Novels by JEM

Liam stood alone. Every employee was staring. Whispering."That's the ex-heir... demoted yesterday... his uncle is president now...""He got dumped by Victoria Sterling... after three years washing dishes, now he lost everything..."Liam didn't move. Bandaged hands in his pockets, white shirt clean, grey eyes cold but inside, something broke yesterday and hadn't healed.He watched her black dress disappear into the elevator that used to be his. The elevator only the president uses.That elevator now belonged to his uncle, Daniel Cole.Liam smiled. A small, cold, terrifying smile the smile he wore the night he made the whole banquet hall kneel.He took out his phone, He called Butler Chen."Where did Victoria go last night after my call cut?" he asked, voice calm."Young Master... she... she went to Sterling Hospital. Her father, Mr. Sterling, had a heart attack at midnight. After your call. She was unreachable because she was in emergency. Ethan Blackwood was there with her."Liam's

Liam called Victoria back immediately.Once.Twice.Ten times.Number not reachable.The phone rang into emptiness. No voicemail. No tone. Just dead air.He stared at the blue thread in his bandaged hand the thread from Lily's envelope then at Chloe's locked window upstairs. The Carter Mansion was quiet again. Too quiet.He got into his car.---Cole Family Old House — Evening.The house smelled like old tea and old power.Edward Cole sat by the fireplace, cane across his knees, reading a newspaper like nothing happened. Like he didn't just take his grandson's company away in the morning."Grandfather," Liam said, standing in the doorway, white shirt wrinkled, voice low, controlled.Edward didn't look up. "You lost your cool at the board meeting, Liam. Daniel said you didn't even congratulate him. That's not how an heir behaves.""Where is Lily?" Liam asked, straight. No games.Edward finally looked up, grey eyes calm, almost surprised."Lily? The village girl? The Carter granddaught

Lily's hand was shaking.The dirty envelope old, yellow, tied with a faded blue thread was in her palm, dust from the village still on it."Young Master Cole! I found it in my grandmother's box! She said it was about your mother! She said a Carter girl gave it to her before she died!"Liam stared at it.His bandaged hand reached out slowly for the first time in three years, his hand shook not from anger, but from fear.Who was his mother? The woman with the scar on her eyebrow? The Carter girl his grandfather called his biggest sin?His fingers touched the blue thread RING! RING! RING!His phone rang. Loud. Sharp.The screen: "GRAND SECRETARY Liam's jaw tightened. He answered."Young Master Liam, where are you?" the secretary's voice was cold, panicked. "Master Edward is furious. Emergency board meeting. Right now. Cole Tower, 40th floor. All directors are here. They are shouting about your work progress. About the Carter loan you just bought without board approval. You must come

Carter Mansion —Morning.The gates were broken.Three black SUVs blocked the driveway. Ten men in suits Sterling guards with a court paper. And in front of them, Ethan Blackwood, nose still bandaged, white suit still stained with his own blood from Chloe's slap.Patricia stood barefoot on the front steps, in her nightgown, hair messy, begging, holding Robert's wheelchair so it wouldn't roll away."Please! You can't take the house! Robert is sick! My daughter is inside! This is our home!"The lead man threw the paper at her feet."Mrs. Carter, this house was collateral for the loan you forged under David Carter's name ten years ago. Edward Cole now owns the loan. He sold it to Sterling Group last night. You have one hour to leave."Patricia fell to her knees, crying, grabbing the paper. "No... this is twenty years of my life..."Ethan smiled, kicking the paper closer."Sign it, mother-in-law. Or give me Chloe. She is still my wife on paper. That bloody white dress is still upstairs.

Carter Family Mansion.The house was too quiet.No servants. No lights in the dining hall. The big Carter family portrait on the wall Robert, Patricia, and Chloe smiling had a crack straight through Chloe's face. From when Patricia threw a vase this morning.Robert sat in his wheelchair in the living room, oxygen tube hissing, staring at the empty stairs. He was alive, but he looked more dead than when he was in the hospital.Patricia paced. Back and forth, Hands shaking, eyes red, makeup gone."Chloe! Chloe, please open the door! You haven't eaten since yesterday! You haven't said one word!"Upstairs, Chloe's bedroom door was locked.Inside, Chloe sat on the floor.Still in the bloody white wedding dress from the banquet. She didn't change it. She didn't wash her face. Torn marriage papers scattered around her like snow.The torn certificate Ethan threw at her. The DNA report that said 0% match. The photo of her mother and father smiling that now looked like a lie.She stared at th

The locked door shook.BANG! BANG! BANG!Chloe's scream tore through the wood."UNCLE?! UNCLE DAVID?! YOU DIED! YOU DIED TEN YEARS AGO!"In the golden hall, no one was laughing anymore.On the giant screen, a man in a hospital bed skin like paper, hair white, oxygen tube shaking but his eyes were open. Alive. Staring straight at Robert Carter in his wheelchair.Robert choked on his own oxygen. Tears poured."Brother... brother... no... we buried you..."Patricia, still on the marble, stopped pretending to faint. She sat up, face white as death, whispering:"David..."Lily in her red dress stopped laughing. Her hate smile vanished. Because she had heard that name in the village. The name her mother told her to never say."David Carter..." she whispered. "My grandfather..."Inside the private lounge, Liam's hand was still on the locked handle. His grandfather's men had locked him inside with Victoria.Victoria's tears were still wet, lipstick smeared."Your grandfather brought him bac