All Chapters of The Secret King of River City: Heir to the Trillion-Dollar L: Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
11 chapters
Chapter 1: A Bitter Valentine
"Hey, watch where you are going with that bag, kid. You are dripping all over the Italian marble."The security guard at the Grand Imperial Hotel shoved a beefy hand against Ethan’s chest, stopping him dead in his tracks. Ethan wiped a mixture of cold rain and sweat from his eyes, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He gripped the thermal delivery bag tighter, the smell of premium Wagyu steak and expensive truffle pasta seeping through the zippers. "I have a delivery for the Presidential Suite," Ethan said, his voice trembling slightly from the cold. "It is a priority order. I cannot be late."The guard looked him up and down with pure disdain. Ethan’s yellow delivery poncho was torn at the shoulder, his sneakers were soaked through, and his old bicycle was leaning against a gold-plated bollard outside in the middle of a torrential Valentine’s Day downpour. "The Presidential Suite?" The guard let out a dry, mocking laugh. "You look like you belong in a dumpster, not the penthouse. Sh
Chapter 2: Price of a Broken Heart
"Look at him, Stella. He is actually shaking. Is it the cold, or is he just that pathetic?"Marcus Thorne did not wait for an answer. He reached into the pocket of his silk robe and pulled out a thick roll of bills held together by a gold clip. He peeled off a few hundreds with a flick of his thumb, his eyes never leaving Ethan’s dripping face."You delivered the food, kid. You did your job. Now, you need a tip, right? That is how this works?"Marcus let the bills flutter from his fingers. They did not land in Ethan’s hand. He watched them drift through the air and land on the wet, crimson carpet at Ethan’s feet, soaking up the rainwater that had pooled there."Pick it up," Marcus said, his voice dropping an octave, heavy with a cruel sort of playfulness. "That is more than you make in a week of pedaling that scrap metal bike around. Go on. Get on your knees and take it."Ethan looked down at the money, then back up at the man standing in the doorway of the suite. His vision was blurr
Chapter 3: The Call of Destiny
"Tell him that the new owner does not like the smell of trash in the lobby, Jenkins. Tell him I want the Presidential Suite cleared out in ten minutes. I do not care who is in there or what they are doing. Get them out.""It will be handled immediately, Young Master. The manager is already on the line. He is quite literally shaking in his boots."Ethan stood in the freezing rain, his hand trembling as he held the cracked phone to his ear. The weight of the world had shifted in a single heartbeat. One minute he was a loser with nothing but a broken heart and a wet delivery bag, and the next, he was the master of the very city that had tried to crush him."This is real, isn't it?" Ethan asked, his voice cracking. "You are not just some guy pulling a sick joke on me? Because if you are, I might just walk into the river right now.""I assure you, Ethan, this is the furthest thing from a joke. Your father, the late Silas Avery, was a man of extreme vision. He knew that growing up with a si
Chapter 4: The Master of River City
"Watching from the front row as I ruin their lives, Marcus. Make sure they have the best seats in the house for the end of their world."The man with the scar nodded once, his expression as hard as granite. He pulled the door shut, sealing Ethan into the quiet luxury of the Rolls Royce. Outside, the rain lashed against the windows, but inside, the only sound was the faint hum of the climate control and the rustle of silk."The suit is wool and silk blend, hand-stitched in London, Young Master," the stylist said, his voice hushed and respectful. He held up a charcoal jacket that seemed to absorb the light. "The shirt is Sea Island cotton. The shoes are bespoke calfskin. Please, let me help you."Ethan stripped off the soaked, yellow delivery poncho. He looked at the plastic garment, now a heap of trash on the floor of the million-dollar car. He thought about the thousands of miles he had pedaled in that poncho, the hundreds of insults he had swallowed while wearing it."Throw it away,"
Chapter 5: The New Owner
"And they are currently moving toward the elevator, Ethan. You need to get out of there right now."Ethan gripped the phone so hard the glass should have shattered. He looked at the closed elevator doors in the VIP lounge and then at the security guards fanning out around the room. Marcus and Stella were still being dragged away, their screams echoing down the hall, but the world had just gotten a lot smaller."Let them come, Jenkins," Ethan said. His voice was a flat line of ice. "I am done running from shadows. If they want a piece of the Avery name, they can come and try to take it from me.""Young Master, this is not a game. These people do not care about your suits or your bank balance. They want you erased.""Then tell Marcus and the team to tighten the perimeter. I am not leaving my hotel."The night had been a blur of flashing lights and whispered warnings, but when the sun finally rose over River City, the atmosphere in the Grand Imperial had shifted from terror to a strange,
