His Queen of Chaos のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 21 - チャプター 30

MalikThe silence lasted less than ten seconds.Then the room exploded into motion.“Find her.”My voice cut through the office like a blade.Every person moved immediately.Phones appeared.Orders were shouted.Security teams began checking cameras, elevators, exits, and every room inside the penthouse.Within seconds, the entire building was on lockdown.Nobody entered.Nobody left.But something told me we were already too late.I stared at the black screen where David Brooks’s video had ended.Trust Nadia.Three simple words.Three dangerous words.Because there were only two possibilities.Either Nadia was an ally.Or David Brooks wanted us to believe she was.Neither option made me comfortable.Darius stepped beside me.“You think she’s involved?”I looked toward the doorway.“Everyone is involved.”His expression darkened.Unfortunately, he couldn’t argue.Not anymore.A week ago, Nadia was a house manager who made coffee and kept my penthouse running smoothly.Today, she was c

MalikNobody spoke after Darius delivered the news.Nadia was dead.The words settled over the room like a storm cloud, crushing the small amount of hope we’d been holding onto. Across the office, Zariah stared at the floor as if she hadn’t fully processed what she’d heard.I understood the feeling.Nadia wasn’t just another casualty.She was the last person David Brooks had told us to trust.Now she was gone before she could explain why.“Where was the body found?” I asked.“Near the river,” Darius replied.My jaw tightened.The river again.Marcus had been found there. Two other bodies connected to this mess had been dumped nearby. Whoever was be

ZariahThe photograph slipped from my fingers and landed on my father’s desk.For a moment, I simply stared at it.The woman smiling back at me was supposed to be dead.My mother.A lump formed in my throat as I picked the photograph up again. The edges were worn, and the colors had faded with age, but there was no mistaking her face. She looked younger than I remembered, her smile bright and genuine as she stood beside my father on what looked like a beach somewhere. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders, and for the first time in years, he looked completely happy.The sight hurt more than I expected.I had spent half my life missing her.Half my life believing she was gone.“Zariah?”Malik’s voice sounded dist

ZariahThe man in the photograph looked exactly like Malik.For several seconds, I couldn't stop staring. The resemblance was impossible to ignore. The same dark eyes. The same sharp jawline. The same broad shoulders. If someone had told me the man standing beside my mother was Malik, I would have believed them instantly.Except the photograph was old.At least twenty years old.Long before I had ever met Malik St. James."What is this?" I asked quietly.Malik took the photograph from my hands and studied it. His expression remained controlled, but something flickered behind his eyes. Something painful."That's not me."I frowned."I know it isn't, but it looks exactly like you.""I know."Darius stepped closer and looked at the photograph. The second he saw it, the color drained from his face."Oh, hell."The reaction immediately caught my attention.Malik notic

ZariahThe drive back from Union Station felt longer than it should have.Rain streaked across the SUV windows, turning the city outside into a blur of lights and shadows. Atlanta moved around us as if nothing had changed, as if the world wasn't unraveling one secret at a time.Beside me, Malik sat in silence.Normally, his silence felt intimidating.Tonight, it felt heavy.The photograph of my mother and Gabriel sat inside my bag along with Alicia's journal. Every answer we uncovered seemed to create ten more questions.My mother knew Gabriel.Gabriel knew about the Seventh Family.David knew more than he ever admitted.And somehow, all of it was connected to me.I looked over at Malik.His eyes remained fixed on the rain-covered window.For the first time since I'd met him, he looked exhausted.Not physically.Emotionally.Like twenty years of grief had