Chapter 4 – The Warning
331 Words
The morning sun spilled through the tall windows of the Kingston estate, gilding the marble floors in quiet gold. But Rob wasn’t paying attention to the view.
He was staring down his father across a dining table big enough to host a summit.
Gregory Kingston, chairman of Kingston Global and king of invisible empires, stirred his black coffee with surgical precision. He didn’t look up. Not yet.
“You made quite the impression last night,” he said finally, voice cold as the steel cufflinks on his sleeves.
Rob didn’t flinch. “Did I?”
Gregory set the spoon down with a quiet clink. “Don’t play dumb. You know exactly who she is.”
“Her name is Sera.”
“She’s a gang leader.”
“She’s a person.”
“A criminal.”
Rob sat up straighter. “A survivor.”
His father’s eyes finally rose. Hard. Calculating. The same eyes that once reduced CEOs to stuttering messes. “You don’t understand the game you’re trying to play, son. That girl is poison.”
“To you, maybe. To me—”
“To this family. To our reputation. To everything we’ve built.”
Rob’s hands curled into fists beneath the table. “Everything you built, Dad. Not me.”
Gregory stood, pacing to the window with military grace. “We have governors at that table. Judges. Investors. You think they’ll support a Kingston who keeps company with street trash?”
Rob rose too, not shouting—but sharp. “Don’t call her that.”
Silence. A tension so thick it might shatter the room.
Gregory turned. “I’m warning you, Robert. Stay away from her. Whatever thrill you think you’ve found—it will cost you everything.”
Rob stared back at his father. “Then maybe it’s worth it.”
He walked out, heart pounding, each step echoing with defiance.
He didn’t know where he was going.
But he knew exactly who he needed to see.
- Writer
