Heir by Dawn

Chapter Five: The First Strike

Murmurs buzzed like a hive of hornets. A reporter shoved a mic close. “Mr. Hale, do you deny these statements? Is it true you’ve been hiding massive debts from your own family?”

Another shouted, “Did your girlfriend leave you because she discovered your financial ruin?” Laughter rippled. The cameras leaned closer, hungry for collapse.

Ethan’s gaze swept the room, calm despite the storm. His eyes fell on the papers Victor clutched. Lies. Every number, every slip, fabricated.

He stepped forward, voice steady. “Interesting. If I truly carried these debts, Victor, how did I inherit the throne yesterday? Do you believe the council approves a bankrupt heir?”

A silence cut through the crowd. The reporters glanced at one another. Pens paused mid-scratch. Victor’s smirk faltered, just for a breath. “Those records”

“are fakes,” Ethan finished coldly. His words cracked like thunder. “And whoever manufactured them should pray I never learn their name.”

The murmurs shifted instantly. Suspicion rippled, not toward Ethan, but toward Victor.

A reporter raised his hand, voice sharp. “Mr. Victor, these documents came from you. Are you accusing the council of negligence, or are you spreading falsehoods against the heir?”

Victor stiffened. “I received them anonymously. I only thought it right the public be informed.” The questioner pressed. “Informed of lies?” A camera zoomed in on Victor’s suddenly tight jaw.

Ethan stepped closer, every syllable deliberate. “You wanted to shame me, cousin. But you forgot one thing.” He leaned forward, his voice low yet carrying across the hall.

A Hale does not break under lies. He exposes them. And you’ve just exposed yourself. Gasps burst across the room. Reporters fired questions all at once:

“Mr. Ethan, will you investigate these forgeries?”

“Mr. Victor, are you admitting you spread slander?”

“Is this a family war?”

The hall erupted in chaos. Victor’s face flushed red, but he forced a laugh. “You speak well, cousin. But words are wind. The world will see soon enough what kind of heir you really are.”

Ethan’s gaze didn’t waver. “Then let the world watch. I’ll bury lies with truth. The storm of questions surged again, flashes blinding, microphones shoved forward.

Ethan, do you believe this was an inside job?,“Is your family divided against you?”

“Do you plan to retaliate?”

He raised a hand. The noise stilled. “My answer is simple,” Ethan said, voice ringing like iron. “I will not bow to slander. I will not yield to envy. And if anyone inside this family or out believes they can strip me of what I’ve earned, they will learn the cost of their mistake.”

The crowd erupted again, this time not just in jeers but in awe. Victor’s eyes burned. His glass of wine shattered in his grip, crimson spilling across the marble like blood.

But in the far corner, unseen by most, a man in a gray suit slipped quietly out the back. His phone glowed faintly in the shadows. Seconds later, Ethan’s phone buzzed in his pocket.

He pulled it out, Unknown Number: “That was only the opening move. By tonight, your empire will bleed.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. He looked up across the hall at Victor’s rage, at the reporters’ frenzy, at the lingering smirks from relatives who hadn’t spoken but had watched too closely.

The wolves weren’t waiting. They were already inside. His hand closed over the phone. His voice, low and cold, carried only to himself.

Then let them come. The Hale estate looked peaceful at dusk. The last streaks of sunlight bled across the sky, fading into a bruised violet. Servants moved quietly through the halls.

The marble floors gleamed. On the surface, nothing seemed wrong. But Ethan’s instincts screamed otherwise.