All Chapters of From Rejection to Royalty: Rise of the Forgotten Heir : Chapter 121
- Chapter 130
272 chapters
Chapter 0121 - Extraction
The helicopter banked west and levelled out, leaving the valley behind. Declan sat against the cabin wall with the preservation container held against his chest, both arms wrapped around it. He could feel the faint warmth coming through the casing, something alive inside it still holding on. He didn't let go of it. Below them the battlefield stretched out in every direction, dark and broken and vast. Fires burned at scattered points across the landscape, some of them small and isolated, others wide enough to light up the clouds above them orange. Artillery flashed silently in the far distance, too far to hear over the helicopter's engine. From up here the scale of it was clearer than it had been on the ground, the sheer amount of space that the war had consumed and continued to consume, kilometre after kilometre of land that had been turned into something no longer recognisable as the place it once was. Declan looked at it and then looked away. His legs had stopped shaking but the
Chapter 0122 - Home
The first thing Declan asked about was the flower. The Physician had barely pulled his chair close when Declan pushed himself up against the headboard. "The flower. Where is it? Is it still viable?." The Physician looked at him for a long moment. Then something shifted in the corner of his mouth, small and brief. "It's safe," he said. "I processed it the morning after they brought you in." "And you sent it?" "Already on its way to your family. Along with written instructions, step by step, on how to administer it." He settled back in the chair. "The preservation container did exactly what it was supposed to do. The flower was in excellent condition when I opened it." Declan let out a slow breath. The tension that had been sitting in his chest since he first woke up released all at once, and for a moment he just sat there, not saying anything. "Your grandfather should wake within twenty four hours of receiving the treatment," The Physician continued. "Possibly sooner, depending
Chapter 0123 - Before Leaving
Declan sat with the dark screen for a long time. Then his eyes filled. He didn't try to stop it. He was too tired and the room was empty and there was no reason to hold anything back. He just sat there and let it happen. He thought about the storage room. The thin mattress, the boxes stacked around him, the sound of Carlos moving freely through the house while he lay in the dark. He thought about all the nights he had spent wondering whether his real family even knew he was out there. Whether they had ever looked for him. Whether they cared. Now he knew. They had never stopped. His grandfather had woken up from years of darkness and the first thing out of his mouth was whether his grandson was safe. Not water. Not where am I. His grandson. Declan pressed the back of his hand against his eyes. After a while the tears stopped and something else settled in underneath them. Something that felt like a door he had been standing in front of his whole life finally opening. He knew wha
Chapter 0124- Landing
Declan found General K in the corridor outside the hospital room early that morning. "I want to thank you," Declan said. "For everything. The squad, the extraction, all of it." General K looked at him for a moment. "You did the hard part," he said. "Come back in one piece next time." They shook hands and that was the end of it. The Physician was waiting outside the building. He handed Declan the cloth bag and watched him check that everything was inside. "The manual," Declan said. "I'll work through it properly." "See that you do." The Physician studied him briefly. "You came here to save someone and you did it. Most people who come to this border leave with less than they arrived with." He paused. "Don't waste what you've gained here." "I won't," Declan said. The Physician nodded once and walked back inside without another word. The transport was a different aircraft from the one that had brought him north. Smaller, faster, a military courier plane with two other pa
Chapter 0125 - Consequences
The car moved through the quiet streets and Declan watched the city for a moment before he spoke again."What about Carlos?" he asked. "And Tom and Clarke."Victoria shifted slightly in her seat. "Not good," she said. "The business is nearly gone. Nathan's blacklisting cut off almost every relationship they had built over the years. Suppliers, partners, clients, one by one they all walked away once word spread that the Pierce family wanted nothing to do with the Reyes name.""How close to gone?""Bankruptcy territory," Victoria said. "Tom has been selling assets to cover debts. The house might be next. Clarke has been reaching out to old business contacts personally, asking for favours, trying to find anyone willing to give them a contract or an investment. From what I've heard most of those calls haven't gone well."Declan said nothing."Carlos dropped out of university," Victoria continued. "Boston Metropolitan confirmed it. He's not been seen at many respectable places either. Peop
