Chapter 20: The Betrayer’s Code
**Chapter Twenty: The Betrayer's Code**
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Jayden had always known betrayal.
He'd worn it like skin when Sasha walked away. He'd tasted it when the Serpents tried to burn his name from memory.
But this time…
It felt closer.
Deeper.
Personal.
---
They ran diagnostics on the stolen laptop found under the church altar. Faith dissected Zuri's code hour by hour, line by line.
Everywhere she looked, it mirrored Lexington Global's old systems. But something was off.
"These aren't just blueprints," Faith muttered. "They're corrupted signatures. Code used to infect our own firewalls."
Jayden leaned over her shoulder.
"Could someone inside have leaked it to her?"
Faith hesitated.
"Not just leaked it. Designed it."
Jayden's voice was ice. "What do you mean?"
She tapped a segment.
"This line here? It's not Zuri's."
Jayden squinted. Recognized it instantly.
A signature string. One he'd seen before.
**Written by Kevin.**
---
Jayden found Kevin that afternoon on the practice range, firing at static drones with pinpoint accuracy.
"Nice shot," Jayden said quietly.
Kevin lowered the rifle. "You alright?"
Jayden tossed a tablet at his feet.
Kevin picked it up. His face froze.
"This… this isn't what it looks like."
Jayden stepped forward, barely whispering.
"Then tell me what it is."
Kevin looked around. The trees. The sky. Anywhere but Jayden's eyes.
"I used to write experimental code for the internal firewall project," Kevin said finally. "Back when we first joined the board. Before Brandon vanished."
Jayden's jaw tightened.
"Did Zuri get it from you?"
"No," Kevin said quickly. "I swear. I stored it on a private node. Offline."
Jayden pressed. "Who else had access?"
Kevin paused.
"…Tariq. Before he was exiled."
Jayden cursed under his breath.
Of course.
Tariq had copied Kevin's code and fed it to Zuri before his exile. The betrayal wasn't Kevin's.
But Kevin had left the door unlocked.
---
Back in the estate's war room, Leo examined the full code string now verified from Kevin and Zuri.
"Zuri didn't just want revenge. She's weaponizing our own creation."
Jayden clenched his fists.
"What's the goal?"
Leona stepped in from the comms room.
"To fracture your empire from within."
Aida followed behind.
"She's not launching missiles. She's planting doubt. She wants us to tear ourselves apart before she even arrives at the gates."
Jayden sat back.
And realized the genius of it all.
> Zuri wasn't fighting him.
> She was unmaking belief.
---
Three days passed.
Then the servers went dark.
---
At precisely 2:17 a.m., Lexington Global's west data centre in Kilimani lost full power.
Generators failed. Redundant systems collapsed. Internal AI watchdogs went blind.
Faith screamed into her headset: "We're under siege!"
Jayden ran barefoot into the vault, laptop in hand.
Code scrolled faster than any virus they'd ever seen.
At the bottom corner of every infected screen, a new message flashed:
> **"WELCOME TO THE END, CROWNBEARER."**
> **"TONIGHT, YOUR LEGACY DIES."**
> **—Z**
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By 3:00 a.m., every system linked to the foundation's medical grants was frozen. Beneficiaries couldn't access funds. Hospitals halted payments.
By 3:12, investment bots triggered sell-offs. Lexington's global stock value dropped 14% in six minutes.
By 3:23, the Lexington Education Fund was wiped.
Erased.
Faith looked up at Jayden.
"They're nuking the soul of your father's legacy."
Jayden's voice was steel.
"Then we give them something they can't erase."
---
They activated **Protocol Orion**—an emergency AI developed in secret by Jayden and Leo.
An artificial "mirror core" meant to mimic, trap, and reflect hostile code.
"Activate on full traceback," Jayden commanded.
Faith pressed the final key.
The war began in silence.
Servers hummed.
Lines of code lit up like lightning bolts.
And slowly…
**Zuri's virus began to lose ground.**
---
At 4:06 a.m., the main Lexington interface blinked back to life.
One screen opened without command.
Zuri's face appeared—holographic. Simulated.
"Impressive," she said. "But you're not fighting me. You're fighting memory."
Jayden leaned into the mic.
"Wrong. I'm rewriting it."
Then he hit execute.
A silver wave of code wiped through the screen.
Zuri's face glitched, shattered, dissolved.
One word remained:
**"RUNNING."**
---
Jayden turned to his team.
"She's not defeated. She's just retreating."
Leo spoke grimly.
"She knows we're serious now."
Jayden nodded.
"And we know this isn't just about revenge."
Aida frowned. "Then what?"
Jayden stared at the blank screen.
> "It's about resurrection."
---
Hours later, back in his room, Jayden opened an old photo of his father.
Richard Lexington.
Stoic. Noble. Fierce.
Jayden whispered, "They're trying to kill you again."
Then closed the photo.
And opened a clean slate.
> A new blueprint.
Not for code.
But for something bigger.
> A digital fortress. Unbreakable. Pure.
And he named it:
**Legacy²**
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**End of Chapter Twenty**