Chapter 6: Unmasked
The heavy mahogany doors of the Grand Imperial lobby didn't just open. They swung wide with a force that seemed to suck the air out of the room. Every head in the marble-lined brunch area turned at once. The soft clinking of silver against porcelain stopped dead.Ethan Avery stepped through the threshold. He wasn't the shivering, soaked boy in a yellow plastic poncho anymore. He wasn't the delivery driver who smelled of rain and cheap grease. He wore a charcoal grey suit that fit him with surgical precision, the fabric shimmering with the unmistakable dull glow of high-grade silk and wool. His hair was pushed back, revealing a face that was no longer clouded by exhaustion but sharpened by a cold, predatory intelligence. At a window-side table, the glass in Stella’s hand slipped. It didn't just tip, it fell straight down. The crystal shattered against the table edge, spraying expensive mimosa across her silk robe and the white linen cloth. She didn't even flinch at the wetness. Her m
Chapter 7: The Thorne Collapse
"Jenkins, are you listening to this?" Ethan asked, his voice steady despite the adrenaline coursing through his veins."I am, Young Master. The message you received was traced to a secure terminal inside the Avery Tower. It seems your return has stirred the hornet's nest faster than we anticipated."Ethan looked at the screen of his phone again, the text glowing like a threat in the dim light of the elevator lobby. "They want a war? I will give them one. But first, I have a mess to clean up in my own house."He turned to Thomas Sterling, the manager, who was still trembling. "Sterling, what is the status of the Thorne party?""They are currently being escorted toward the main entrance, sir. Mr. Thorne is making quite a scene. He is demanding to pay his bill to prove he still has the funds."Ethan let out a cold, sharp laugh. "Is he now? Let him try. Jenkins, is the strike ready?""The Avery National Bank has officially frozen every line of credit associated with the Thorne Constructio
Chapter 8: No Room for Regret
"We crush them," Ethan finished, his voice echoing in the sudden silence of the boardroom.He didn't wait for Silas Thorne to find his breath. He turned his back on the man who had supposedly orchestrated his father's death and walked out the heavy mahogany doors. His security detail fell into step behind him immediately. Their footsteps were a rhythmic thunder against the polished floors of the Avery Tower.In the wide marble corridor just outside the executive wing, the chaos was already reaching a boiling point. Two police officers were struggling to move Marcus Thorne toward the elevators. Marcus was kicking and screaming, his face a mess of tears and snot. Behind them, Stella was being held back by a female guard. She looked like a shell of the woman who had been laughing in the hotel suite just hours ago."Ethan!" Stella screamed as soon as the boardroom doors swung open.She threw herself forward with a strength born of pure panic. She managed to slip past the guard's grip, her
Chapter 9: The Boardroom Massacre
"So, are you just going to keep staring at that drive, or are we going to go inside and finish this?" Clara asked, her voice cutting through the hum of the idling Rolls Royce.Ethan gripped the silver metal in his palm. It felt cold, heavy, and full of secrets he was not sure he was ready to hear. He looked at the woman who claimed to be his sister, then back at the towering glass and steel of the Avery Headquarters. The rain had stopped, but the air was still thick with the smell of wet pavement and looming disaster."I will handle the board first," Ethan said, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous register. "You stay here. If what you told me is true, I do not want you anywhere near Silas Thorne until I have him in a corner."Clara let out a short, sharp laugh and leaned back against the car. "Do not take too long, little brother. They are currently eating your inheritance for breakfast. Silas is a shark. He has been swimming in these waters for thirty years, and you are just a del
Chapter 10: Shadows of the Empire
"And you are just another item on the menu that needs to be cleared away, kid."The man with the white hair tightened his grip. Ethan felt his airway constrict, his boots scraping fruitlessly against the expensive carpet as he was lifted an inch off the floor. The red emergency lights from the wall monitors cast long, flickering shadows across the boardroom, making the assassin look like a marble statue carved from blood."Put him down, Cain. He cannot talk if he is dead, and I need him to see this."Clara stood by the obsidian table, her silhouette framed by the scrolling chaos of the cyber-attack. The man, Cain, let go abruptly. Ethan hit the ground hard, his knees buckling. He coughed, rubbing his throat as the air rushed back into his lungs like fire. He looked up at his supposed sister, his eyes narrowed in a mix of fury and calculation."Is this the family reunion you had planned, Clara? Hacking my accounts and hiring a hitman?""Hacking? No, Ethan. I am just taking back what yo