Chapter 0126 - Until Then
Apex Financial Group's headquarters was fully lit when they pulled up outside.Declan looked up at the building through the car window. Every floor had lights on despite it being well past midnight. Through the glass facade he could see people moving around on the upper floors, small figures crossing between offices, the building alive with quiet, focused activity."How long have they been here?" he asked."I called them when you landed," Victoria said. She was already opening her door. "They've had about an hour to prepare."They went inside and took the elevator to the executive floor. Three people were waiting in the main conference room when they walked in. The head of security, a broad, straight-backed man named Holt who Declan recognised from his first days at Apex. The head of HR, a precise woman named Dana who had a folder open in front of her and a pen in her hand. And the senior legal counsel, an older man named Reeves who had been with the company for fifteen years and had
Chapter 0127 - The Meeting
The auditorium was full by eight fifty-five. Declan stood at the side of the stage and looked out at it through a gap in the curtain. Hundreds of people filling the seats, more appearing on the large screens mounted on either side of the stage showing the video feeds from regional offices. The noise of it was low and uneven, the particular sound of a large group of people who were all worried about the same thing but hadn't yet decided how worried to be. He could see it in the way they sat. Some leaning toward each other, talking quietly. Others sitting straight and still, watching the stage. A few on their phones, probably reading whatever was already circulating internally about the overnight terminations. Victoria came to stand beside him. "Ready?" "Yes," he said. She walked out first. The auditorium quieted as she took the podium, the conversations dying down in sections as people noticed her. "Thank you all for being here this morning," she said. "I know many of you have qu
Chapter 0128 - Café
The auditorium had mostly cleared by the time Victoria touched Declan's arm. "The man who asked the hostile question," she said, keeping her voice low. "His name is Brennan. Mid-level analyst, been here four years. We've had him on the watchlist for the past week but we haven't been able to confirm anything concrete yet." "He's one of them," Declan said. "I think so too. The way he phrased it, the timing, the people around him nodding on cue." She shook her head slightly. "It was too rehearsed." "Don't touch him yet," Declan said. "Keep watching him closely. Everything he accesses, everyone he contacts, every system he touches. He knows he's been exposed now even if he doesn't know we've identified him specifically. That kind of pressure makes people rush." He looked at her. "He'll make a mistake. When he does, we'll have everything we need." "Understood," Victoria said. She glanced out at the last few employees filing out of the auditorium, some of them still talking quietly amo
Chapter 129 - Momentum
Declan tucked the thought about Laura away as they walked.It wasn't concern for her. It was more practical than that. She had spent weeks inside Nathan's world, his home, his conversations, probably things she wasn't supposed to hear. Now Nathan had thrown her away. People who got thrown away by someone like Nathan tended to be angry about it, and angry people talked.He would have someone look into where she was and how she was doing. Quietly.Georgina's parents were both at the door when they arrived. Mr. Harper stepped forward immediately with his hand out."Declan," he said. "We're glad you're back safely.""Thank you," Declan said, shaking it."We really mean it," Mrs. Harper added. "Georgina told us you were dealing with something serious. We've been thinking about you.""Everything worked out," Declan said.Mr. Harper cleared his throat. "I'd like to have you for dinner later this week," he said. "There are things I want to say to you properly, face to face. And some things I'
Chapter 0130 - The Warning
Declan was putting on his jacket when his office door knocked.He checked his watch. Just past seven. He had told the front desk he was leaving for the night and hadn't expected anyone to come up."Come in," he said.The door opened and Charlotte Harrison stepped inside.She was dressed simply, a dark coat over her clothes, no visible effort to look like she had planned this visit. Which told him she hadn't. She stopped just inside the doorway and looked at him with an expression that was half apology and half urgency."I'm sorry for showing up without calling first," she said."It's fine," Declan said, setting his jacket down. "What's happened?"She came further into the office and he gestured to the chairs across from his desk. They both sat."My family's intelligence network picked up something today," Charlotte said. "About Nathan Pierce."Declan said nothing. He waited."He knows about the investigation," she said. "Or at least he suspects it's coming. Our sources say he's been m