Heart.exe Crashed

Part 9: Payload

"Some codes just want to watch the system burn."

Ghost didn't just want to humiliate Ruby.
He wanted to destroy her - and anyone she cared about.

Which now included Alex.

Ruby sat alone, staring at her monitor.

She hadn't eaten. Hadn't blinked in minutes.
The screen flashed red - a data breach warning.

"He's moving fast. Faster than I expected."

She accessed her private server and froze.
Every backup, every tool, every script - infected.

And in the center was a new file:

Payload.exe

She clicked.

It played a message:

"Since you love him so much, let's see if he still loves you after I'm done."
"Tick-tock."

Alex was already seeing the signs.

His Instagram suddenly followed strangers.

Messages he didn't send popped up in group chats.

Old photos - photos he never took - were shared online.

"I never clicked that," he whispered. "What's going on?"

Ruby showed up at his door - no laptop, no hoodie, no walls.

Just Ruby.

"Ghost planted a payload. He's rewriting your online life, piece by piece."

"So what now?" Alex asked.

She hesitated.

"We go to war."

They set up a command center in Alex's room.

Ruby: "We're wiping everything. Cloud. Drives. Shadow folders."
Alex: "That'll erase years of my life."
Ruby: "But it'll save your future."

She paused, looked at him seriously.

"You have to trust me now, more than ever."

"I do," he said.

Just then, the power flickered.

"No... no no no-"
"He's here," Ruby gasped.

On the screen: a laughing skull glitching in and out.

"Payload activated."

All the screens turned black.

And then...

A photo of Ruby and Alex, together at the beach - was leaked on every major social platform.

Caption: "The liar and the fool."

People started messaging. Commenting. Screenshots flew.

Alex stared, shaken.

"This is just the beginning," Ruby whispered. "He's not going to stop."

"Then neither will we."