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The Jade King of Rathai
The Jade King of Rathai
Auteur: Flora Birch

Chapter 1

Auteur: Flora Birch
My heart clenched.

The words that had appeared out of thin air hit me like a freight train. I did have a missing son. I had been searching for him for fifteen years.

However, if there was one thing Rathai never ran short of, it was scams and traps.

I looked away, keeping my expression neutral as I weighed the piece of jade in my hand. I turned to the man running the venue, Sal Keever.

"Good color. Sal, has anything new come in lately?"

My eyes drifted back to the corner as I spoke. The way the boy was curled up, the pattern of wounds across his body, none of it looked staged.

Sal grinned. "Yeah, a fresh batch just arrived. You want to take a look, Cade?"

Another line of text floated past.

[The boss is thinking about it! Did he just remember his own son?]

I pretended to browse the stock, working my way over to the boy until I was close enough to crouch down in front of him.

He was shaking all over, eyes full of desperation and distrust. His knuckles were swollen and raw, with dirt ground deep under his fingernails. Those were the marks of someone who had been restrained for a long time and fought against it.

I kept my voice low. "What's your name? Where are you from?"

His lips were cracked and bleeding. His voice barely carried over into my ears. "Arden... Carlisle. I'm from Harstead."

"Who sent you here?"

Tears rolled down his filthy face. "Brynn... My sister—no! The eldest Carlisle daughter..."

More text appeared.

[The real son, Corbin Carlisle, framed Arden. He pushed him down a staircase and accused him of hiring someone to ruin Corbin’s reputation.]

[Brynn believed it. She shipped him to Rathai to 'learn a lesson', and told him he could come home once he learned to behave.]

The boy's trembling worsened, as though something terrible had clawed its way back to the surface. I did not press him. I just stood up.

I had heard enough. Everything he told me matched what the floating text had said, and that was enough to confirm one thing. This was not a scam. This boy could very well be my son.

I walked back to Sal.

"I'm taking that boy with me."

Sal's expression tightened. "Cade, this one's not that simple.

"The eldest Carlisle daughter paid a fortune for this. There are specific instructions to work him over. The only rule was not to let him die."

I pulled out a rough jade stone. "This should more than cover him."

Sal's eyes locked on the jade. His throat bobbed, but he shook his head.

"Cade, it's not about the money. The Carlisles have serious pull back home. If I let him go and Brynn comes after me, I can't afford that kind of heat."

I held his gaze and did not back down. "Sal, I've been doing business in Rathai for fifteen years. When have I ever shortchanged you?"

He gave me a pained smile. "Cade, don't put me in this spot. The auction's about to start. The Carlisle people are out there waiting.

"Brynn said he has to go on the block. She wants to watch him get humiliated with her own eyes."

I clenched my fists until my nails bit into my palms. Sal turned to leave, but I grabbed his arm.

"What if I insist?"

His expression hardened. "Cade, you know how things work here. Taking someone by force means you've got a problem with us."

I let go and steadied myself.

"Here's what we'll do. You hand him over to me, and I handle Brynn. If she comes after you, that's on me."

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  • The Jade King of Rathai   Chapter 12

    Outside the window, the Rathai night had gone dark again, but I knew the sun would come up eventually.…Three months later, Corbin was arrested. The evidence was airtight, covering false accusations, defamation, and hiring someone to commit murder.The Carlisle family did not intervene on his behalf. His parents issued a public statement severing all ties with him, and Brynn took the stand as a witness, personally putting her own brother behind bars.I did not attend the trial, but the floating text gave me live updates.[Corbin got 12 years! He deserves every day of it!][When Brynn testified, Corbin called her a traitor from the stand. Incredible!][The Carlisle family's reputation is in ruins, and they have no one to blame but themselves.]The Carlisle parents asked to see Arden, but he refused.Over the phone, he told them, "Thank you for raising me for fifteen years. But I don't want to see you again."His voice was calm. There was no resentment in it, but there was no

