All Chapters of The kingmaker’s asset : Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

Charlie Vale learned early that silence could be armor.He moved through the Ministry of Infrastructure like a shadow that had memorized the building’s breathing patterns, the soft electrical hum of fluorescent lights that never truly went dark, the echo of heels that signaled power long before a face appeared, the precise second when a corridor turned hostile because the wrong people were using it. He knew which security guards looked at their phones between rounds and which ones counted footsteps. He knew which cameras were broken and which ones only pretended to be.He wore gray because it invited no comment. Gray trousers. Gray jacket. Gray gloves that hid hands still too fine boned for this kind of work. He apologized before anyone accused him of anything because apologies smoothed sharp edges. Apologies disarmed anger before it decided where to land.“Sorry,” he murmured to a marble pillar as he maneuvered his janitor’s cart around it at two in the morning, the word automatic,

The honesty was worse than a lie. “There are conditions,” Dexter continued. “You will live under my roof. Your schedule, your education, your public behavior cleared through my office. You will not speak about my work. You will not ask questions you don’t want answers to.” Charlie’s hands curled into fists. He felt like throwing up, so he wanted to make him his puppet. The words left a bitter taste in Charlie’s mouth. “And if I say no?” he asked, barely audible. Dexter tapped the tablet once more. The hospital feed returned. A nurse adjusted his mother’s IV. The doctor shook his head, speaking words Charlie couldn’t hear but understood anyway. Panic immediately settled into Charlie’s chest. Dexter didn’t look at the screen. He watched Charlie. “If you say no,” he said, “nothing changes.” That was the cruelest part. Charlie bowed his head. His thoughts fractured memories of his mother humming softly while she cooked, her hands smoothing his hair when nightmares woke him, he

Morning arrived without warning. The lights brightened gradually, programmed to simulate dawn, but the effect was clinical rather than gentle illumination without warmth. Charlie woke with a sharp inhale, disoriented for a moment by the unfamiliar ceiling, the quiet hum of systems breathing where birdsong should have been.He didn’t sleep much last night. His eyes were still tired. He lay still, listening. No voices. No footsteps. The house felt suspended, as if waiting. His phone chimed softly on the nightstand. A message from Emily , precise to the minute. 8am– Styling. 9:30am– Media briefing. 11am – Departure.No greeting. No questions.Charlie sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. His body felt heavy, weighted by the kind of exhaustion that sleep didn’t cure. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and winced as his feet touched the cool floor.For a split second, he expected to be late.Panic spiked before he remembered there was nowhere else to be. His time was no longer