Rise of a Queen (Kingdom Duet 2)

“Father!” James’s voice booms in the empty cemetery.

I turn around and life as I know it ends.

My father is on the ground, clutching his heart, face blue, and he’s not breathing.

As James yells and curses and tries to bring him back without any success, I vow one thing.

Lord Sterling will be eradicated in the ugliest way possible.

Everything he cares about will be taken, just like everything was taken from me.

He ended my family and I’ll end his.

Or what remains of it.

Jonathan

Present

When something bad happens, I feel it beforehand.

It’s one of the additional senses I have aside from predicting monetary income and international markets’ values.

No one believed me when I told them decades ago that the Chinese and the Russians were the future. It’s due to that very reason that I have the strongest partners in said countries.

The moment I left the company, I sensed something was wrong. I checked on Levi and Aiden — by checking, I mean, Harris confirmed that my son was in a class at university and my nephew was at a football practice.

Yes, I do have people following my heirs around to ensure their safety. I always have since they were toddlers. I’ve lost enough family members for a lifetime and I will not be taken off guard again.

I step into the silent house. Its eerily calm atmosphere is almost like the cemetery from that day at the exact moment before my father had a cardiac arrest and passed away. On the day of my mother’s funeral.

He died of anguish, of fear of losing this house his father left him and the last reminder of Mother’s presence.

Persian carpets extend in my vision and Greek marble flooring shines under my feet. The vaulted ceilings and the handmade ornaments decorating the entrance and the rest of the house’s doors weren’t something we could afford when my parents were alive.

I did this.

I returned this house to its initial glory from when my grandfather was alive. Gregory and James King didn’t protect the family legacy, I did.

After everyone started doubting our position, I’m the one who transformed the King name into something people respect and speak of in a hushed tone, either due to awe or fear.

Coming this far wasn’t done through pleasantries or being nice. The only reason I get to sit on the throne is because I’ve slaughtered everyone who looks at it, let alone dares to approach it.

I’ve seen grown men tremble and nearly piss their pants when I acquisitioned their companies. I’ve had them throw lawsuits at me, just so I would crush them in court and take everything they have — and more. I’ve had men offer me their wives and their daughters if I would leave their companies alone, and I took pleasure in erasing their names from the business world.

Compromise and mercy are terms I abolished from my dictionary the day my father dropped dead over my mother’s fresh grave.

If I want something, I take it. Fuck the world and its weak people. If they’ve chosen to be in a position I can explore, that’s exactly what I do.

If I find a chance to grow the King name, consequences be damned.

Only one thing matters: my family.

So why the fuck have I been thinking about Aurora ever since this ominous feeling gripped me?

She’s not family. Far from it.

Still, I spend more time with her than I ever did with Aiden and Levi.