Chapter 3

Two burly security guards, Thorne's men, moved towards Chloe.

Chloe recoiled, her eyes wide with panic.

"No! Get away from me!"

She fumbled in her small clutch, her hands shaking.

She pulled out a slim, black card, unmarked, featureless.

A Sovereign Card.

Ava had given it to her for emergencies, a symbol of Kingman authority, rarely seen, universally respected by those who knew.

"This... this is a Kingman card!" Chloe cried, her voice cracking. "You can't touch me! My sister will..."

Krystal Bellweather let out a peal of derisive laughter.

She reached into her own purse and produced an identical black card.

"Oh, honey, is that supposed to scare us? Look, I've got one too! They're handing them out like party favors these days, aren't they?"

The crowd roared with laughter.

Ms. Evelyn Reed, Marcus Thorne's executive assistant, a woman whose face was a permanent mask of disdain, stepped forward. She examined Chloe's card with a sneer, then Krystal's.

"This one," she said, holding up Krystal's card, "seems legitimate. The other," she flicked a dismissive glance at Chloe's, "is clearly a cheap fake."

She nodded to the guards. "Proceed."

Chloe sobbed, a raw, broken sound.

Ava could wait no longer.

She stepped out of the shadows, Mr. Smith a half-step behind.

"That is enough," Ava's voice cut through the noise, cold and clear.

All eyes turned to her.

"My name is Ava Kingman. You will release my sister immediately."

A moment of silence, then disbelief.

Chad scoffed. "Ava Kingman? Right. And I'm the King of England. She's been gone for years. Probably a nobody trying to get some attention."

Ms. Reed looked her up and down. "We have no record of an Ava Kingman on the guest list. And the Kingman family? They're ancient history."

Scornful laughter rippled through the room. They didn't believe her. They didn't want to.