Chapter 623: The Tapes of Yesterday
The city wept with Jayden.
Rain poured like a thousand knives from the heavens, soaking him to the bone as he stood alone on the rooftop, staring down at the battered recorder in his hand.
Viktor's team had left to clean up the aftermath.
Matilda had tried to stay, had whispered that he wasn't alone —
but Jayden needed this moment.
Needed to face the ghosts himself.
Bella's blood still stained his clothes.
Every heartbeat felt like betrayal.
He sat down on the cold concrete, legs weak, and pressed play.
A low static filled the air, the sound so raw it hurt his ears.
And then…
His father's voice.
> "Jayden… if you're hearing this, it means everything I built, everything I fought for… has fallen into your hands."
Jayden closed his eyes, letting the words cut deep.
> "You were never meant to live in the shadows. But there are truths darker than death itself."
"You must choose: vengeance… or freedom. You can't have both."
Jayden gripped the recorder tighter, the rain washing over him like judgment.
Freedom?
Vengeance?
He wanted both.
He deserved both.
---
Morning came.
The sky was still heavy, and the streets still smelled of smoke and sorrow.
Jayden walked into Viktor's safehouse like a storm given human form.
Everyone turned.
Matilda gasped softly.
His eyes were different.
Not broken.
Not lost.
Reforged.
Jayden dropped the recorder on the table.
> "We end Gloria." he said. "But not like this. We destroy everything she stands for first. Her reputation. Her secrets. Her throne."
Viktor grinned, a savage glint in his eyes.
> "About time we stopped playing nice."
They gathered around — Matilda, Viktor's wolves, even the new recruits still wet behind the ears.
Jayden leaned in, his voice a blade.
> "First move: leak Gloria's offshore accounts."
"Second: expose the prison camps hidden in the East Sector."
"Third: make the world hate her before we touch her body."
A slow, dangerous smile spread across Matilda's face.
For the first time in months, she saw the boy she had believed in.
The one who could change everything.
---
That night, the world woke up to chaos.
Screens across the globe flickered.
Phones buzzed.
News anchors stuttered as thousands of classified documents, videos, and hidden correspondences flooded the internet.
Gloria's empire wasn't just corrupt — it was monstrous.
Slavery.
Torture.
Secret deals with foreign enemies.
Even betrayals of her closest allies.
The people, once loyal, turned furious.
Protests exploded.
Walls once held by fear crumbled into dust.
Jayden watched the flames from the window of an abandoned apartment, Matilda by his side.
> "You did it," she whispered.
> "No," Jayden said quietly. "We're just getting started."
His phone buzzed.
An unknown number.
A single message:
> "Congratulations, Jayden. You've won the first round. Now let's see if you survive the next. - G"
Jayden smiled grimly.
Gloria wasn't beaten yet.
But neither was he.
He slipped Bella's locket around his neck, feeling her presence beside him.
This war wasn't just for revenge anymore.
It was for redemption.
---