All Chapters of THE REJECTED SON-IN-LAW: Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
11 chapters
Chapter One: The Whipping Boy
The smell of old blood and mould filled the basement. With his hands bound behind his back and his lip split open from the previous blow, Lex Andrews knelt on the concrete floor. Richard Sterling towered over him like a mountain of muscle and pricey perfume. Richard's fist struck Lex's jaw once more. "You think you can eat our food, sleep under our roof, and give us nothing in return?" he asked. The world spun. “You are a parasite.”Lex tasted copper. He said nothing. Speaking only made it worse.“Answer me!” Richard grabbed his hair, yanking his head back.“I… I am looking for work,” Lex managed.Richard laughed. It was a cruel sound. “Work? You? My sister married a dog, not a man.”Footsteps echoed on the stairs. A woman’s heels clicked against wood.“Richard, Mother wants you upstairs.” The voice was cold, detached. “Some of us have actual business to attend to.”Lex looked up through swollen eyes. She stood in the doorway, backlit by the light from above. Tall. Sharp business su
Chapter Two: The Ghost Returns
Lex stared at the message until his vision blurred.“The package is ready. Say the word.”His thumb trembled over the screen. Three years of silence. Three years of pretending to be dead while the world forgot him.One word would change everything.But not yet. Not tonight.He deleted the message and slipped the phone back into his pocket.“Lex.” Sophia’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Clear the table.”Ignoring the fire in his ribs, he got up and started gathering plates. For a brief moment, their fingers touched as he reached for Sophia's. She withdrew as though she was burned. "I apologise," he muttered. She said, "Just do your job," but her eyes flickered. Guilt? Disgust? He could not tell anymore.As Lex carried the dishes to the kitchen, Richard’s voice echoed from the dining room. “Father, about the Riverside project. Are we certain the permits are legitimate? I heard whispers that the city council might”“Those whispers are being handled,” Gerald interrupted. “Some councilme
Chapter Three: The Woman in Black
The hand released him slowly. Lex spun around, fists raised despite his injured ribs.A woman stood in the shadows. Mid twenties. Black tactical gear. Dark hair tied back. A scar ran from her left eyebrow to her cheekbone. Her eyes were cold and calculating.“Who are you?” Lex whispered.“Someone who has been watching you for three years.” She pulled out a phone and showed him a photo. “Do you recognise this man?”Lex’s heart stopped. The photo showed his father. Alive. Healthy. Standing next to a man Lex had never seen before.“This was taken six months ago,” the woman said.“Impossible. My father died three years ago. I was at his funeral.”“You were at a funeral with a closed casket. Did you see the body?”Lex’s world tilted. “What are you saying?”“I am saying your father is alive, Lex Andrews. Or should I call you by your real name? Alexander Kane.”The name hit him like a physical blow. No one had called him that in three years. No one alive knew that name.“How do you know that
Chapter Four: The Safe House
Lex grabbed the laptop and shoved it into a backpack he found in the corner. The sirens grew louder, multiplying like a swarm. Two minutes, maybe less.He rifled through drawers. Cash. Fake IDs. A pistol with two magazines. His hands closed around the weapon. Cold. Heavy. Familiar.Muscle memory kicked in. He checked the chamber, loaded a magazine, and tucked the gun into his waistband. Three years of playing weak had not erased his training.The sirens stopped outside.Lex killed the lights and moved to the window. Three police cars blocked the street. Officers poured out, hands on their weapons.“Lex Andrews!” A voice boomed through a megaphone. “We know you are in there. Come out with your hands up.”He glanced at his phone. The safe house address glowed on the screen. Twelve miles away. He would never make it on the bike.A fire escape clung to the back of the building. Lex slung the backpack over his shoulder and climbed through the window. Metal groaned under his weight. Below,
Chapter Five: The Dragon Wakes
Dawn broke over the city like a wound. Red and angry.Lex stood in the warehouse shower, watching blood swirl down the drain. Three years of playing dead. Three years of swallowing his pride. Three years of being nothing.That ended today.He dressed in clothes his father’s team provided. Black suit. White shirt. No tie. He looked in the mirror and barely recognised himself. The bruises on his face had darkened overnight. His split lip was swollen. But his eyes held something new.Purpose.The woman in black appeared in the doorway. “Your father wants you in the briefing room.”“What is your name?” Lex asked.“Maya Chen.” She studied him. “I knew your father before the fall. He was a good man. Still is.”“You never answered my question last night. Why did you help me?”“Because three years ago, the Zhangs killed my brother. He worked at one of your father’s factories. The one they sabotaged. Twenty-three people died in that fire. My brother was one of them.”Lex’s chest tightened. “I
