Bullied No More: Rise of the Forgotten Heir

CHAPTER 2: THE PRICE OF A NAME

“Get in.”

Elias stared at the car. Black. Long. Too clean for the cracked parking lot it sat in. The windows were tinted so dark they reflected his own face back at him, pale, uncertain, furious.

“I’m not getting into a stranger’s car,” Elias said.

Victor didn’t sigh. Didn’t argue. He simply opened the rear door. Inside, the interior light revealed leather seats, a small glass screen embedded between them, and a faint symbol etched into the door, the same one on the card.

“You already confronted your girlfriend in public,” Victor said calmly. “Argued with a man who could have broken your jaw. And trusted a hallway full of strangers to witness it.” His eyes flicked to Elias. “But this is where you draw the line?”

Elias hesitated. That annoyed him more than Victor’s logic. “You said my life was a lie,” Elias said. “Explain. Here. Now.”

Victor tilted his head. “Very well.”

He gestured to the open door. “Sit.”

Elias clenched his jaw and slid inside. The door closed without a sound.The car moved. “Hey !” Elias snapped. “I didn’t say”

“You did,” Victor replied. “With your feet.”

Elias leaned forward. “If this is some elaborate scam”

“It isn’t.”

“then you picked the wrong”

Victor pressed a button. The glass screen flickered to life.It showed a hospital room. Elias froze. The woman in the bed was pale, exhausted, but unmistakable.

“Mom?” His voice cracked. “That’s not, she died when I was ten.”

“She died twice,” Victor said. “Once to the world. Once for you.”

The screen zoomed in. Doctors argued. A man in a suit stood near the window, his face blurred. “Who is that?” Elias asked.

“An assassin,” Victor replied. “Sent by a rival family who learned your bloodline survived.”

Elias shook his head. “This is insane.”

The footage changed. A younger Elias. Sleeping. A woman crying quietly beside the bed. His chest tightened.

“That night,” Victor continued, “your mother signed the Severance Pact. Your name was removed from all registries tied to us. You became… ordinary.”

“I grew up poor,” Elias snapped. “That wasn’t protection.”

“It was survival.”

The car turned. Elias rubbed his face. “Why now?”

Victor didn’t answer immediately. “That boy,” Victor said instead, “Julian Crest. His family recently aligned with ours.”

Elias stiffened. “Aligned?”

“Until today,” Victor said. “Now they are… reconsidering.”

“So you showed up because of him?”

Victor met his gaze. “No. I showed up because you didn’t beg.”

Elias frowned. “What?”

“You were humiliated,” Victor said. “Publicly. You were outmatched. And yet you demanded honesty, not mercy.”

The screen went dark. “That,” Victor said, “is an Aurelian trait.”

The car slowed. “Where are we going?” Elias asked.

“To see if you deserve the name.”

They stopped in front of an abandoned subway entrance. Elias stared. “You’re kidding.”

Victor stepped out. “I don’t joke about bloodlines.”

The air underground was cold, metallic. Old lights flickered to life as they descended. “This place is condemned,” Elias said.

“Yes,” Victor agreed. “By the city.”

They reached a wide platform. The tracks were gone. In their place stood a door. Stone. Massive. Etched with symbols that made Elias’s head ache if he stared too long. “What is this?” Elias whispered.

“A threshold.”

Victor stepped aside. “Open it.”

Elias laughed bitterly. “You’re out of your mind.”

“Perhaps,” Victor said. “But only Aurelians can cross uninvited.”

Elias hesitated. “Or,” Victor added, “you can walk away. Return to school. To Mira. To pretending today never happened.”

Elias’s hands shook. He thought of Mira’s eyes sliding away. Julian’s laugh. The crowd. He stepped forward and placed his hand on the stone. It was warm.

The symbols flared. The door opened. Victor smiled, just a little. Inside was not a room. It was a city beneath the city.

Lights. Towers. Movement. People dressed in modern clothes… and others who weren’t. Elias staggered back. “What the hell is this?”

“The truth,” Victor said. “Welcome to the Aurelian Ward.”

A woman approached, eyes sharp. “Is that him?”

“Yes,” Victor replied.

She studied Elias. “He doesn’t look special.”

“Neither did you,” Victor said.

Her lips twitched. Elias swallowed. “If I walk in there… what happens?”

Victor’s voice lowered. “Enemies will sense you. Allies will test you. And everyone will want something.”

“And if I don’t?”

Victor met his gaze. “They will still come.”

A beat. Elias stepped through the door. The stone sealed behind him. Somewhere deep beneath the city, a bell rang. And far above, Mira Hale felt a chill she couldn’t explain.