Chapter Two

The present

Janelle’s POV

My grandmother always told me secrets are like zombies, they always come back to hunt you. I guess that may be the case for me right now.

“I never saw him again.”

My best friend May chuckles. “You sound like you’re talking about a ghost, Jane.”

I flip through the medical file lying on my office desk, studying my patient’s chart. 

Ten years later, I’m no longer the fifteen-year-old naive girl from my flashback, though I still very much hate Truce King. I’m a successful neurosurgeon, wealthy enough, and I’m living my best life with my best friend, May and my sister Bella.

My phone rings and I frown at the strange number. I pick up the call.

“Hello?”

“Is this Doctor Janelle Ronan”. The speaker’s voice sounds urgent and worried.

May gives me a teasing face and I try not to laugh. I’m used to receiving strange calls from reporters asking to interview me on my most recent successful surgery, and I’m sure this is just one of them.

“Yes.” 

“We just found your father unconscious in front of his vacation house. We’re rushing him to the hospital as we speak.”

“What?” The pen in my hands drops to the table.

Is Theodore King unconscious? How’s that possible? The last time I spoke to him was yesterday and he sounded and looked very healthy. He had gone on a three-day vacation to Greece and was expected to return today.

“You need to calm down Miss Janelle. The situation is not looking good and we hope you can be here as soon as possible.”

I stand up and hurriedly start to pack my bag. May stands up too.

“What’s wrong?”

I grab my car keys and head out of my office. “Theodore was found unconscious. Tell anyone that needs me I’m unavailable.”

I rush out of the door without waiting for her reply. I can feel my heart palpitating so fast that my chest feels about to explode. Beads of sweat form on my forehead as I dial my secretary’s number. I need to get a flight ticket as fast as possible.

Theodore is one of the closest people I’ve had around me in the past. He has been more than a father to me. He was one of my closest buddies. 

But that’s not the problem here. I freeze as a scary realization hits me. 

Today is the 27th of December. Ten years ago at exactly 11:00 am New York time, my father was found dead in his office by his secretary. 

Bella and I never got the full story since we were too young, but the cause of his death remains a mystery to us.

And now the time is 11:03 am. Three minutes ago I received that call from Greece.

It may look like the past is finally coming back to hunt us. But then, why do I feel like something interesting is brewing in that teapot seated a distance from you?

***

Truce POV

I stare at the shattered photo on the floor. It’s a picture of my father, one I’ve always kept beside my mother's on my large oak table. I had been about to pick up a pen when it fell to the ground and shattered.

I bend down and start to pick up the broken glasses. I haven’t seen or spoken to my father in ten years. Why am I suddenly thinking about him?

“Someone’s coming”, the small voice in my head informs.

I turn to the door as my assistant, Alex, a handsome thirty-year-old bachelor bursts in.

The look on his face tells me that whatever he’s about to say to me is far from good.

Alex stares at me undecidedly.

“Speak”, I mumbled, returning to picking up the broken glass.

“I have bad news. First, our financial department just confirmed that we’d be forced to file for bankruptcy if nothing is done within forty-eight hours.”

I sigh in defeat. I had left my father’s house in anger ten years ago and worked tirelessly to build a new life. I started a winery which had grown into a billion-dollar company until a few months ago when my company was accused of a food poisoning scandal.

“The investors all want to pull out so we have no choice.”

“But?” I ask.

The broken glass in my hands pricks my finger and a drop of blood falls to the ground.

“Your father is dead,” Theodore mumbles.

I feel a sharp pain cut through my heart, one I haven’t felt in years. Along with my pain comes my anger. It’s no coincidence that my father died the same day as Ronan his best friend. The Inner Circle has something to do with this.

I hear the small voice growl in my head and I flinch.

I might have hated the man, Theodore King, but no one has the right to take his life from him, except me!

“There might be hope after all.” Alex continues, watching me cautiously as he speaks. I feel my hands visibly shaking from the anger I’m feeling.

“Hope?”

“He left you half of his will on a condition.”

My brows furrows. My father was a very calculative person, and I’m very certain whatever his conditions are, they won’t be good.

“You’re to marry Janelle and fill in his stead as GodFather of the Inner Circle,” Alex says quickly, his face registering his fear.

“Argh,” I grunt banging on my office desk. The desk split into two halves like I had just hit a light sandhill, crumbling with all its contents, to the ground.

I stare at my hands in shock.

“This is the tenth desk you’ve broken this year, Sir. Specifically, its material is one of the strongest wood to come across”

I look away. “I barely touched it.”

“Of course you did. I know you’re angry at your father’s condition, but you have to look at the bright side of things. You get to save your company, you become thrice richer, and you have a stunning wife by your side. Finally, you get an around protection provided by the Inner Circle…”

The look I give Alex silences him.

“I left my father ten years ago to avoid everything you just listed.”

Alex comes to my front and takes my hand. “I know you never want to get married, but we have to save your company. Also, the Inner Circle would come for you if you let someone else take your place. The next ruler has to eliminate every threat to his throne. This marriage might be your only option.”

I remove my hand from Alex's grasp and walk to the glass wall of my office. I stare at the lovely city of Manchester as I weigh my options.

It’s either bankruptcy and death or marriage and coronation. I guess the latter isn’t much of a bad idea, only it is.

Whatever the case, my father’s murders must pay. I have a secret after all, I can hardly die.