Chapter 3 - THE SECRET IN THE KINGSTON FAMILY
The message contained only five words.
I KNOW WHAT YOU HID.
Alexander Kingston stared at the screen.
For the first time all night, Emily saw fear in his eyes.
Not anger.
Not frustration.
Fear.
“Mr. Kingston?”
Emily’s voice brought him back.
He locked his phone.
“Nothing.”
She knew immediately he was lying.
People lied with words.
But their faces told the truth.
His mother noticed too.
She signed.
Alexander looked at her.
“No.”
She signed again.
His jaw tightened.
“Mother, not here.”
Emily watched.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Alexander was a man who controlled entire companies.
A man who walked into rooms and made everyone silent.
But one message had shaken him.
Then two men in suits entered the restaurant.
The bodyguards immediately reacted.
Alexander noticed.
“Stay here.”
Emily frowned.
“Who are they?”
He didn’t answer.
One of the men approached.
“Sir.”
“What happened?”
The man lowered his voice.
“The security system at the estate was accessed.”
Alexander’s face hardened.
“By who?”
The bodyguard hesitated.
“That’s the problem.”
A pause.
“We don’t know.”
Emily felt a chill.
His mother grabbed Alexander’s arm.
She signed quickly.
Emily translated without thinking.
“She’s asking if this has something to do with your father.”
Alexander froze.
The question changed everything.
Because everyone knew Victor Kingston had died ten years ago.
But Alexander’s reaction said one thing.
His father’s death wasn’t as simple as people believed.
Emily looked between them.
“What happened?”
Alexander stared at her.
For a moment, he seemed ready to walk away.
Then his mother reached for Emily’s hand.
She signed.
Tell her.
Alexander closed his eyes.
“Emily…”
His voice was low.
“You helped my mother when everyone else ignored her.”
He looked toward the restaurant.
“Now I need to know if I can trust you.”
Emily didn’t understand.
“Why?”
Alexander stepped closer.
“Because someone is trying to destroy my family.”
A waiter suddenly dropped a glass.
Everyone turned.
The sound echoed through the restaurant.
But Emily noticed something else.
A man near the window.
Watching them.
The moment their eyes met, he turned away.
Too quickly.
Alexander saw him.
His expression changed.
“Everyone leave.”
The restaurant went silent.
“What?”
Alexander’s bodyguards moved immediately.
“Now.”
Emily looked confused.
Then the lights went out.
The entire restaurant fell into darkness.
A scream came from the dining room.
Glass shattered.
Someone ran.
And in the chaos, Emily felt a hand grab her arm.
She tried to pull away.
But the stranger whispered one sentence.
A sentence that made her blood run cold.
“Your brother Noah wasn’t the only person who knew the Kingston family secret.”
The lights came back on.
The stranger was gone.
And Alexander Kingston was staring at Emily.
Because he had heard the name.
Noah.
His expression changed.
“How do you know my brother’s name?”
Emily froze.
Because she didn’t know the answer.
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And for the first time, she wondered if saving a stranger’s mother had just pulled her into a mystery much bigger than she could ever imagine.
TO BE CONTINUED...
