Heirs of Magic ( Book two )

The stark black letters on the paper felt like a double-edged sword driven straight into Ethan’s chest.

NO BIOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIP.

Fifteen years.

For fifteen long years, he had held that girl when she cried, stayed up late helping her with school assignments, and beamed with pride whenever someone said she had his smile.

But all of it had been a lie.

Ethan leaned back against the headrest, his hands trembling so badly that he could barely keep them on the steering wheel. A cold sense of dread crept through his veins, leaving him numb.

He and Chloe Reynolds had met when they were twenty-four—two young people with nothing to their names. He was a low-paid resident doctor; she was a struggling actress who was rejected at one audition after another.

For eight years, he had paid their rent with his modest salary, cooked her meals, and stayed up late talking her through every breakdown whenever another director turned her down.

Then, eight years ago, a hit television series changed everything. Overnight, Chloe became an A-list superstar.

Motherhood had barely affected her beauty. If anything, it had only enhanced it. Her face remained smooth and youthful, while her figure was as elegant and striking as ever. Even now, in her late thirties, she could easily pass for a woman in her twenties.

She had millions of devoted fans, endorsement deals worth fortunes, and enough influence to dominate the headlines with just a single post.

And what was he?

Just an ordinary physician at Westbridge University Hospital after eighteen years in medicine.

He came from no wealthy family. His parents had been humble fishermen who had passed away years ago.

“Had she been laughing at me this whole time?” Ethan whispered, bitterness burning in his throat. “Did she see me as some obedient fool who would keep her home cozy while she lived a secret life?”

The urge to drive straight home and confront her surged through him but it died almost as quickly, replaced by a crushing sense of helplessness.

Confront her?

And then what?

Chloe had money, power, and high-priced legal teams. She could easily throw a settlement check in his face, demand his silence, and walk away without ever telling him who the father was.

And even if she did tell him… what could an ordinary doctor do against a man powerful enough to bed a superstar?

Ethan clenched his jaw.

His heart felt like it had been ripped apart.

Instead of driving home, he pulled into the first bar he saw, slammed his car door, and walked inside.

The dim lighting and low bass did little to quiet his thoughts. He took a seat alone in a secluded corner and ordered one drink after another.

The liquor burned his throat, but he welcomed the pain.

It felt better than the emptiness spreading through his chest.

Glass after glass.

The bar’s speakers shifted, and the soft chords of an old country song drifted through the room.

“Your cheatin’ heart will tell on you…”

Ethan let out a bitter, humorless laugh.

How fitting.

He poured himself another shot and swallowed it in one gulp.

By the time he emptied the bottle, the room was spinning violently. His head fell back against the booth, and his eyelids grew too heavy to keep open.

Then, darkness swallowed him.

In the haze of his blackout, Ethan felt someone pulling his arm over their shoulder. The woman was small and slender, and she staggered beneath his weight as she struggled to keep him upright.

“Get… off me…” he slurred, but his legs felt like lead.

She somehow managed to get him outside and into the passenger seat of a car. The engine roared to life, and the vehicle pulled away from the curb.

When Ethan forced his heavy eyelids open, neon streetlights flashed across the windshield, casting fleeting shadows throughout the car. In the driver’s seat sat a woman with long blonde hair cascading down her back.

In his drunken state, Ethan immediately made the connection.

“Chloe…” His voice came out raspy and raw. “Why did you lie to me?”

The woman kept her eyes on the road.

She said nothing.

“Answer me!” His anger suddenly surged as he slammed his fist against the dashboard.

“Why did you betray me?! Who is he? Who’s the bastard you’ve been sleeping with?!”

Still, no response.

“Don’t you dare ignore me!” he shouted, unshed tears burning in his eyes. “I have proof! I have the test results! If I leak this to the press, your precious reputation will be finished! Everything you built—gone!”

Silence.

Cold, absolute silence.

Whatever anger left in him slowly washed away and dissolved into something far more painful.

“I gave you everything I had…” he choked out, his head slumping against the window. “Lies… It was all just fucking lies…”

His vision blurred, then everything went black again.

When consciousness finally returned, the car had stopped in a sprawling underground parking garage.

The woman pulled him out of the vehicle, his dead weight leaning almost entirely against her as she dragged him toward a residential entrance.

Ethan stumbled forward and let out a slurred, bitter chuckle.

“So… another secret property? Another place you kept hidden from me?”

The woman gritted her teeth and struggled to keep him upright as she dragged him through the doorway into the foyer.

“You bought all these places so you’d have somewhere to meet your lovers, didn’t you?” he spat, his breath reeking of alcohol. “You had the guts to do it, but you don’t have the balls to give me an answer?”

The woman ignored his drunken accusations, straining every muscle just to keep them both on their feet.

But as they crossed into the living room, her strength finally gave out.

They crashed onto the plush carpet.

Ethan lay flat on his back, unable to move a muscle. He struggled to breathe as his mind drifted toward unconsciousness.

Then, just before the last fragment of awareness slipped away, he felt delicate fingers reach down and grip the collar of his shirt.

One button.

Then another.

His drunken mind struggled to process what was happening.

She’s taking off my clothes…

The thought flickered like a dying ember.

Then everything went black.