All Chapters of The Forgotten Heir: Chapter 71
- Chapter 80
116 chapters
SHATTERED SANCTUARY
Sera sat on the floor of the hotel suite's bathroom at three in the morning, her back against the cold tiles, unable to stop the violent shaking that had seized her body hours ago. She'd been sitting there since midnight, unable to force herself back into the bedroom where Elias was sleeping, unable to close her eyes without seeing invisible cameras watching her every movement.The physical poisoning had been terrible—the nausea, the tremors, the growing weakness as thallium accumulated in her system. But at least she hadn't known it was happening. She'd suffered in ignorance until the blood tests revealed the truth.This was different. This was knowing that for five weeks, someone had watched her in her most vulnerable moments. Had recorded her sleeping, changing clothes, crying when she thought she was alone. Had captured intimate moments with her husband that should have existed only in their memory. Had turned her bedroom—the one place that should have been absolutely safe—into a
THE WAR COUNCIL
Elias stood in front of the conference table in a secure room three blocks from Shaw Realty's headquarters on Thursday morning, studying the ten people assembled before him. This wasn't his usual team of corporate executives and legal advisors. This was something different—a strike force designed not for defense, but for total warfare.James Park, Shaw Realty's head of security, sat at Elias's right. Park was a former CIA, a man who'd spent fifteen years in secret operations before going into a private company as a security officer."Thank you all for coming on short notice," Elias said in a calm voice although he was boiling inside. "You've been briefed on the situation—strategic attacks on Shaw Realty and my family over the past two months, including attempted murder through poisoning, arson, stock manipulation, misinformation campaigns, and illegal surveillance. The FBI has identified the network orchestrating these attacks, but federal prosecution takes time we don't have. So we
THE MONEY TRAIL
Rachel Patel sat in the secure operations room on the sixth day of the intelligence gathering phase, surrounded by monitors displaying cryptocurrency block chain data, financial transaction records, and mapping software tracking money flows across international borders. She'd been staring at the screens for three hours straight, trying to find patterns that the others had missed."I've got something," she said suddenly, breaking the silence. Paul looked up having a curious expression on his face"Show me," Park said, moving to stand behind Rachel's chair.She pulled up a series of transaction records, highlighting specific patterns with quick movements of her mouse. "Cryptocurrency transactions funding the attacks on Shaw Realty have been moving through multiple exchanges and mixing services—standard money laundering technique designed to obscure the trail. Bitcoin converted to Monero, Monero mixed through privacy services, then converted back to Bitcoin or Ethereum before being cashe
THE INFILTRATION
James Park stood on the rooftop of an abandoned factory building three hundred yards from the target warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn, watching through high-powered binoculars as the evening shift change occurred. Beside him, Katherine Walsh monitored electronic equipment tracking radio frequencies, phone signals, and wifi networks emanating from the warehouse. They'd been on guard for thirteen days, and the patterns were finally clear enough to plan how to infiltrate the base."Guard rotation is consistent," Park said quietly into his radio. "Three exterior guards, two-hour shifts, overlap during transition. Interior security appears minimal based on thermal imaging—maybe two guards maximum, probably one given the cost-efficiency we've seen in their other operations."Thomas Chen's voice came back through the encrypted channel. "I'm observing the north entrance. Loading dock activity ceased at 6:00 PM as usual. The last delivery truck departed at 6:14 PM. The warehouse appears to be
SERA: THE STATEGIST
Sera sat in the operations room till 2:00 AM, unable to sleep despite the fact that she was tired, reviewing the reports from the warehouse infiltration. She'd insisted on access to all intelligence briefings, needing to understand the war being waged partly on her behalf. The reports were spread across three monitors—surveillance footage, assessments, and evidence inventories. But it was the pattern of events that held her attention, not the details.Elias found her there, still awake, he rubbed his eyes as he was a bit from strategizing with the FBI about the evidence they had collected. He expected to find her in the hotel suite's bedroom working with Dr. Alistair on full recovery, not analyzing operations like a military strategist."You should be sleeping," he said gently, pulling up a chair beside her."I can't sleep. Too many nightmares about cameras and poisoning." Sera gestured at the monitors.Elias understood that impulse—the need to transform helplessness into action.
