**Chapter Five: The Weapon of Silence**
---
It had been four weeks since Jayden discovered his true identity.
Four weeks of wearing a lie over his skin like a second uniform—smiling during class, nodding at teachers, pretending to struggle with homework. All the while, his nights were filled with cryptic board meetings, high-security planning sessions, and private combat training beneath Lexington Mansion.
Jayden had become two people.
The poor student everyone overlooked.
And the ghost of power quietly claiming his throne.
---
**Monday Morning, Eastview High**
Jayden arrived early, as usual. His old backpack still sagged with the same holes. His shirt still had the same safety-pin-stitched button. Every part of him screamed the same thing he had always been—ordinary.
But he wasn't.
He watched Kevin and Brian approach across the courtyard, their footsteps casual, laughter honest.
"Jayde!" Brian called, swinging an arm over Jayden's shoulder. "Bro, you disappeared again this weekend. Tell me you didn't go on another 'mystery family errand.'"
Jayden grinned. "You know my mum—still hustling."
Kevin laughed, but his eyes scanned Jayden like he was searching for something. "You good, man? You've been different. Quieter."
Jayden shrugged. "Just tired. Life's heavy sometimes."
Kevin opened his mouth to say more, but a sudden wave of students crossing the field interrupted them. Among them: Sasha. Her presence sucked the joy out of the air like a vacuum.
Jayden looked at her once, then looked away.
She didn't approach.
She didn't smile.
But her eyes lingered longer than necessary.
---
**Lexington Mansion – Later That Night**
Jayden stood barefoot on the cold marble floor of the lower training room. The lights above flickered as his instructor, a bald ex-mercenary named **Rico**, circled him with a wooden staff.
"You don't learn to fight to win," Rico said. "You learn to survive. Winning is a luxury."
Jayden nodded, his fists wrapped in white tape.
Rico lunged forward.
Jayden dodged the strike, ducked under a sweep, then countered with a quick jab to the ribs.
Rico grunted. "Better."
Again. Again. Again.
The session lasted two hours. Jayden collapsed to the mat, sweating, sore, but awake.
"Same time tomorrow," Rico said, tossing him a towel.
Jayden wiped his face and stood.
He was building something inside him. Not muscles.
Discipline. Control. Precision.
A weapon with a heartbeat.
---
**The Girl Who Came with Questions**
The next morning, Sasha stopped him behind the chemistry lab.
"Can we talk?" she asked quietly.
Jayden turned slowly, cautious. "Why?"
She fidgeted. "I don't know. I feel like… like I owe you an apology."
He said nothing.
"I was wrong," she continued. "About everything. About you. About what matters."
"You were clear," Jayden replied, voice cold. "You wanted more. And you got it."
Sasha bit her lip. "He—Brandon—he wasn't who I thought."
Jayden raised an eyebrow. "And I'm supposed to care?"
"No. But maybe... maybe you could forgive me."
Jayden leaned forward, eyes like blades. "You didn't break my heart, Sasha. You broke your own reflection. And now you're blaming the mirror."
She flinched.
He walked away.
Sasha stood alone, wounded by her own words.
---
**The Circle Tightens**
Jayden returned home that evening to find Richard standing by the garden, holding a cigar and a folder.
"Walk with me," Richard said.
Jayden joined him silently. The city skyline flickered in the distance.
Richard handed him the folder.
Inside were surveillance photos. Meetings between powerful men. One of them: **Gerald Macharia**—Brandon's father.
"These men are tightening the noose," Richard said. "They're buying shares in Lexington Global. Sabotaging supply chains. Spreading whispers."
Jayden turned a page.
There was a blurry photo of a storage warehouse in Mombasa… burning.
"We lost that factory last night. Arson. No fingerprints."
Jayden clenched his jaw. "They're coming for us."
Richard nodded. "And they don't care if they burn the entire country doing it."
Jayden closed the folder. "Then let's give them something to fear."
---
**The Legacy Guard**
The next day, Jayden met Leo in an abandoned lecture room at a nearby university. They sat in silence for a moment.
"You were right," Jayden said. "They're preparing for war."
Leo nodded. "And you've been chosen to start it."
Jayden reached into his pocket and placed a list of names on the desk.
"What's this?" Leo asked.
"The Legacy Guard," Jayden said. "Children like us. Raised in dirt. Born to giants. Sick of being tools."
Leo looked at the list: sons and daughters of diplomats, retired generals, lost tycoons. Some of them were rumored dead. Some of them had disappeared from school systems completely.
"You want to recruit them?"
Jayden looked him dead in the eye. "I want to awaken them."
Leo leaned back, whistling softly. "You're either going to change this country… or set it on fire."
Jayden's lips curled. "Maybe both."
---
**In the Shadows of the City**
While the city celebrated a national holiday with parades and fireworks, Jayden moved like a ghost between rooftops, alleys, and private courtyards. He met with names from the list. Some laughed. Some threatened him. Some said they'd think about it.
But four of them—**Aida**, **Tariq**, **Malik**, and **Lorna**—agreed.
They weren't just rich kids. They were brilliant.
A hacker. A strategist. A chemist. A linguist.
The Legacy Guard was born.
They would not wear uniforms.
They would wear silence.
---
**The Whisper and the Betrayal**
Three days later, Kevin approached Jayden after class.
"I need to ask you something," Kevin said, eyes uncertain. "Are you… involved with something?"
Jayden froze. "What do you mean?"
Kevin scratched his neck. "There's this guy. Brandon's cousin, I think. He approached Brian. Offered him money to give info about you."
Jayden's blood chilled. "Did Brian take it?"
"No," Kevin said quickly. "He told me. We thought you should know."
Jayden exhaled slowly. "Thanks, bro. Keep this quiet."
Kevin nodded. "But you need to come clean, Jayde. Whatever you're doing… it's getting dangerous."
Jayden smiled faintly. "It's always been dangerous."
---
**Lexington's Health Fails**
Two nights later, Richard collapsed during a board meeting.
Jayden raced to the hospital, his heart pounding.
He found his father pale, weak, hooked to machines.
The doctor pulled Jayden aside.
"Your father is stable," she said. "But the stress is killing him. If he doesn't step back, he won't last six months."
Jayden returned to the room. Richard opened his eyes slowly.
"I'm not dead yet," he rasped.
"But you're not invincible either," Jayden replied.
Richard smirked. "Neither are you."
Jayden looked around the cold white walls, the IV drip, the monitors.
For the first time, he didn't see a king.
He saw a man.
A man whose empire was slipping.
That night, Jayden sat in his room, staring out the window.
The rain fell in slow, heavy sheets. A storm whispered against the glass.
He opened his laptop.
Typed into a secure channel:
**"The Guard is in place. Phase Two begins tomorrow."**
He sent the message.
Then closed the laptop.
And whispered to the darkness:
**"Let them come."**
---
**End of Chapter Five**