Chapter 24: Brothers of Fire
Chapter Twenty-Four: Brothers of Fire
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The Lexington Estate had never been quieter.
Not during war.
Not during scandal.
Not even during Jayden's public unmasking.
Because tonight, a ghost had returned—not to haunt…
But to help.
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Ayden—once known only as Switch—sat across from Jayden in the war room.
Unmasked.
Unchained.
Untrustworthy.
And yet… necessary.
Leo stood behind Jayden, hand near his sidearm.
Sasha lingered in the corner, arms folded, eyes sharp.
Faith didn't speak.
She didn't need to.
Everything about this was dangerous.
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Jayden broke the silence.
"Zuri's already rewritten part of the education fund's source code. If she corrupts the medical grants next, hundreds of patients across East Africa lose access to life-saving care."
Ayden didn't blink. "She's doing what your father did to us."
Jayden replied firmly, "Then help me do the opposite."
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Ayden tapped on the encrypted terminal.
"I installed backdoor trackers in her systems before we split paths. She doesn't know I'm still inside her code."
Jayden leaned forward. "Then we use that access. Not to destroy her… but to corner her."
Ayden scoffed. "You think she'll surrender?"
Jayden's voice dropped.
"No. But I think she'll talk."
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Faith activated a virtual projection screen showing Zuri's live keystroke stream.
"She's in Sudan now," she said. "Routing through old UN networks. She's using ghost channels—rare, hard to track. But Ayden's code just gave us a window."
Ayden turned. "We can trigger a lock inside her own firewall. Freeze her node. For ninety seconds. It's risky."
Jayden didn't hesitate. "Do it."
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Phase One began.
Ayden input a coded virus—a mirror of Zuri's own attack style—designed to blend in, not set off alarms.
He named it Ashglass.
Jayden watched in silence as the sequence launched.
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Midnight.
Zuri sat alone in an abandoned tech hub outside Khartoum.
Her fingers danced across her laptop.
Until… her system froze.
For ninety seconds.
Exactly.
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Jayden appeared in her terminal window via video link.
Zuri blinked. "You're getting bold."
Jayden didn't smile. "You attacked what my father built. I let it go. But now you're attacking what I've changed. What I've earned. That ends tonight."
Zuri leaned back, unfazed. "You think Ayden won't betray you?"
Jayden nodded. "He already did. Now he's trying to fix it."
Zuri laughed softly. "There is no fixing legacy, Jayden. Only fire can purify it."
"Then let's burn the lies," he replied. "But not the people."
The feed cut before she could answer.
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Back in Nairobi, Ayden stood slowly.
"She's moving. Fast. The next time she strikes… she'll go physical. Not digital."
Jayden nodded. "That's why we need to be there."
Faith looked up. "Where?"
Ayden closed his laptop, eyes hard.
"There's only one place left Zuri hasn't touched."
Jayden stared.
"…Lexington Tower."
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The tower had stood since Jayden was a child.
Thirty floors. Glass and steel. Built by his father to symbolize transparency.
Now, it might become a warzone.
Ayden outlined the plan:
"She'll infiltrate under the guise of a system audit. She has forged clearance, forged contracts. She'll get to the mainframe and trigger a data leak wide enough to destroy every humanitarian partner you have."
Jayden turned to Leo. "Double security. Lock the basement cores. No elevator access without manual override."
To Ayden, he said:
"You and I will meet her at the top."
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Three days later, Lexington Tower stood under silver skies.
Jayden waited in the penthouse conference room, overlooking the city he once walked barefoot through.
Ayden stood by the door, dressed in all black, headset in.
At 4:17 p.m., the elevator chimed.
Zuri stepped out.
Alone.
Wearing white.
She looked at Jayden, then Ayden.
"Both of you," she said calmly. "How poetic."
Jayden nodded. "It's time we end this."
Zuri walked slowly to the center table.
"I came here to do one thing," she said. "Erase every trace of Richard Lexington."
Jayden's voice was steel.
"Then start with me."
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Ayden stepped between them.
"Zuri," he said quietly. "You were right. About the system. About the legacy. But if you burn this… innocent people die."
Zuri's eyes shimmered—not with tears, but fury.
"And what about our parents?"
Jayden stepped forward.
"They deserved justice. And they'll get it."
He took a small device from his pocket.
A recording chip.
"On here is a full confession. Every name involved in the cover-up. I'm releasing it to the world. No filters. No edits."
Zuri stared at it.
Then stepped back.
"…You would risk your own name to do that?"
Jayden looked her in the eye.
"I already buried the one that lied. I'm building the one that tells the truth."
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Zuri didn't take the device.
But she didn't destroy it either.
She turned to Ayden.
"You believe this?"
Ayden nodded slowly.
"For the first time… yes."
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That night, Jayden uploaded the full confession.
Names. Faces. Evidence.
Even his father's voice.
The world went silent.
Then it erupted.
Some tried to sue. Others fled. But most…
Applauded.
Because for the first time, a billionaire didn't hide.
He told the truth.
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Ayden remained behind, watching the tower from the rooftop.
Jayden joined him.
"You could still disappear," Jayden said.
Ayden smirked. "I probably will."
Jayden handed him a small black card.
"A new identity. No more Switch. Just Ayden. You choose who you want to be."
Ayden stared at it.
Then pocketed it.
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Far away, Zuri watched the broadcast from a private terminal.
She didn't speak.
Didn't cry.
Just whispered:
> "Maybe he really is different."
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End of Chapter Twenty-Four