All Chapters of The Jade King of Rathai: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

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

"Ms. Carlisle, I hear you came to Rathai looking for quality stones." I held the jade out a little further."This is imperial green. Its market value sits around $8 million. I'm offering it for the boy."Brynn's gaze lingered on the jade for just a moment. I caught the flicker in her eyes. Anyone who knew stones understood that a piece like this was a once-in-a-lifetime offer. However, she looked away just as quickly, her tone indifferent."That's a generous offer, Mr. Brennan, but the Carlisle family isn't short on money."I put the jade away, unfazed. "Then what is Ms. Carlisle short on? Mining claims? Distribution channels? Or do you need connections in Rathai?"You can move mountains back home, but out here, there are things money cannot solve."Brynn's eyes narrowed slightly, and she studied me again with renewed interest.Corbin poked his head out from behind her and snapped, "Brynn, don't listen to him! He's obviously working with Arden!"I ignored him entirely and kept

The corridor went dead silent.My voice had not been loud, but the words landed like a bomb. Everyone froze.Behind me, Arden was shaking violently. He lifted his head and stared at me as though he could not believe what he had just heard.Brynn's composure cracked. That perpetually controlled face of hers fractured for the first time.Corbin's smirk locked in place, his lips still curved upward even as the rest of his expression went blank.The cigarette slipped from Sal's fingers and hit the floor, scattering ash.The floating text went still for a single second, then erupted.[He claimed him! The dad actually claimed him!][I've been waiting for this moment forever!][Corbin looks like he's about to be sick. Beautiful.][Fifteen years. This man has been searching for fifteen years.]"You... What did you just say?" Brynn's voice was tight.I turned around and pulled Arden into my arms, letting him lean against me. He weighed almost nothing. I could feel every bone through

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

"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