Empire: HAKEEM & SASHA

Chapter 18: Vengeance

Hakeem's POV

Weeks had gone by, and every little thing started to get on my nerves. I don't know what it was maybe the pressure, maybe being stuck between Sasha and Camilla, or maybe it was just everything. Sasha and I were arguing more, her always asking if I was okay, if I was good. I know she meant well, but it felt like she was always on me. And then we'd make up, only to end up back at square one. The cycle was draining.

Finally, one night, I couldn't take it anymore. Sasha came at me again with her questions, and this time, I snapped.

"Why do you keep pushing? I told you I'm fine!" I yelled, not even caring about waking the babies this time.

She stood there, eyes wide, shocked. And something in me broke when I saw her face. But instead of fixing it, I grabbed my jacket and stormed out. I couldn't breathe in that house anymore. I needed air, space... Camilla.

I headed straight to her place, my mind spinning with anger and frustration. When I walked in, she was waiting, like she always was. "Took you long enough," she said, smirking like she already knew what was going down.

I didn't say anything, just poured myself a drink. "It's time," I muttered, my voice low. "We're putting the plan in motion. I'm done waiting around."

She grinned, her eyes lighting up. "Finally."

It didn't take long to get Andre on board. He was all about precision, making sure everything looked clean, but me? I was fed up. I wanted it messy. I wanted Lucious to feel it.

A few nights later, I went live, bottle in hand, drunk off my ass. The words just spilled out.

"You know what? F*** Lucious. Yeah, I said it. That man's a terrible father, always looking out for himself. He scammed me out of my contract, kept me locked up in this fake empire while he made moves behind my back. I'm done. I'm done with him, with all of it. I'm starting fresh, new label, new everything."

I was too far gone to realize how big it would get. By the time I woke up the next morning, the internet was already on fire. Clips of my livestream were everywhere. I had gone viral.

Lucious' POV

I sat in my office with Thirsty, going over numbers, when Cookie stormed in, phone in hand, her face tight with fury. "Have you seen this, Lucious?" she snapped, shoving the phone in my face.

I glanced at the screen. It was Hakeem, drunk and slurring his words, going off about me, calling me a scammer, a terrible father. My jaw clenched. I didn't need to see the whole video to get the point.

Thirsty cleared his throat. "Boss, this isn't good. The media's running wild with it. Hakeem's hit a nerve, and it's blowing up. Everyone's talking."

I leaned back in my chair, eyes narrowing. "That boy doesn't know what he's doing," I said quietly, though the anger simmering underneath my words was anything but calm.

But Cookie wasn't having it. "Doesn't know what he's doing? Lucious, he's out there telling the world you screwed him over! He's your son, and you let this happen! You're destroying this family, this legacy, piece by piece!" Her voice rose with each word, her frustration boiling over.

I looked at her, my face hard, but deep down, I knew she was right. Hakeem was a loose cannon, and I had pushed him too far. Now, I had to deal with the fallout.

"Call the lawyers," I said to Thirsty, my voice low but firm. "We need to clean this up before it gets worse."

But even as I said it, I knew—this wasn't something I could just fix with damage control. This was personal. Hakeem wasn't just lashing out. He was trying to burn everything I'd built to the ground. And I wasn't about to let that happen.

I knew I had to move fast if I wanted to take Lucious down for good. Signing with Creedmoor was the first big step. I had already met with the label, and this time, it was solid. Papers signed, the ink still fresh. They were hungry to push my new album—the diss album aimed directly at Lucious. I wasn't holding anything back, airing out everything he'd done to me over the years. The world was going to hear the truth about how he played me, locked me into those unfair contracts, and treated me like I was nothing.

And after the album dropped? That's when I'd hit him where it really hurt. I was going to sue him for damages, drain every last cent from his empire, and then steal the whole thing. I'd built this legacy with him, and now I was going to take it for myself. The plan was set. All that was left was to light the match.

But then, just when I thought everything was going my way, something else hit the fan.

Empire was trending again. This time, not because of me or the diss tracks, but because of another breach. Some data leak that had everyone talking. It was chaos, and I realized that this could be my ticket. Lucious was already on the ropes with my album blowing up; now, this data breach was like an open wound. I just needed to make it worse.

I called up Billy, one of the only people I still trusted. "Yo, I need you to get me a lawyer," I said, pacing the room. "Find someone who can go after Lucious for this breach. We'll get him on both fronts sue him for damages and then for this mess. I'll bleed him dry."

Sasha's POV

I laid in bed, staring at my phone, scrolling through the endless flood of blogs and gossip. Every post seemed worse than the last. Hakeem had gone off the rails, and everyone was talking about it—his public rants, the drama with Lucious, and how he'd left everything behind, including me and the babies. My heart ached as I read through it all, the silence in the mansion pressing down on me like a weight.

It was too quiet here without him. Too empty. The kids were asleep, but their absence only made the loneliness sharper. How had things gotten this bad? How did we go from being a family to me lying here alone, reading about my life unraveling on a screen?

I turned the phone off and let it fall beside me on the bed. The quiet was unbearable, but I couldn't stand to look at the gossip any longer. He wasn't here, and I didn't know when he'd be back. It was as if he'd forgotten about us, like his anger had swallowed him whole, leaving no room for anything else.

I pulled the covers over myself, trying to shut it all out. Maybe sleep would help me escape, at least for a while. But as I closed my eyes, the feeling of abandonment still clung to me, and I wondered how much longer I could keep going like this.

**Hakeem's POV**

The party was in full swing, the air thick with smoke and laughter, bottles popping, and the music loud enough to make the walls shake. This was my moment. Signing with Creedmoor was supposed to be my victory, my declaration of independence from Lucious and everything he ever tried to control. But as I soaked in the energy of the celebration, something shifted.

Lucious walked in, flanked by Thirsty and a couple of his usual goons, his smirk cutting through the noise like a knife. The room seemed to freeze as he approached me, his eyes gleaming with that same look he always gave when he thought he had the upper hand.

"Congratulations, son," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "But you forgot one thing."

Thirsty stepped forward, handing me a crisp envelope. I snatched it from his hand, already knowing this wasn't just some friendly visit. I tore it open, my eyes scanning the paper. It was a lawsuit—Lucious was threatening to sue me for defamation and breach of contract. Signing to Creedmoor while still technically under his empire's grip? That was his play.

I balled the paper up in my fist, my heart pounding with rage. How dare he? After everything he'd done, now he wanted to come after me like this?

Without another word, I stormed out of the party, my mind spinning with fury. Lucious thought he could stop me with a piece of paper? He had no idea what was coming.

I pulled out my phone and texted Chicken and the others. "Meet me at the studio. We're dropping the diss tonight."

This wasn't over. If Lucious wanted a war, I was going to give him one. And the whole world was going to hear about it.