Chapter Six: Blood and Betrayal
Lex sprinted down the service corridor, Maya right behind him. Gunfire erupted. Bullets punched through drywall, spraying plaster dust.“Emergency exit, fifty meters ahead!” Maya shouted.Behind them, voices screamed. “Shooter in the building! Lock it down!”They burst through the exit door and into a concrete stairwell. Lex took the stairs three at a time, his injured ribs forgotten in the adrenaline surge.“Why did you shoot him?” Lex gasped between breaths.“He recognised you. He would have called Andrew. You would be dead in seconds.”They hit the ground floor. Maya kicked open the door to an underground parking garage. A black van waited with its engine running. They dove inside and the van screeched away before the door even closed.Daniel sat at the wheel, his face grim. “Please tell me you did not just assassinate Gerald Sterling.”“Of course we did not,” Maya snapped. “I did.”Inside the van, monitors displayed feeds from the surveillance devices still active in the dining ro
Chapter Seven: The Master’s Game
Lex stared at Marcus Kane, the man who was supposed to be his captive father, standing free and smiling in the doorway of the safe house.“What is this?” Lex’s gun remained pointed at Maya, but his eyes locked onto Marcus. “You were supposed to be captured. The photo showed you tied up, bleeding.”“Movie magic, son. Daniel is excellent with makeup, and we have talented photographers on the team.” Marcus stepped inside, his guards fanning out behind him. “Lower your weapon. Maya is exactly who she says she is. Mostly.”“Mostly?” Lex’s finger tightened on the trigger.Maya slowly raised her hands. “Lex, let me explain.”“No.” Marcus’s voice cut through the tension like a blade. “I will explain. Maya, Daniel, leave us.”Daniel moved toward the door immediately. Maya hesitated, her eyes meeting Lex’s with something that looked like regret, then followed.The guards remained, weapons ready.“Alone means alone,” Lex said, his gun now shifting toward Marcus.Marcus smiled, genuinely amused.
Chapter Eight: The Twin Deception
Two identical women faced each other across the small apartment. Same face. Same build. Same scar running from eyebrow to cheekbone.Lex’s gun swung between them, unable to determine which was the Maya he knew.“Lex, get away from Sophia,” the Maya in the doorway said. “That woman has been lying to you from the beginning.”“Listen to her and you die,” the Maya who came through the window replied. “She is the one working for Marcus Kane. I am trying to save you.”Sophia pressed herself against the wall, the USB drive clutched in her hand. “Lex, I do not know who either of them is.”“Shut up!” both Mayas shouted simultaneously.Lex kept his weapon steady, his mind racing through every interaction with Maya. Every conversation. Every warning. Looking for something that would identify which was real.“If you are the real Maya,” Lex said to the one in the doorway, “tell me what you said to me in the Sterling basement the night we escaped.”The doorway Maya did not hesitate. “I said your fa
Chapter Nine: The Highway Run
The sedan tore through the city streets, Lex pushing the engine harder than it was meant to go. In the rearview mirror, headlights appeared and disappeared. Following. Always following.“We have a tail,” Mei said from the back seat. The window Maya, as Lex was now thinking of her.“I know.” Lex took a sharp right, tyres squealing. The headlights followed.“Two cars,” Maya corrected, the doorway twin. “Black SUVs. Marcus’s standard convoy formation.”Sophia clutched the USB drive like a lifeline. “How did they find us so fast?”“Tracker,” both twins said simultaneously.Lex cursed. “Where?”“Check under the seats,” Mei instructed. “Could be magnetic. Could be sewn into the upholstery.”Maya was already feeling along the floor. “Not here. Try the wheel wells from inside.”“We are driving seventy miles an hour through city streets,” Lex snapped. “I cannot exactly pull over and search.”“Then we need to ditch the car,” Sophia said. “Now.”Ahead, the highway entrance loomed. Lex made a dec
Chapter Ten: The Facility
Chapter Ten: The FacilityThe SUV descended into an underground parking structure beneath what looked like an abandoned factory. Concrete walls. Flickering lights. The smell of oil and rust.Lex counted exits as they drove deeper. Two ramps behind them. No other visible escape routes. The facility was designed to keep people in.They stopped in front of a reinforced steel door. Victor gestured with his gun. “Out.”Lex climbed out and saw the other SUVs arriving. Sophia emerged from one, her face pale but composed. Maya and Mei from the third, Mei’s shoulder wrapped in a crude bandage, blood seeping through.“Move,” Victor commanded.They were herded through the steel door into a corridor lit by harsh fluorescent strips. The walls were concrete, windowless. Every twenty feet, security cameras tracked their movement.“Where are we?” Sophia asked.“One of Mr. Kane’s private facilities. Used to be a munitions factory before the government shut it down thirty years ago. He bought it throug