CHAPTER 9 — THE KINGMAKER
CHAPTER 9 — THE KINGMAKER
The photograph lay on the hospital bed.
No one spoke.
Richard.
My father.
Me.
And the man dressed entirely in black.
For years, I had believed my family stood at the top of the world.
I had been wrong.
Someone else had always been pulling the strings.
Marcus broke the silence.
"My team recovered another file from Richard's office."
He placed a thick folder in front of me.
The cover read:
PROJECT PHOENIX
Inside were dozens of photographs.
Every one of them was about me.
Me leaving school.
Me meeting Sophia.
Me proposing to her.
Me driving away the night of my accident.
I felt sick.
"We were being watched..."
Sophia whispered.
Marcus nodded.
"For years."
Then he turned another page.
A grainy photograph.
Young Sophia stood outside the Williams estate, holding little Lucas in her arms.
The date in the corner...
Twenty-five years ago.
Across the photo someone had written:
DO NOT LET THEM MEET.
Sophia covered her mouth.
"I knew it..."
"They lied to me."
I continued turning the pages.
Letter after letter.
Every one addressed to me.
Every one intercepted.
Every birthday card.
Every hospital report.
Every medical bill.
Every cry for help.
None of them had ever reached me.
Someone had stolen twenty-five years of our lives.
Emily suddenly spoke.
"Dad..."
I looked toward her.
She had become frighteningly calm.
"The wedding..."
"It wasn't about me."
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
She closed her eyes.
"Daniel told me something two nights before the ceremony."
"What?"
"He said..."
"Once we're married..."
"...everything finally belongs to us."
I felt a chill.
Not to him.
To us.
There had always been another partner.
At that moment, Marcus's phone rang.
"It's our cyber team."
He answered.
Thirty seconds later...
His expression changed completely.
"What happened?"
"They decrypted Richard's encrypted server."
"And?"
Marcus slowly looked up.
"There isn't just one heir."
The room fell silent.
"What?"
"The Williams fortune..."
"...cannot legally be controlled unless every direct blood heir is declared dead..."
"...or signs away their rights."
Emily frowned.
"I'm the only heir."
Marcus looked at Sophia.
"No."
"You weren't."
The room became silent.
Marcus swallowed.
"Lucas was Charles' eldest biological child."
Sophia lowered her head.
"He died."
Marcus nodded.
"According to the records..."
"Yes."
Then he opened another document.
His voice trembled.
"But..."
"There was another heir."
Everyone turned toward him.
Marcus slowly whispered...
"Victor Williams."
Not Carter.
Williams.
Richard had hidden him for twenty-five years.
Not because he hated him.
Because Victor was the perfect weapon.
The forgotten son.
The invisible heir.
If Emily died...
If I went to prison...
Victor would unknowingly inherit everything.
And Richard...
As his legal guardian since childhood...
Would control the empire.
Sophia gasped.
"Oh my God..."
"He never wanted revenge."
"He wanted ownership."
Richard hadn't rescued Victor.
He had raised him.
Like a weapon.
Across Town...
An abandoned cathedral.
Victor walked through the darkness.
A voice echoed from the altar.
"You failed."
Richard stepped from the shadows.
Victor didn't flinch.
"I saved Emily."
"I know."
Richard smiled.
"That disappointed me."
Victor stared coldly at him.
"You lied."
"You told me Charles abandoned us."
Richard laughed.
"He did."
"He had amnesia!"
Richard's smile vanished.
"Does that change anything?"
Victor didn't answer.
Instead...
He removed the silver heart pendant from his neck.
"My mother never stopped loving him."
"You used her."
Richard slowly clapped.
"So..."
"You've finally chosen a side."
Victor looked him straight in the eye.
"No."
"I chose the truth."
Richard sighed.
"What a shame."
He snapped his fingers.
The cathedral doors slammed shut.
More than twenty armed men stepped from the shadows.
Victor smiled faintly.
"I wondered when you'd stop pretending."
He reached beneath his coat.
Richard laughed.
"You think one gun can save you?"
Victor slowly pulled out...
Not a pistol.
A small recording device.
"I wasn't recording you."
He pressed PLAY.
Richard's own voice filled the cathedral.
"I cut Charles' brake line."
"I let Lucas die."
"Emily should have died too."
Richard's smile disappeared for the first time in decades.
"You..."
Victor nodded.
"You talk too much."
Then—
The cathedral lights exploded.
Darkness.
Gunfire.
Glass shattered.
When the lights returned...
May you like
Victor was gone.
Only the recorder remained.
