All Chapters of THE HEIR BEHIND THE CREST: Chapter 81
- Chapter 90
119 chapters
Chapter 81: The Tower Under Siege
The alarms had not yet begun to ring, but the entire building felt tense, as if the walls were holding their breath. The screens continued displaying Hale and Marcus Thorne’s broadcast on a loop, poisoning every hallway with their smug confidence.John Raymond stepped into the main operations floor, and the entire security team snapped to attention. The tension in the air shifted instantly. They did not need a speech. His presence was enough.Morgan walked beside him with controlled fury. Celine typed furiously into the central console. Rita followed a step behind, shifting between the staff and the command centre with an energy that pulled the room together.“Status,” John said.Celine pointed at the large wall display. “Hale’s loyalists have reached the third checkpoint. They are pushing through without IDs. Some are Circle members. Some are hired muscle. They are forcing staff to open restricted doors.”Morgan cracked his knuckles. “Then we shut those doors.”Celine nodded. “Alread
Chapter 82: The Shadow in the Tunnel
The security floor fell silent as everyone watched the tunnel feed. The camera trembled from the impact of bodies colliding in the cramped corridor. The Loyalists had charged inside with reckless confidence, believing their numbers guaranteed victory.They were wrong.Elias moved first.Not with fury.With precision.He shifted his weight, slipped past the first man, and struck his throat with a single clean motion. The man fell instantly, collapsing before he understood what had happened. Two others lunged, but Elias stepped aside, caught the second man’s wrist, twisted, and sent him crashing into the third.Rita watched from behind him, breathing steadily, following everything he taught her years ago. Control the pace. Control the breathing. Control the space.But Elias did not fight like a man.He fought like a quiet force.The loyalists tried to overwhelm him with four at once. He moved through them like water splitting around stone. Elbows, palms, sharp pivots, the weight of his
Chapter 83: The Silence Before the Next Strike
The Tower returned to a heavy quiet after the chaos in the tunnel. Not peace. Not safety. Just the kind of silence that follows after a predator has paused to choose its next angle of attack.John stood at the centre of the operations floor, watching the monitors as the building systems stabilized. The loyalists trapped in the lobby paced in circles, shouting through the barriers, pounding against the steel partitions, waiting for Hale to give them further instructions. Their frustration grew by the second.Morgan leaned back in his chair, wiping sweat from his forehead. “That was one of the ugliest scenes we have had in this building.”Celine replied without looking up from her screens. “Ugly, but controlled. We prevented a takeover without breaking the law. That is rare.”Morgan gave her a quick glance. “It would not have been rare if I had gone down there.”John answered calmly, “Which is why you did not.”Morgan grinned. “I know.”Celine suddenly straightened. “Rita and Elias are
Chapter 85: The Vote That Shakes the Crest
The Council Chamber held the kind of silence that made the air feel heavy. Every Elder watched the giant screen as the final crest blinked into place. The voting system completed its count, processing each decision with an unhurried, merciless calm.Celine’s fingers trembled above her tablet.Morgan stood still for once in his life.Rita leaned forward, heart pounding so loudly she could almost hear it echo inside the chamber.Elias watched the Elders, not the screen. He was waiting to see which ones would flinch before the result even appeared.John remained motionless at the centre of the circle. He looked carved from stone. No fear. No anticipation. Just steadiness.A low chime echoed.The system projected the tally across the room in bold, glowing letters.Retention of Heirship: Approved by Majority VoteRita gasped.Morgan exploded. “Yes! Yes!! That is what I am talking about.”Celine exhaled a breath she had been holding since the vote began. “It passed. The Circle voted to keep
Chapter 84: Entering the Lion’s Den
The elevator carried them upward with a heavy hum, each passing floor tightening the silence inside the cabin. The Council Chamber sat at the top of the Tower, a place built for balance and judgment. But today it would not hold a balance; it would have conflict.John stood at the centre of the elevator, eyes cold, posture straight, breathing steady. He was walking into a room where every man and woman held a vote capable of ending his rule. Yet he did not flinch. Morgan watched him, almost impressed by how calm he appeared.Rita stayed close on his right, her expression alert and fierce. She had survived humiliation and public destruction. Now she faced the very people who once watched her crumble. This time, she did not plan to bow.Elias remained on John’s left, silent and sharp like a blade hidden in plain sight. No emotion. No tension. Just readiness.Celine checked her tablet as the elevator climbed. “Hale’s message has reached every Elder. It contains a full call to strip your a
