Chapter 1 - THE DISGUISE OF A KINGThe broken porcelain crunched beneath my cheap rubber-soled shoes, but I didn't rush to clean it up. I stayed kneeling on the marble floor, letting Serena Cross tower over me with her superior smirk.
She stood there in her designer silk robe, completely unaware that the trembling, gray-haired old man picking up her shattered dessert plates was the sole architect of the $500 million trust fund financing her extravagant lifestyle.
"Well? Are you deaf, Martin?" Serena snapped, tapping her French-manicured fingernail against the mahogany table. "Get these shards out of my sight before Ethan comes down from his study. I don't want him thinking you're clumsy."
"Yes, ma'am," I rasped, leaning into the persona of Martin Bell, the invisible live-in servant.
I gathered the pieces into a silver tray, bowed my head, and shuffled toward the pantry. But as soon as the swinging door closed behind me, my posture straightened. The stoop vanished. My eyes grew cold and laser-focused.
On the dining room side of the partition, Serena’s brother Lucas leaned back in his leather chair. "Are you sure the old man won't see through the pre-nup bypass? I heard Malcolm Vale is a shark."
Serena laughed—a sharp, cold sound that echoed through the thin paneling. "Malcolm is an old ghost living in Singapore port offices. Ethan is the one with the soft heart and the signature power. Once the wedding ring is on my finger, I’ll have Ethan manipulate his father into signing over voting rights to the estate. And if Malcolm refuses..."
She paused, taking a slow sip of vintage wine.
"We’ll make sure he has a very quiet, very permanent retirement."
Inside the pantry, my fingers gripped the edge of the stainless-steel counter until my knuckles turned white. She hadn't just insulted my intelligence; she had threatened my life and manipulated my son.
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I reached into my cheap maid's uniform pocket, pulled out a secure satellite phone, and pressed speed dial to my chief of security.
"Vance," I whispered. "Cancel my trip to Singapore. Activate Phase Two. Bring the corporate auditors in at dawn."
