Chapter 19: Fire Beneath the Throne

It was a cold Friday morning, but the heat rising inside Lynn's chest made the chill irrelevant.

The halls of Kays Academy felt tighter, the whispers louder. Every student seemed to be talking about Alex's suspension, and every teacher eyed Lynn with subtle curiosity, like they knew something was brewing—but couldn't name it.

They weren't wrong.

Dianne, Fanshia, and Gallagher walked beside her like loyal knights, their expressions unreadable. Harden, Peter, and Sam waited near the science wing where the school's servers were housed—ground zero for the attack.

Today, it wasn't just about revenge.

It was about justice.

---

Lynn met Alex behind the gym during second period. He hadn't spoken to her since the fake scandal broke.

"Why didn't you tell me you were threatened?" she asked, cutting straight to it.

Alex stiffened. "Because it wasn't about me. It was about her. My sister."

"I know," Lynn said. "I got the message too. I know everything now."

He looked at her carefully. "What did you do?"

"I opened the vault," she whispered.

His eyes widened.

"You found—?"

"Everything. About Suzie. About Zelar. About your name being on their target list."

Alex exhaled slowly, looking away. "So what now?"

"Now?" Lynn stepped closer, resting her hand against his chest. "We burn the lies down. And then we build something better."

Alex looked down at her hand, then into her eyes.

"You're sure?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

He pulled her into a quick, tight hug—something urgent behind the gesture. Not fear. Not romance.

War-born trust.

---

At noon, Gallagher and Fanshia snuck into the teachers' lounge to distract the IT lead. Fanshia spilled her smoothie "accidentally" on the man's lap while Gallagher dropped his backpack by the unlocked desktop.

Meanwhile, Peter slid a small USB into the server terminal behind the chem lab. The device began to extract everything—bribe records, file modification histories, admin codes, and internal emails.

Thirty minutes later, Harden pulled the data from the cloud into a secure drive.

By 1:15 p.m., Lynn stood in the school's media room with Dianne, who was already editing a short, devastating video exposé.

"They wanted drama," Dianne muttered. "We'll give them a show."

---

By 3:00 p.m., every classroom projector flickered to life.

At first, students thought it was another school announcement.

But then the footage started rolling.

Clips of financial records. Screenshots of wire transfers to Jamy's account. Glimpses of Suzie Kay entering meetings with board members she had no business attending. And then, the fake evidence against Alex—proven false by timestamps and traced login IPs.

Finally, one simple slide:

"The truth always burns through." — L.K.

Gasps filled the halls.

Teachers scrambled.

Phones rang.

Suzie's carefully constructed empire collapsed in under seven minutes.

---

Chaos broke out in the boardroom. John Kay had been called in, as had Suzie.

The principal—his hands shaking—asked, "Did you know this was happening under your roof?"

Suzie was silent.

John didn't answer.

But Lynn, who stood calmly just outside the glass door, watched it all with a steady gaze.

She didn't need to speak.

She had already said everything that mattered.

---

Later that evening, in the back courtyard of the school, Alex found Lynn seated on the garden bench, watching the sky dim.

"You did it," he said.

"No," she corrected. "We did it."

He sat beside her.

"They called off the suspension. I'm back on the team. My sister's school's increasing security. And Suzie?"

"Temporary exile from all family accounts. Internal investigation pending."

"And your dad?"

Lynn paused. "He finally sees me."

Alex reached for her hand. "We're not safe yet."

"I know," she said. "But we've survived the first strike."

He turned to her fully. "Lynn?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm falling in love with you."

She blinked, breath catching.

Then she leaned in—one hand on his jaw, the other at the back of his neck—and kissed him.

Slow. Fierce. Certain.

When she pulled back, her voice was barely a whisper.

"Then fall all the way."

---

In the distance, a storm rolled through the edge of City Z. But for once, it didn't feel threatening.

It felt like a curtain rising.

Because this was just the end of the beginning.

And Lynn Kay was only getting started.