Chapter 17: Ghost Kings
**Chapter Seventeen: Ghost Kings**
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Rain hit Nairobi like a warning that morning.
Cold.
Hard.
Unrelenting.
Jayden sat in the corner of the Lexington Estate's strategy room, staring at the footage of the assassination attempt—frame by frame.
Brian had risked everything.
His mother was alive because of him.
And still… the thought of how close they'd come chilled Jayden to the bone.
Leo walked in, coat dripping. He tossed a USB drive onto the table.
"New intel. From an old name."
Jayden raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
Leo leaned forward.
**"Brandon's not in Dubai."**
---
The footage on the drive was grainy, shot from a street camera in Lamu—coastal Kenya.
Brandon Macharia.
Disguised in a kanzu, sunglasses, walking through the port. Not alone.
Two men flanked him—foreign, armed, tactical.
Leona entered, lips pressed tight.
"He's not hiding," she said. "He's recruiting."
Jayden stared at the paused image.
"He's building a ghost army."
Leo nodded. "Former private contractors. Mercs. Ex-special ops. He's offering them money, power… and a piece of Lexington Global."
Aida entered next. She dropped a printed document on the table.
"He's calling it *Project Ghost King.*"
Jayden read the words.
And felt his pulse rise.
---
**PROJECT GHOST KING**
Objective: **Overthrow Jayden Lexington**
Method: **Sabotage. Frame. Collapse from within.**
Launch Date: **Undisclosed. But soon.**
Jayden turned to his team.
"No more defense," he said. "We cut him off. Coast to coast. Digitally. Financially. Physically."
Leona raised her brow. "And how exactly do we do that?"
Jayden's voice was cold.
"We go to Lamu."
---
Within twelve hours, the team was airborne in a black chopper, flying low over the ocean, radar-dark, cloaked from surveillance.
Jayden stared through the window, remembering the days when his only battles were late assignments and cafeteria bullies.
Now he was flying into a manhunt.
As they touched down on a private airstrip outside Lamu, Jayden's comms buzzed.
"Movement detected," said Tariq's replacement, a young tech named Faith. "Brandon's convoy is heading toward a private villa. We have a six-minute window before full lockdown."
Jayden nodded. "Then let's take it."
---
The Legacy Guard moved like ghosts themselves.
Sasha hacked into the villa's CCTV.
Brian disabled the outer alarms.
Leo led the breach team.
Jayden entered last.
Brandon stood at the far end of the villa lounge—calm, as always. Hair slicked. Tan suit. A glass of wine in his hand like a king on his throne.
"You finally came," Brandon said.
Jayden didn't raise his weapon yet. "You're done, Brandon."
Brandon smiled.
"No. *You're* done."
Suddenly, the villa lights went out.
Gas hissed from the walls.
Jayden grabbed his mask.
"Split up!" Leo shouted.
But it was too late.
Smoke filled the room.
Gunshots followed.
Chaos.
---
Jayden woke up hours later.
Tied to a chair.
Face-to-face with Brandon.
"You should've stayed in Nairobi," Brandon said, circling him like a vulture. "Instead, you came to my doorstep."
Jayden clenched his jaw.
"You kidnapped your own destruction."
Brandon laughed.
"Still dramatic. Still predictable."
He leaned in close.
"You think this is about revenge? About your little empire? No, Jayden. It's about exposure. I want the world to see your failure. Your powerlessness. Your crown… crumbling."
Jayden's voice cut like ice.
"You're not a king, Brandon. You're a shadow. A footnote. A boy who inherited fear."
Brandon slapped him across the face—once. Sharp. Not angry. Just to remind Jayden he could.
Jayden didn't flinch.
"I've beaten your father," Brandon whispered. "And now I'll erase you."
---
But Jayden had one thing Brandon didn't.
A team that didn't quit.
At that moment, Sasha triggered the emergency GPS beacon Jayden kept hidden in his shoe.
Faith intercepted the signal and scrambled the rescue.
Brian, bruised and limping, led a full counter-assault, aided by Leo and Aida.
In under seven minutes, the Legacy Guard stormed the villa, flashbangs exploding across the compound.
Jayden was pulled from the chair by Kevin.
Brandon tried to flee.
Jayden tackled him himself.
They fought—fists, elbows, blood.
No guns.
No politics.
Just two broken boys raised by kings, trying to prove who deserved the throne.
Jayden won.
Barely.
Brandon lay on the floor, lip split, gasping.
Jayden stood over him, breathing heavy.
"You don't deserve my rage anymore," Jayden said.
"You deserve to be forgotten."
He turned away.
Let the guards take Brandon.
---
Back in Nairobi, the world woke to breaking news:
**"BRANDON MACHARIA CAPTURED IN LAMU RAID"**
**"LEXINGTON ENDS GHOST KING PROJECT"**
**"YOUNG CEO DEFEATS MULTINATIONAL CRIMINAL ARM"**
Jayden watched the headlines from his mother's room.
Amara touched his bruised cheek gently.
"My son," she whispered. "You've done the impossible."
Jayden looked out the window.
The city below was quiet.
But inside him, a storm still churned.
"I'm not finished," he said softly. "Not yet."
She smiled.
"No. But you're standing taller. And your shadow isn't chasing you anymore. It's following."
---
Later that night, Jayden sat in his father's study again, writing in the old journal Richard Lexington had kept.
He wrote four words across the top of a new page:
**"I buried the ghost."**
Then, without looking up, he added one more line:
> "Now I build the kingdom."
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**End of Chapter Seventeen**