The night air hung thick over Silvergate University, muffling the sounds of the city beyond its gates. It was past midnight, and the campus had gone silent—except for the distant hum of crickets and the occasional flickering lamp outside the lecture halls.
In the shadows near the old maintenance block, Elijah crouched behind a generator, his laptop balanced on a toolbox. The screen glowed softly against his face, reflecting the cold determination in his eyes.
Lines of code scrolled rapidly as he hacked into the university's security logs, searching—scanning.
The leak.
The blog post had come from someone inside. Someone with access to an internal database.
He paused, squinting.
There.
An outgoing file trace from a student account under the alias RexDino254. Uploaded from the computer lab on the west wing two nights ago.
He tapped a few keys, revealing the student's ID.
Kevin Oduor.
Elijah's jaw clenched.
Of course.
---
The next morning, Amina felt something off before she even reached her class.
People stared.
They whispered.
She checked her uniform—clean. Her scarf—intact. Face—no stains. So what was it?
She was halfway to the lecture hall when Leila ran up, phone in hand.
"Have you seen this?" Leila asked, wide-eyed.
She showed her the screen.
It was the blog post.
But now, her picture had been added. A screenshot of her sitting beneath the jacaranda tree. The caption read:
> "Mysterious girl linked to Elijah Mwangi—the billionaire's son presumed dead. Who is she really?"
Amina's breath hitched. Her legs froze.
"What is this?" she whispered.
Leila looked terrified. "You're trending. People are reposting it everywhere."
"Who took that picture?"
"I don't know," Leila said. "But this is serious."
They rushed into the girls' bathroom. Amina locked herself in a stall.
Her hands shook as she reread the article.
She didn't understand any of it.
Billionaire's son?
Elijah?
No. That had to be a mistake.
Unless—
Her stomach turned.
She pulled out the note she had folded in her pocket days ago.
"Be careful who you talk to."
She thought it was weird at the time.
Now it made too much sense.
---
Meanwhile, Kevin leaned back in his leather seat inside the student union office, grinning like a man who'd just won a bet.
Across from him sat two guys—bloggers, wannabe journalists.
"You're sure it's him?" one asked nervously.
Kevin raised an eyebrow. "I'm not stupid. I ran face recognition. That janitor is Elijah Mwangi. I recognized him before the system did."
"And the girl?"
He smirked. "Collateral damage."
The other blogger scratched his head. "But why leak it? What if the real people come for you?"
Kevin chuckled. "They already have."
He turned his laptop to show them something.
A bank transfer.
KES 500,000.
Sender: G. Holdings Kenya Ltd.
"Who's that from?" the younger blogger asked.
Kevin's eyes gleamed. "The Mwangi family. Or at least the stepmother. You know what that means?"
He leaned forward.
"This story is worth blood."
---
That evening, Amina left her last lecture early, barely able to focus.
The stares hadn't stopped.
Some girls sneered. Others looked at her like a celebrity scandal.
A few students whispered too loudly.
"Gold digger."
"That's how she pays her fees."
"Janitor's side chick turned billionaire's bride."
Her cheeks burned.
She rushed across campus toward the maintenance wing, her feet moving before her mind could catch up.
Elijah was outside, locking up a supply cabinet.
She walked straight up to him and slapped the locker beside his head.
"You lied to me."
He didn't flinch.
She stared at him, hurt written across every line of her face. "Who are you really?"
Elijah sighed. "You already know."
"No, I don't! I knew a janitor. Quiet. Weird. Honest. Not a billionaire's ghost!"
He looked at her, voice low. "I never meant for you to get dragged into this."
"Then why didn't you say anything?"
"Because people like Kevin would do exactly what they did."
"You could've trusted me."
He took a step closer. "Trust is a luxury when people have tried to kill you."
Her breath caught.
"What?"
He looked away. "The accident that killed me… wasn't an accident."
Amina's eyes widened.
"I was set up. The car bomb was meant to erase me from the family line."
Silence stretched between them.
He continued. "I faked my death. I disappeared. I became Elijah, the janitor. I had peace… until you."
She whispered, "Why me?"
He looked at her then, fully, like she was the only person in the world.
"Because you saw me when I didn't want to be seen."
---
Elsewhere, in an underground parking lot uptown, Grace Mwangi met with a man in a dark coat.
"You sure he's still there?" she asked.
The man nodded. "Silvergate confirmed. But there's another problem. He's not alone anymore."
"Meaning?"
"The girl. She's getting close."
Grace narrowed her eyes. "Then it's time we remind him why he should've stayed dead."
---
Back on campus, Amina sat on the rooftop of the west dormitory, watching the stars.
Elijah sat beside her in silence.
"I don't want to be famous," she whispered.
"You won't be. Not for long."
"I just wanted to graduate. Get a job. Maybe help Jesse go to college."
"You still can."
"Not if the Mwangi family starts hunting me down."
"I won't let them touch you."
She turned to him.
"You don't even know me."
"I know you give your brother lunch money even when you skip meals. I know you study late every night and still wake up early to clean tables. I know you smile even when it hurts."
He looked at her softly.
"And I know that I haven't felt safe with anyone… until now."
Amina's eyes filled with tears she hadn't realized were coming.
"Then let me help," she whispered.
Elijah hesitated.
Then nodded.
---
The next day, news spread like wildfire.
The school administration suspended the janitor.
Rumors blamed stolen equipment.
But Amina knew better.
She waited for Elijah at their usual spot behind the library. He didn't come.
She called the number he had once scribbled on a receipt for her.
Switched off.
That night, someone broke into her hostel room.
Nothing was stolen—except her notebook.
The one where she had written every detail about Elijah.
---
Far from campus, in a dim safehouse near Ngong Hills, Elijah watched from a cracked window.
He was off-grid now.
But the war had begun.
And this time—he wasn't fighting to disappear.
He was fighting to take everything back.
Including her.