Gasps. Murmurs. Eyes cutting straight to my boy and me.
Seventeen years hidden… and now my son stood crowned in front of everyone.
Regina shot up, shaking, voice breaking.
“You money-hungry, homewrecking, white bitch. You took him from me, and now you take everything else!”
I rose, calm, my hand resting on Ares’ shoulder.
“I didn’t take anything, Regina. Ghost gave it. He chose his bloodline. He chose the truth.”
Security moved in, leading us out through marble halls lined with stares and whispers. I felt every ounce of their judgment, but none of it reached me. My hand stayed firm against my son’s back, guiding him forward. For the first time in his life, Ares held his head high.
We were almost out when the world cracked open.
A flash. A scream.
Then a tear through my shoulder.
The bullet ripped through silk. Blood bloomed across my dress like spilled wine.
My knees buckled, but Ares caught me before I hit the ground.
“You gave him too much!” Regina’s voice rang out, shrill and broken. “He got too much!”
She stood in the parking lot, hands shaking around the gun, eyes wild with rage and regret.
Security swarmed her. Sirens wailed. The crowd scattered.
But all I saw was my son. His eyes were surprised. His voice calling for me; his hands slick with my blood.
I grabbed his wrist, pulling him close, forcing my voice steady.
“You’re not done yet,” I whispered. “You hear me? You don’t run. You rise.”
My vision blurred, but I refused to close my eyes. Not yet. Not while he still needed me standing.
I lived…
But a few weeks later,Regina Jacksonturned up dead.
Two shots to the chest. Behind her beauty salon. Execution style.
Nobody confessed.
Nobody asked.
But the streets knew.
Ghost’s crown hadn’t vanished with his death.
It had shifted.
And my son, my Ares, was already learning how to wear it.
Phase One: The Women Who Knew Him
CHAPTER 1
