEGY C — K CONSORTIUM**
“Each person will only know the part they’re responsible for.”
Dimas asked,
“Then how will we coordinate?”
“Through me and Raka.”
Dimas nodded.
But Arga watched his eyes.
There was a slight unease there.
Only slight.
But it was enough.
That afternoon, Arga received a call.
An unknown number.
“Hello?”
A man's voice came through.
“Arga Mahendra.”
“Who is this?”
“We've never met.”
Arga said nothing.
“But you've already seen my face.”
Arga frowned.
“Who are you?”
The voice gave a quiet laugh.
“Find the oldest photo of your father.”
The call ended.
Arga immediately opened the family photo archive.
He searched for the oldest picture.
A photo from when his father was young.
A family photo.
His father stood beside Maya.
But there was something behind them.
A young boy.
Arga enlarged the image.
The boy's face was almost identical to his father's.
Maya had been right.
A twin brother.
Adrian.
But one detail was strange.
The boy was holding a small medal shaped like the letter **K**.
Arga fell silent.
He opened another photo.
Nothing.
The next photo.
Nothing.
Until he finally found an old picture from a family event.
Adrian was standing beside a man.
Arga enlarged the man's face.
He knew him.
Leonard Hartono.
But they had been much younger then.
There was a date on the back of the photo.
**1989.**
Arga stared at the screen.
The K Consortium was far older than they had imagined.
Not fifteen years.
Not twenty years.
Its network might have begun decades ago.
That night, Arga went to the old house alone.
He didn't tell Raka.
He didn't tell Nadia.
He wanted to check something.
Maya had said there was a room beneath the house.
Arga entered through the back door.
The house was dark.
He turned on the lights.
Then he walked toward his father's study.
He remembered the position of the desk.
The cabinet.
The bookshelves.
Everything was still the same.
Arga knocked on the floor.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
There was no strange sound.
He moved to the other side.
And knocked again.
This time, it sounded different.
**Knock.**
Arga stopped.
He cleared away the carpet.
There was a wooden panel beneath it.
He lifted it.
There was an iron handle.
Arga pulled it.
A staircase led downward.
He turned on his flashlight.
Then he descended.
The room beneath the house was far larger than he had imagined.
There were document shelves.
An old computer.
A steel cabinet.
And a desk.
On the desk lay a single red book.
Arga moved closer.
He picked it up.
The cover was plain.
There was no name on it.
He opened the first page.
His father's handwriting.
**“For Arga.”**
Arga froze.
He read the next page.
**“If you’ve found this book, it means you’ve already met Maya.”**
Arga swallowed.
**“Don’t immediately believe everything she tells you.”**
Arga stopped.
Then he read the next sentence.
**“Because Maya is keeping one secret she never even told me.”**
Suddenly, a voice came from behind him.
“Don’t read any further.”
Arga froze.
He turned.
Someone was standing in the doorway.
His face was hidden in shadow.
Arga raised his flashlight.
“Who are you?”
The man stepped forward.
The light fell across his face.
Arga froze.
That face…
looked incredibly similar to his father's.
There was almost no difference.
The man smiled.
“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
Arga took a step back.
“Adrian?”
The man nodded.
“Call me Uncle.”
Arga gripped the red book.
“You killed my father.”
Adrian smiled.
“No.”
“Liar.”
“Your father wasn't killed.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“He chose to die.”
Arga frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Adrian pointed at the red book.
“Read to the last page.”
Arga didn't move.
Adrian smiled.
“That’s where you’ll find the real reason your father left you.”
Arga opened the book.
Adrian said quietly,
“And when you finish reading…”
He turned away.
“…you’ll know who the real enemy is.”
Arga stared at him.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell them you’re here?”
Adrian stopped in the doorway.
“No.”
“Why?”
Adrian turned his head.
The smile suddenly disappeared from his face.
“Because they already know you’re here.”
Footsteps sounded from above.
Many of them.
Someone shouted:
“Find Arga!”
Arga stared at the red book in his hand.
Then he opened the last page he had glimpsed.
There was only one sentence.
**“The person closest to you is the one who will betray you.”**
Beneath the sentence was a name.
Arga read it.
His expression changed immediately.
Because the name wasn't Dimas.
Not Raka.
Not Nadia.
Nor Richard or Leonard.
The name written there was:
**Maya Mahendra.**
Arga closed the book.
And for the first time since reuniting with his mother…
he began to wonder whether the woman he had searched for over the past fifteen years had really come to save him.
Or instead…
**to hand him over to the enemy.**