Ochieng's pulse raced as he carried Naomi—unconscious and bleeding—from the Gala garden. The bullet hadn't hit her heart, but the shoulder wound was deep. Beneath the marble floors of the university was a hidden infirmary only known to elite insiders.
He had no time to explain who he was or how he knew about it.
---
Dr. Myra Langston – 32, trauma surgeon, fierce, and one of the most mysterious women on campus. Short platinum hair, snake tattoo curling from her collarbone, and a past nobody dared ask about. Known for patching up the rich and reckless—no questions asked.
She glanced up when Ochieng burst in.
"You again?" she said dryly.
"She's not dying in here," he snapped.
She rolled her eyes. "Lay her down and let me work."
---
Ace Maddox – 26, ex-military marksman, now a mercenary. Emotionless, cold, eyes like a wolf. He packed up his sniper and made one call:
> "Target not eliminated. Unexpected resistance. Your move, Juliette."
---
Naomi stirred.
"Zion… is that you…?" she whispered, dazed.
He knelt beside her, removing his mask.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
"Ochieng… but you— you were—"
"Gone?" he finished. "They tried to erase me. I let them. But I've returned… and I'm not hiding anymore."
Her fingers trembled as she touched his cheek.
He kissed her forehead. "This time, I'll burn the entire world if they try to take you again."
---
Silvershade Grand Library – Secret Shareholders Meeting Room
Callan Reyes sat at the head of a long table.
Around him were billionaires and power brokers—Board Members of the Silvershade Trust.
On the agenda:
New campus tech firm acquisition.
Controlling stake in The Langston Bio-Pharmaceuticals.
"Elimination" of unknown threat codenamed: Zion.
Kendra, sipping red wine, leaned over.
"What if Zion isn't just a nobody? What if he's… him?"
Callan smirked.
"Then we bury him. Legally or otherwise."
---
Juliette soaked in a red rose bath. Her eyes glowed with madness and lust.
Next to her, on a velvet chair, sat a black binder.
Inside? Profiles of everyone close to Ochieng:
Naomi
Alvina Kerr
Tasha (his cousin, secretly a billionaire coder)
Professor Myra
Even… his own brother, Elias.
"We'll make him choose who dies first," she whispered.
---
A secret video begins to circulate around campus anonymously. A recording from 3 years ago…
Ochieng, shirtless, bruised, chained in a basement… confessing something… something about a scandal.
The caption?
> "The truth behind your masked prince. #OchiengUnmasked"
Silvershade explodes into chaos.
---