Chapter 40 - The Echoes of the EmpireLily pulled a small, heavy object from the envelope and held it up to the light of the fireplace.
Felix’s breath caught in his throat. The bourbon glass slipped from his hand, shattering against the hardwood floor.
Dangling from Lily’s fingers was a solid gold pocket watch, deeply engraved with the Kingsley family crest—a roaring lion holding a diamond in its teeth.
"Where did you get that, Lily?" Felix asked, his voice suddenly rough and entirely devoid of the warmth it held just seconds ago.
"It came in the mail, addressed to me," Lily said, looking confused by her father's reaction. "There’s a letter inside too."
Sarah stood up, her maternal instincts screaming as she gently took the watch and the letter from her daughter’s hands. She recognized the watch instantly from old family portraits. It was the custom timepiece that belonged to Felix’s father, Arthur Kingsley. The watch he was supposedly wearing when his private plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean twenty-five years ago.
Sarah unfolded the heavy, cream-colored parchment. The handwriting was sharp, elegant, and written in dark blue ink.
She read it aloud, her voice trembling slightly.
My Dearest Granddaughter,
I hear your father has done a magnificent job cleaning up the mess Odette made of my company. I always knew he was the brightest of my children, though he clearly lacks my ambition.
Enjoy the snow in the Hamptons. Rest well, Felix, and prepare your wife for a transition of power. You have kept my throne warm for long enough.
I am coming home to take back my empire.
Love,
Arthur Kingsley.
Felix stared at the golden watch swinging gently in Sarah’s hand.
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The man who taught him how to be ruthless, the monster who built the Kingsley empire on blood and secrets, the father he had mourned for twenty-five years... wasn't dead.
The wind howled against the glass windows of the Hamptons estate, and Felix realized with a terrifying clarity that the real war hadn't even begun.
