Chapter 12 — Veiled Truths and Silent Motives
"I heard you're looking for a girl."
King froze mid-step. Ortega's voice had been calm, but beneath it simmered something sharper. Interest. Curiosity. Perhaps even a trace of concern.
King slowly turned back to face the man who had built an empire from blood and fire. Ortega Albanian sat at the head of the dining table, his gnarled fingers resting over the carved lion heads on his chair. His aged eyes, still impossibly alert, were fixed on King like a hawk watching its prey.
The air in the grand dining hall stilled.
King straightened, his jaw tight. "She's just a stranger."
Ortega raised an eyebrow.
"A stranger who left a mark," King added quietly, "Someone I don't know... but somehow feels important."
There was a long pause. Ortega studied his grandson, searching for cracks in the granite. He saw them now, subtle but present — the unfocused eyes, the restlessness in his stance, the faint undertone of longing that hadn't been there before.
"That's a first," Ortega murmured. "You've never cared to chase anyone before. Not even when your mother tried to fix you up with every heiress in Europe."
King said nothing.
"So why this one?" Ortega pressed.
King's gaze drifted to the floor, then back to his grandfather. "I don't know. She felt… different."
Ortega leaned back slightly. The fact that King couldn't even describe her face — only the presence, the effect — intrigued him deeply. A woman who could stir the cold-blooded King Albanian was a phenomenon worth investigating.
"Do you know anything about her at all? A name, a lead?"
King hesitated. "Nothing. She vanished."
Ortega nodded slowly, stroking his chin. Then he reached for a silver bell beside him and rang it.
A shadow moved at the hallway entrance. "Sir?"
"Send word to my personal investigator. Tell him I want the woman found — discreetly. No one's to know about this."
"Yes, Sir."
King's eyes flicked toward Ortega. "Why?"
"Because anything that shakes you," Ortega said, "might be worth the family's attention. And if she truly is different, we cannot let her slip away."
King said nothing more. He turned and exited the room, the weight of his grandfather's interest now mingling with his own obsessions.
---
Later That Night — Hudson Residence
The house was dimly lit when Sophia returned, her heels clicking softly on the marble as she entered. Her father, Daniel Hudson, was lounging in his study, sipping whiskey. He looked up as she entered.
"You're back late," he said.
"I closed the deal," Sophia replied, tossing her purse on the couch.
Daniel sat up, alert. "With King Albanian?"
She nodded. "The contract is ours."
He let out a low whistle, then clapped his hands together. "You've done it! Sophia, you've saved the company. We were this close to losing everything. Finally, someone in this house who knows how to act like a Hudson."
Then his expression turned bitter. "Unlike that other one. Always disappearing, always wasting time. Valerie has no use in this family."
Sophia smiled faintly but said nothing.
Later, in the privacy of her mother's room, Miriam Hudson sat beside her daughter brushing her long hair. "You did well, sweetheart. But tell me something. Why would King Albanian give us that deal? You didn't sleep with him, did you?"
Sophia chuckled. "Of course not. But… something happened. Something important."
Miriam's hand paused. "What is it?"
Sophia lowered her voice and reached into her bag. She pulled out the calming pill — the one Valerie had once given her, the one King had taken from her today.
"He's looking for someone," Sophia whispered. "Someone important. And I think this—" she held up the calming pill, "—is a clue."
Miriam frowned. "That old thing Valerie always carries around?"
"Yes. He recognized it instantly. Said it calmed him. He asked to keep it. That's the only reason I got the contract. Not because of me. Because of this. Because of Valerie."
Miriam sat back, shocked. "Valerie? Why would he care about her?"
Sophia's eyes gleamed. "That's what I need to find out. He didn't see her face, he only remembers the way she made him feel."
Miriam leaned closer, her voice barely audible. "Then you need to become her. Whatever happened between them, it gave her power. Find out what it is. Mimic it. Use it."
Sophia nodded slowly. "I will. I won't let Valerie win. Not this time."
They sat in silence for a while, the soft ticking of the clock the only sound. Outside, the wind whispered through the trees.
But inside the Hudson household, a plan was already unfolding — a plan to steal what Valerie never intended to give.
And somewhere, in the darkest corners of the city, Ortega's men were beginning their search.
The hunt had officially begun.