CHAPTER 8 — The Button He Never Expected Her to Press
Benjamin's thumb hovered over the detonator.
The Grand Hall fell silent.
No one breathed.
No one moved.
"If I die..." Benjamin whispered with a grin, "...this palace becomes your grave."
King Alexander took one cautious step forward.
"Benjamin... don't do this."
Benjamin laughed.
"For twenty years, I built this kingdom."
"If I can't rule it..."
"No one will."
His thumb pressed down.
CLICK.
Nothing happened.
Benjamin frowned.
He pressed it again.
CLICK. CLICK.
Still nothing.
His confident smile disappeared.
"What...?"
Evelyn slowly lifted her gaze.
"You really thought I'd walk into your trap without preparing?"
Benjamin stared at her.
"What did you do?"
Margaret stepped into the hall carrying a small metal case.
"The explosives were real."
"But the detonator wasn't connected anymore."
Benjamin's face turned pale.
"When?"
Margaret smiled.
"The night you came to the morgue looking for Evelyn."
"While you were searching for a dead woman..."
"...our engineers were searching your palace."
Benjamin's hands began to shake.
"No..."
"They couldn't have found them."
King Alexander nodded toward the balcony.
A team of military bomb technicians appeared, each carrying disarmed explosive devices.
"There were eighty-four bombs hidden beneath this palace."
"They've all been removed."
Benjamin staggered backward.
For the first time in his life...
He had lost control.
Suddenly Adrian lunged toward Evelyn with a concealed knife.
"If I can't have the throne..."
"...I'll take the Queen with me!"
The blade flashed through the air.
Evelyn barely had time to react.
BANG!
A single gunshot echoed through the palace.
Adrian froze.
The knife slipped from his hand.
He collapsed to the marble floor.
Standing behind him was General Victor Hayes.
Everyone stared in disbelief.
Benjamin shouted,
"Victor! What have you done?"
Victor lowered the pistol.
"I served power for twenty years."
"But today..."
"I choose justice."
He placed the weapon on the floor and surrendered to the King's guards.
Benjamin realized he was completely alone.
The soldiers surrounding him slowly lowered their weapons.
One by one...
They stepped away from him.
The people he had bought...
The allies he had trusted...
Were abandoning him.
Evelyn walked toward Benjamin until they stood face to face.
"You stole my childhood."
"You murdered my mother."
"You tried to bury me alive."
Benjamin looked into her eyes and smiled one last time.
"You still don't know the biggest secret."
Evelyn frowned.
"What secret?"
Benjamin leaned closer and whispered,
"The woman you called your mother..."
"...wasn't your biological mother."
Evelyn's eyes widened.
Before anyone could stop him...
Benjamin pulled a hidden cyanide capsule from inside his ring and swallowed it.
Within seconds, he collapsed.
Doctors rushed forward.
But it was too late.
The only man who knew the entire truth...
Had died smiling.
As the palace doors opened, thousands of citizens gathered outside.
They erupted into cheers as Evelyn and King Alexander stepped onto the balcony together.
For the first time in twenty years...
The kingdom had hope.
But Evelyn couldn't celebrate.
Benjamin's final words echoed in her mind.
If the Queen who raised her wasn't her real mother...
Then who was?
May you like
And why had everyone hidden the truth?
The End... Or Is It?
