The King Of War Returns (Jaden Rift) novel Chapter 165

Agatha screamed as Jaden yanked her by the hair, dragging her broken, sobbing body across the marble floors like a sack of filth. She kicked weakly. Her voice cracked. Her robe, now soaked in blood and ash, scraped across the ground as her arms flailed helplessly.

"LET ME GO!" she wailed. "PLEASE! I CAN PAY YOU! I CAN FIX THIS!"

Jaden didn’t respond. His grip never loosened.

He pulled her out through the shattered mansion doors. The once-glorious Thornfell estate, stained with corpses and bullet holes, stood in eerie silence behind them.

Agatha clawed at the earth, dirt under her fingernails. "Jaden—Jaden please—I’m sorry! I was wrong!"

Her cries vanished into the night.

---

The cemetery loomed ahead.

A hidden spot in the hills, isolated and untouched. But tonight, it wasn’t the same. Something had changed.

The grave was no longer a grave.

It was a monument.

The tombstone had been rebuilt—pure gold, shining like vengeance under the moonlight. The name NAOMI TURNER carved into it, bold and defiant. Roses of black obsidian circled the base. The ground itself seemed sacred.

Jaden dragged Agatha to the front of it and threw her down like garbage.

She crashed to her knees, face first into the dirt.

Jaden stood over her. His chest rising. His eyes red.

"This," he growled, pointing at the grave, "is the woman you killed."

Agatha coughed. Dirt stuck to her face. Her lips trembled. "She… she wasn’t supposed to die—"

"Shut your mouth."

His voice cracked like a whip.

"She was innocent. She was your friend. She loved you like a sister. And you betrayed her. You called her weak. You called her poor. And when she begged for help, you turned her in."

Agatha started crying again, deeper this time. Regret. Real, wrenching regret.

"I didn't mean for it to go that far. I was scared. I—"

"Say her name."

"W-What?"

"Say. Her. Name."

She sobbed harder. "N-Naomi… Naomi Turner…"

"Ask her for forgiveness."

Agatha looked up at the grave, her face swollen, bloodied. She folded her palms, fingers trembling, then dropped her head.

"I'm sorry, Naomi. I'm so, so sorry. I was jealous. I was cruel. I didn’t mean to take everything from you. Please… please forgive me."

Jaden grabbed her head and forced her down.

"Then kiss the grave."

Her lips touched the golden stone. Her tears fell on its surface.

Jaden looked away, wiping his eyes as they welled. He didn’t speak for a long moment.

Then finally, he whispered, "I’m sorry it took me ten years, Mom… but I kept my promise."

He stood, staring at the golden tomb.

"Now… time for your death."

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