Chapter 100 100
Denzel’s POV
“Denzel, you and Venessa should join me for dinner.”
Jamar’s voice carried through the corridor, calm and commanding. I exhaled slowly. The idea of eating in his kingdom while the people who had tried to poison him were still walking free did not sit well with me.
“Your father wants us to join him for dinner,” I told Venessa.
She smiled, unbothered. Almost amused.
“Yes. I know Rochelle and everyone else will be there,” she said. “He wants me to confirm whether the food has been tampered with. We planned it.”
Her confidence eased something in my chest, and I returned her smile. She had already earned a private audience with the king something no one else at court enjoyed.
As I looked at her, it struck me just how deeply fate had entwined our lives. I was bound to royalty after all.
Who would have thought King Jamar would become my father-in-law?
I was grateful for that connection grateful I was tied to a man like him, and not someone like Fabian, whose selfishness knew no bounds.
I wondered what Jamar had planned for the people who wanted him dead.
Servants arrived with clothing chosen for the occasion. Venessa stepped into the blue gown her father had sent, and for a moment, the room went still. The dress was elegant in its simplicity, the color setting off her skin beautifully. Still, I made a silent promise to myself we would go shopping when we returned. She deserved nothing less than the finest things this world had to offer, and I intended to give them to her.
We left our chambers and made our way to the dining hall.
Two seats remained vacant at the table, both positioned close to the king. I immediately recognized the chair nearest to him it had once belonged to Rochelle. It now stood reserved for Venessa. The seat beside it was clearly meant for me.
We took our places, and the shift in the room was unmistakable. I saw the confusion, the disbelief, and the quiet resentment flicker across the faces of those seated there. Favoritism had never been displayed so openly.
“This is highly inappropriate, Your Majesty,” an elder said sharply. “I understand your fondness for Alpha Denzel, but allowing his wife to sit on a royal chair is absurd. There are hierarchies”
“Enough.”
Jamar’s voice cut through the room like a blade.
“I left this kingdom a dead man,” he said. “My physician told me I suffered from a brain disease and that my days were numbered. Yet here I stand alive, healthy, and well. I did not take the medication given to me. I simply lived. And it was this woman and her husband who ensured I survived.”
Silence fell heavy over the table.
“So yes,” he continued, eyes hard. “She will sit wherever I decide.”
No one spoke. I noticed, then, that he still hadn’t revealed Venessa’s true identity.
“So… you are healed?” the elder Craig, I believed asked carefully.
Jamar didn’t respond.
The soup was served.
Venessa calmly lifted a spoonful from the king’s bowl and brought it to her nose, inhaling gently.
The reaction was immediate. Shock rippled through the table. The intimacy of the gesture unsettled them especially because they did not know she was his daughter. I couldn’t blame them for their confusion.
There was a silent exchange between father and daughter. A look. A knowing smile.
“Who prepared this meal?” Venessa asked coolly. “And who served the King?”
Her authority rang through the hall.
“You are merely a guest here, young miss” Craig began.
“Silence,” Jamar snapped. “Let her do her work. Bring the cook, the server, and my physician.”
Uncertainty spread like a sickness.
I wondered who the culprit was but patience would reveal the answer.
The cook, the server, and the doctor were ushered into the hall. Jamar rose from his seat.
“Eat the soup,” he ordered the server.
She stared at him, confused and pale.
“If the food is suitable for the King,” he continued calmly, “then it should be suitable for you. Wouldn’t you all agree?”
Craig nodded first. Others followed hesitantly.
“What is happening here?” the former Gamma demanded.
That was when the guards moved.
The doctor, cook, and server were restrained and bound.
“The rest of my care staff are already in the cells,” Jamar said, his gaze locking onto the doctor. “I trusted you with my life, Tahj. You are already a dead man. But if you wish to spare your family, you will tell me who ordered this.”
Gasps echoed through the room.
“Your Majesty, please what is the meaning of this?” the former Gamma asked.
Jamar smiled, cold and deliberate.
“They have been poisoning me,” he said. “Slowly.”
Shock spread like wildfire.
“They laced my meals with poison. Fed me toxins disguised as medication. Then gave me drugs designed to mask the symptoms. Fortunately, Venessa is a healer. She recognized that I had no brain disease that someone was trying to kill me.”
Rochelle broke into sobs.
“I left this kingdom so she could treat me properly and purge the poison from my system,” Jamar continued. “My wife ensured Tahj’s drugs were packed for the journey.”
“I swear I had nothing to do with it!” Rochelle cried. “I admit my crimes against Danisha I acted out of jealousy and fear but I would never attempt to kill you! What would I gain? I have no heir!”
Fear shone clearly in her eyes.
“The medication you provided contained poison and silver enough to kill me within a week,” Jamar said. “But thanks to Venessa and Denzel, I survived.”
He stepped toward the chained trio.
“Your lives are already forfeit,” he said calmly. “But if you refuse to speak, your families will die in your place.”
The weight of his intent pressed heavily on the room.
The server broke first.
“It was Beta Jahlil Wright,” she confessed.
“Liar!” Rochelle screamed.
Jamar only smiled.
“Denzel,” he said, turning to me. “You will oversee the investigation. Work with my Gamma and Delta. None of the traitors are to be spared.”
His voice hardened.
“They tried to take my life and steal my kingdom. I will return their cruelty in full.”
I nodded.
And in that moment, I knew
I would not want to be standing in the guilty man’s place.