THE ASSASSINATION
Elias stepped out of his car in the underground parking garage of Shaw Realty's headquarters at 7:23 AM on Tuesday morning, his mind occupied with the asset seizure results that had crippled Reeves's funding. The garage was familiar territory—same security guards, same overhead lighting, same concrete pillars he'd walked past a thousand times. His driver, Michael Torres, moved ahead to open the elevator, following protocol that had become routine over the years.The shot came from somewhere behind them, the sound loud in the enclosed space. Elias felt something punch into his left shoulder with tremendous force, spinning him sideways. His brain struggled to process what was happening—the burning pain, the wetness spreading across his shirt, Michael shouting and pulling his weapon, the echo of the gunshot still reverberating off concrete walls.A second shot shattered the car window where Elias's head had been moments before, missing only because the first shot had knocked him off bala
THE INSURANCE COLLAPSE
Sera sat in the conference room at Shaw Realty's headquarters on the fifth day after Elias's shooting, reviewing financial reports that Marcus Chen had claimed that it was urgent. Her husband was still in the hospital fortress, immobilized and in constant pain, which meant someone had to maintain the operational strategy of the company under siege. That responsibility had fallen to her by necessity and her own insistence.Marcus entered looking more stressed than usual, carrying a tablet and several printed documents that he set on the table with the weight of someone delivering catastrophic news. "We have a serious problem. Multiple serious problems, actually, all hitting simultaneously.""Show me," Sera said, her tired voice sounded but she had a determined look on her face.Marcus pulled up the first document—a cancellation notice from Westfield Insurance Company. "Our general liability insurance policy, which covers Shaw Realty against property damage claims and injury lawsuits,
THE INSURANCE COLLAPSE
Sera sat in the conference room at Shaw Realty's headquarters on the fifth day after Elias's shooting, reviewing financial reports that Marcus Chen had claimed that it was urgent. Her husband was still in the hospital fortress, immobilized and in constant pain, which meant someone had to maintain the operational strategy of the company under siege. That responsibility had fallen to her by necessity and her own insistence.Marcus entered looking more stressed than usual, carrying a tablet and several printed documents that he set on the table with the weight of someone delivering catastrophic news. "We have a serious problem. Multiple serious problems, actually, all hitting simultaneously.""Show me," Sera said, her tired voice sounded but she had a determined look on her face.Marcus pulled up the first document—a cancellation notice from Westfield Insurance Company. "Our general liability insurance policy, which covers Shaw Realty against property damage claims and injury lawsuits,
THE COST OF SURVIVAL
Sera sat in front of Thomas Blackwell, senior writer for Lloyd's of London's Syndicate 447, in a sterile conference room at their Manhattan offices on the twentieth day since the insurance cancellations had begun. It was her fourteenth meeting with specialty insurance carriers, and the exhaustion showed in the dark circles under her eyes and the tension in her shoulders. Behind her sat Marcus Chen and their insurance broker, David Reynolds, who'd warned before the meeting that this was likely their last realistic option for coverage."Mrs. Vance, I'll be direct," Blackwell said in his clipped British accent, reviewing the risk assessment his team had prepared. "Shaw Realty represents exactly the kind of complex, high-risk profile that most standard carriers avoid. Your CEO was shot three weeks ago in an assassination attempt. Your company is connected to ongoing FBI investigations into organized crime. You've experienced arson at your flagship development property. And your previous
REGULATORY SIEGE
Sarah Winters entered Sera's office at Shaw Realty headquarters at 8:47 AM on Tuesday morning, carrying three manila folders and wearing the expression of someone about to deliver multiple catastrophes simultaneously. Sera looked up from reviewing the financial impact of the Lloyd's insurance premiums, already exhausted despite the day barely having begun."We have a serious problem," Sarah said, setting the folders on Sera's desk. "Actually, we have three serious problems, all hitting at exactly the same time, which hints that they may be allies."Sera opened the first folder and felt her stomach drop. Official letterhead from the Securities and Exchange Commission, formal notification of investigation into Shaw Realty's financial reporting practices. The letter cited " allegations of material misstatements in quarterly filings and securities fraud.""The SEC?" Sera asked. "We've never had any issues with our financial reporting. Our books are clean, our disclosures are accurate, an