**Chapter Ten: Storms Don't Ask Permission**
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The video had started as a declaration.
A warning to the Serpents.
A promise to the world.
But within forty-eight hours, it became a phenomenon.
Clips of Jayden's speech flooded TikTok, Twitter, Instagram. Influencers dubbed him *"The Reluctant Heir."* Others called him *"The Ghost of Kibera."* His story was torn apart, reposted, remixed with music, dissected in reaction videos and podcasts.
He became a movement.
To some, he was a symbol of rebellion—proof that the rich were not untouchable. To others, he was dangerous: a poor boy risen too high, too fast, with too much emotion and not enough leash.
Jayden watched the firestorm from the Lexington estate balcony, hands in his pockets.
Behind him, his mother sat sipping porridge, her face still pale from the trauma but gaining strength.
She watched him quietly.
"You know this road doesn't go back," she said.
Jayden didn't turn around. "I was never meant to go back."
That afternoon, Leona arrived in a dark SUV, holding a USB and a folder marked **"URGENT."**
"They've accelerated their plans," she said. "Gerald Macharia wants to launch a public campaign to take control of Lexington Global entirely. He's got ex-board members, news outlets, government officials lined up. They're spinning your video to look like a threat. Claiming you're unstable, unfit."
Jayden flipped through the file.
False testimony.
Doctored footage.
Leaked psychiatric evaluations from when he was a child and grieving his grandmother.
"This is war," he said calmly.
Leona nodded. "And it's only beginning."
Jayden didn't blink. "Good."
Later that night, while the world argued over who he really was, Jayden gathered his team in the estate's underground strategy room—a place built by his father during his years of paranoia and foresight.
Around the table sat Leo, Aida, Kevin, Brian, Tariq, and Lorna.
The Legacy Guard was now complete.
Jayden stood at the head of the room.
"I didn't choose this war," he said. "But I'm not walking away from it. They threatened my mother. They kidnapped Leo. They're painting us as criminals while they steal our future in silence. I say enough."
Tariq leaned forward. "So what's the plan?"
Jayden pressed a button.
A holographic map appeared above the table, highlighting Nairobi, Mombasa, and Nakuru.
"These three cities hold the most influence in media, finance, and tech. We cut off Gerald's access to those, we suffocate him without firing a bullet."
Leo raised a brow. "How do we do that?"
Jayden smiled faintly. "With truth."
The next day, they launched **Project Floodlight**.
It started with internal leaks—hidden audio files of Serpent boardroom meetings, confessions of bribery, abuse of government funding, offshore accounts. These were uploaded anonymously to whistleblower platforms.
Then came the public interviews.
Jayden agreed to appear on a national live news broadcast—unfiltered, unedited.
He walked onto the set in his school uniform, his mother's bracelet on his wrist, and faced a panel of hostile journalists.
They asked if he was unstable.
He responded with poise.
They accused him of being a privileged brat pretending to be poor.
He responded by detailing every night he went to bed without food, every time his mother cleaned houses just to buy his school shoes.
They tried to corner him with technical questions about his father's business empire.
He answered every one.
The world watched in stunned silence.
By the end of the interview, the journalists were leaning forward—not to attack, but to understand.
Jayden left the studio to find a crowd of people cheering outside.
Kibera kids waving his photo.
University students chanting his name.
Taxi drivers honking in rhythm.
But power brings shadows.
That night, a sniper's bullet cracked the glass of Jayden's bedroom window.
It missed by inches.
Security teams scrambled. Guards doubled.
But the message was clear:
**We see you. And we're getting closer.**
Jayden sat in his room alone for hours, replaying the bullet's echo over and over.
It wasn't fear that haunted him.
It was fury.
Because while he fought to change the system…
…they fought to silence him completely.
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In the days that followed, a storm brewed over Kenya's skies and media.
The government froze assets linked to the Serpents. A high-ranking official was arrested for corruption. Protesters gathered outside buildings owned by Brandon's father, demanding justice.
And Sasha?
She disappeared from the spotlight.
Rumors swirled—some said she fled to Dubai, others claimed she was under protection after receiving threats for betraying Jayden.
Jayden didn't care.
Some bridges were meant to burn.
But he wasn't ready for what came next.
On a Wednesday morning, his mother handed him a letter with trembling hands.
The return address was from a secure facility.
**Richard Lexington.**
Jayden opened it carefully.
Inside were only six words:
> **"Finish what I never could start."**
And a copy of a sealed will.
Jayden read the details twice.
Then a third time.
His hands shook.
Because the final clause changed everything.
If Jayden chose to accept, he wouldn't just inherit Lexington Global.
He'd become the full custodian of an offshore account worth 4.2 billion dollars.
But there was a condition.
He had to go public with his name, legally and officially.
No more hiding.
No more lying to his friends.
No more anonymity.
Jayden sat by the window, staring at the gray clouds gathering over Nairobi.
Storms didn't ask permission.
They came whether you were ready or not.
And now… he had to decide whether to become the storm.
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**End of Chapter Ten**