Chapter 86: The Road to Confrontation
The moment John stepped out of the Council Chamber, the hallway seemed to shift around him. The Tower, once shaken by Hale’s attempt to breach it, now felt charged with purpose. Every member of John’s inner circle fell into position without needing instruction.Elias moved ahead first, slipping into the shadows like instinct itself. Celine followed close behind John, already typing with fierce speed, trying to intercept Hale’s foreign override to buy them precious time. Morgan walked beside Rita, adrenaline still pumping through him like fire in his veins.They headed toward the private exit reserved for the highest-ranking Circle officials. Only the Heir and his closest allies had access to this route. The corridor was empty and silent, the walls echoing faintly with their footsteps.Rita glanced at John. “You are walking into a trap.”John replied without looking at her. “He knows I will come. That is not the trap. The trap is what he expects me to bring with me.”Morgan shot her a
Chapter 87: Two Kings on One Rooftop
The wind tore across the rooftop as John stepped out of the helicopter, coat lifting behind him, his team forming a silent formation around him. The city lights glowed beneath them like molten fire, the skyline stretching endlessly in every direction. It felt like the world was holding its breath.Hale stood at the far end of the rooftop, poised, confident, framed by the glaring white floodlights. His suit was immaculate, his posture perfect, his expression calm in a way that made even the cold night feel colder.John stopped halfway across the rooftop. Hale did not move.Rita’s breath hitched at the tension. Morgan cracked his neck like he was ready to snap somebody in half. Celine held her tablet close, eyes razor sharp. Elias stood at John’s left, body still, gaze fixed on Hale like a predator waiting for a command.Finally, Hale smiled.A slow, practiced smile.“Heir Raymond,” he called out, voice steady, echoing across the glass and steel. “You are far from your Tower.”John answ
Chapter 88: Hale’s Fall and the Fracture of the Crest
Hale stood frozen on the rooftop, surrounded by the cold light and the colder eyes of the Elders who once backed him. His confidence, so polished and sharp minutes ago, flickered like a dying flame.John did not move. He watched Hale with the calm of a man who had already decided the outcome.Elder Rowan stepped forward again. “Hale, you violated nearly every protocol in the Crest. The Tower assault alone warrants immediate suspension.”Hale laughed under his breath. It was not humour. It was disbelief. “You think suspension matters now. You think any of this matters after what he has done?”Rita stepped beside John. “What he has done was save the Crest from your madness.”Hale’s eyes locked onto hers, filled with venom. “You ruined everything when you walked into his life. You were supposed to disappear. You were supposed to be irrelevant.”Elias shifted slightly, the movement small but enough to silence Hale for a heartbeat.John’s voice was controlled. “Rita is not the reason you f
Chapter 89: The Echoes Beneath the Crest
The Tower’s Situation Room glowed with soft blue lights, humming with encrypted feeds from all Crest branches. Screens displayed collapsing support for Hale, renewed recognition for John, and a flurry of incoming communication requests.Morgan paced like a restless storm. “He walked out too calmly. I do not trust that mood.”Celine ran her fingers across her tablet. “His access has been frozen, credentials revoked, security tags invalidated… but he still managed to leave the building. That is unsettling.”Elias stood beside John, his stance rigid and alert. “Hale moves like a man with insurance. Dangerous insurance.”Rita entered the room with a stack of physical files. “These are from the restricted archive. The request you made earlier. The sections referencing early Crest councils.”John turned toward her. “Anything unusual?”Rita set the files down. “Everything is unusual. Half of these pages are redacted. Entire sections are missing. And the names… some have been intentionally er
Chapter 90: The Summons of the Inner Crest
The Tower felt different the moment they stepped out of the Vault. The air was colder, heavier, almost watchful, as if the building was holding secrets it had never intended to reveal. John walked ahead of the group with controlled precision, but his mind raced in a way no one else could detect. The message kept echoing inside him.If you want the truth about your father, come alone.Alone was a word he never trusted. Alone usually meant vulnerable. Alone meant exposed. Alone meant you were stepping into someone else’s arena. Yet the message carried weight, and he could not ignore it. Too much had been taken already; too many lies, too many shadows, too many secrets hidden under layers of old Crest history.Morgan moved beside him with long strides, practically seething. “I know you are planning to go. You better not try to slip out without telling us.”“At least pretend to hide it,” Celine muttered while checking her tablet. “Your expression is broadcasting your intent across every c