  • The Jade King of Rathai   Chapter 11

    Arden was curled up in his seat, shaking all over. I reached over and took his hand."Don't be scared. Dad's here."He looked up at me. I saw fear and dependence in his eyes."Dad, are we going to die?"It was the first time he had called me that of his own accord. Something clenched tight in my chest."No. I'm not going to let that happen."The car reached the second safe point, a disused mine tunnel in the mountains that had been converted into a shelter. It was hidden and easy to defend.Once Arden was settled, I received a message. It was from Brynn.[I'm in Rathai. I want to see you. I'm coming alone.]I hesitated for a moment, then typed back two words. [Come here.]An hour later, Brynn appeared at the entrance to the mine. She was alone, without bodyguards. She wore plain clothes, and her face was drawn and exhausted, her eyes threaded with red.She stood in the doorway and looked at me. Her lips moved before any sound came out."Mr. Brennan, I'm sorry."I gave her

  • The Jade King of Rathai   Chapter 10

    "You just shipped him off! Straight to Rathai! Do you even know what kind of place Rathai is? You don't! You didn't even think about it!"That's because you never cared about him! In your eyes, I was always right, and he was always wrong!"Brynn's face went rigid. "Shut up!""Why should I?" Corbin was on his feet now, his face twisted with fury."Do you want to know why I hate him? Because he lived in this family for over a decade! Over a decade! He got everything that should've been mine!"And what about me? I was out there getting laughed at, getting bullied, getting called a b*stard! My birth parents didn't want me, and neither did my foster parents!"I finally made it back to where I belong, yet he was still here, refusing to leave! Who even is he? A fraud! What gave him the right to live in my house, spend my money, and call my parents Mom and Dad?"Brynn spoke through clenched teeth. "So you framed him and had him sent to Rathai to be tortured?""He deserved it!" Corbin s

  • The Jade King of Rathai   Chapter 9

    "Mr. Ogden, do we still have the security footage from the last six months?"The housekeeper paused. "We do. What are you looking for?""Pull all of it, and get me the list of staff who were assigned to look after Arden."Mr. Ogden looked as though he wanted to say something, but he held it back and nodded. "Yes, ma'am."Brynn sat in the security room and went through the footage frame by frame. She watched all night.By the time the sun came up, she had seen everything she needed to see, and everything she wished she had not.In one recording, Corbin walked into Arden's room. A few minutes later, he came out with a watch in his hand. It was the same watch he later cried about, claiming Arden had stolen it.Brynn rewound the footage and watched it again, then a third time. Her hands began to shake.She pulled up a different date. Corbin stood at the top of a staircase, glanced left and right, and then threw himself down the steps. Seconds later, Arden came around the corner fro

  • The Jade King of Rathai   Chapter 8

    "From now on, you're not the fake son. You're not a b*stard. You're Cade Brennan's son, and I will die before I let anyone hurt you again."Arden cried in my arms for a long time, until he had no strength left, until sleep finally took him.I laid him down gently and pulled the blanket over him. Even in sleep, he looked like a child in distress. His brow was pinched tight, his body curled in on itself, and one hand gripped the edge of the blanket like a lifeline.It was a posture that only came from prolonged abuse, always braced to run, always braced for the next blow.I sat on the edge of the bed and watched him.Fifteen years. I had been searching for fifteen years. Every time I heard a rumor about a trafficked child somewhere, I went. I covered every border town and back road across the region. I had been conned, robbed, and nearly killed, but I never stopped looking.The floating text had quieted down to a few scattered lines.[Fifteen years. This dad finally found his son!

  • The Jade King of Rathai   Chapter 7

    The drive took forty minutes before we reached my safe house in Rathai. Well, ‘safe house’ was a generous term for it. It was an unremarkable building halfway up a hillside, deliberately run-down on the outside but fully stocked on the inside with enough medical supplies, weapons, food, and water to last three months.Tate helped me get Arden into the bedroom."Boss, should I call a doctor?"I looked at the wounds covering Arden's body and shook my head. "No. The doctors out here can't be trusted. I'll do it myself."Fifteen years in Rathai meant I had patched up knife wounds and bullet holes on my own. Treating injuries was nothing new to me.Tate took the hint and stepped out, pulling the door shut behind him.I opened the medical kit and laid out scissors, antiseptic, gauze, and ointment. Arden sat on the edge of the bed, rigid with tension, his eyes full of fear. He saw the scissors in my hand and recoiled."It's okay. I'm just cutting your clothes off so I can get to the wo

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