The King Of Crystal Diamond Is Back

003-The King's Return

The heavy iron gates of the Chevron Province Correctional Center did not screech when they parted at dawn.

The big gates opened silently on strong hinges, sliding into the frozen stone pillars. They opened like they were welcoming a king, not letting out a prisoner.

Standing at the edge of the dark road, out in the cold, thick fog from the valley, was a man in a perfect, clean uniform of the Lord Chief of the Provincial Judiciary.

When the plain black armored car came out of the prison security area, the Lord Chief did not wait for it to fully stop.

He clicked his heels together like a soldier, gave a sharp salute with his gloved hand, and then bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle toward the car's dark window.

Inside the vehicle, Chay Patrick sat in silence. He had a simple dark wool coat on his shoulders, and his hand was resting casually on his knee. His trousers were neatly ironed.

He did not look back at the gray, rusted concrete walls of the prison that had tried to break his body and steal his life.

To the rest of the world, and to the rigid records of the federal correctional system, Chay Patrick had not been released.

At least not yet!

His file was just marked for a special transfer. His prisoner record was moved to a secret government prison far away, where political prisoners disappear in paperwork and everyone forgets them.

The Pentagons would never check the transfer logs.

They would assume Chay was still scrubbing greasy floors in Block C, broken and buried under the weight of their lies and deceit.

A group of four identical armored cars surrounded Chay's car tightly to protect it. Their powerful military engines made a deep, quiet humming sound as they sped down the winding mountain road away from Chevron.

Ten miles away, inside the bright, fancy living room of the Pentagon family mansion with its sparkling lights hanging from the ceiling, the air smelled strongly of sweet jasmine flowers and expensive French champagne.

Paris Pentagon sat on a soft couch. Her mother, Beatrice, stood near the huge fireplace. She was wearing lots of heavy pearls and laughing softly while watching the morning money news move across a screen on the wall.

"Look at the stock valuation, Paris," Beatrice beamed, her voice dripping with triumphant satisfaction.

"The Harrison Group merger has pulled our winery shares up another twelve percent since the opening bell. Within twenty-four hours of your wedding engagement, we won't just be the elite of Chevron Province; we'll control every major distribution channel in the province."

Paris smiled, taking a slow sip of her champagne.

The big diamond ring Richard Harrison put on her finger was shining brightly in the morning light. It was flashy and almost too bright to look at.

"And to think," Paris murmured, her lips curling into a cold, dismissive smirk, "that pathetic criminal Chay actually thought he meant something to us. I wonder what he's doing right now in that miserable gray cell."

"Probably scrubbing grease off the floor and crying into his turnip mash," Beatrice scoffed, taking a sip from her own glass. "A stray dog from the slums gets what a stray dog deserves."

Unknown to them, standing just behind the heavy double doors of the parlor, a young household maid named Jenny kept her head bowed low.

Her fingers shook a little as she held the silver tray, but her thumb pressed hard on a small hidden button in her apron pocket. It was a secret recorder that was sending a private signal.

Every single arrogant word, every smug laugh, and every boastful detail of their financial consolidation was captured in crystal-clear audio.

The moment Beatrice waved her hand to dismiss the servant, Jenny backed out of the room, hurried down the service staircase, and tapped a single green icon on her phone, uploading the entire audio file directly to the secure master network.

Meanwhile, forty miles away across the city, the armored cars drove through a pair of tall iron gates. The gates opened by themselves after reading a secret electronic signal from the vehicles.

The estate of the Crystal Diamond Conglomerate did not look like a corporate headquarters.

It looked like a grand royal palace built right into the mountain rock. It was surrounded by large, perfectly kept winter gardens and glass-covered courtyards.

As Chay's car moved smoothly down the long stone road, two rows of top security guards in perfect dark suits stood shoulder to shoulder and quickly came to attention.

In front of the huge double doors of the main entrance, every guard, driver, and estate worker bowed together at the same time, bending perfectly at ninety degrees, and stayed like that until Chay stepped out of the car onto the stone ground.

The bitter winter wind caught the hem of his dark coat, but Chay did not flinch.

He walked up the big steps very calmly, but in a scary way, like a real king returning to his empty throne.

The doors swung inward before his hand even touched the brass handle.

Inside, standing in the middle of the big, fancy entrance hall lit up with crystals, was a gorgeous woman whose face was famous. Everyone knew her; she was on TV screens and billboards across all five continents.

It was Kimberly Shelton, the global Diva, fashion icon, and public face of the Crystal Diamond empire.

Her long silver-blue dress shone like moonlight, and her dark hair was held back with clips covered in diamonds.

Yet, despite her staggering fame and international prestige, the moment Chay stepped across the threshold, Kimberly dropped to her knees on the cold floor.

Her forehead was pressed against the stone, her shoulders were shaking from a sudden rush of strong feelings, and tears started to fill her eyes.

Chay paused, looking down at the elegant, famous lady kneeling before him.

His mind went back exactly ten years, to a cold and rainy night in the poor business area of the city.

Back then, Kimberly's father was a small local businessman. He was trapped in a fake, cheating loan set up by local criminals, a loan that would have taken everything from his family and left them with nothing.

Chay, then a young university student working nights to pay his tuition, had stumbled across the contract details in a local cafe.

In less than twenty minutes, while sitting on a broken wooden box under a flickering street light, Chay fixed the contract papers. He showed that the loan rates were illegal and gave the correct papers back to the scared merchant.

He didn't ask for any money, a handshake, or even tell him his name.

That single, anonymous act of brilliance had saved the Shelton family from destruction, laying the secret financial foundation for the empire Kimberly would eventually help build.

"Rise, Kim," Chay said, his voice low, steady, and laced with a quiet warmth that cut through the silence of the hall.

Kimberly lifted her face, unashamed of the tears streaming down her cheeks.

She rose smoothly to her feet, stepping forward with a small, exquisite golden master tablet placed on the flat of both hands.

The device was glowing with a soft blue light. Inside it were the secret master keys, lists of all the money and property, and the main control codes for every bank, shipping route, and financial system in the whole province.

She held the tablet out toward Chay, her voice ringing with absolute devotion.

"Ten years ago, Master Chay, you saved my family from utter ruin without demanding a single reward," Kimberly whispered, her voice laced with emotion as she looked into his cold, piercing eyes. "You gave us our lives, our dignity, and our future."

She knelt slightly, lowering the golden tablet further as she swore her life's work into his hands.

"Today, my loyalty, my voice, and this entire empire belong to you. Command me.”