His Return: Revenge Of The Rejected Son-in-Law

Chapter One

Chapter One

“Congratulations on your freedom, sir,” a warder said as Gilbert Brook stepped through the prison gates.

He gave a silent nod, the rush of fresh air stinging his lungs like fire. He's finally regained freedom after more than two years behind bars. He was going home to his wife, Geraldine Brook, the very reason he ended up in prison.

The unwelcome memories came flooding back to his memory.

Gilbert had grown up an orphan, until Steve Brook, the founder of the orphanage that took him in and treated him like a son. Steve gave him what he never had, including a name, a roof, an education. And eventually, a wife who was his granddaughter, Geraldine Brook.

Geraldine, a beautiful, aloof and ice-cold woman. She hadn’t been around when the marriage was arranged. And when she returned, the contempt in her eyes was unmistakable. To her, the marriage was nothing more than a transaction. To the Brooks, Gilbert was a charity case, an outsider whom they dressed up as family.

But Gilbert had always been loyal. He didn't mind the way they'd treated him.

The first time he went to prison was years before the wedding. Geraldine had stabbed an elderly man at a nightclub during a drunken rage and the man's family had demanded justice. A twenty year sentence was given to Geraldine, but to protect the family’s name, the Brooks begged Gilbert to take the fall and he did.

They swore it would be temporary, that they’d pull strings to get him out quickly. But five years passed and he was forgotten by everyone but Grandpa Brook, who visited him twice and finally used his influence to get him released.

But then, his freedom had been short-lived, because just a year ago, Geraldine was caught with hard drugs. They were already married by then. And once again, Gilbert took the blame.

But this time, there were no visits, not even a call or letters. Grandpa Brook was already dead, and the rest of the family had completely washed their hands of him.

He’d stopped hoping and stopped expecting anything at all, until this morning when he was suddenly released without warning, and from someone powerful and anonymous.

Now, standing outside the prison gates with the wind brushing his face, little hope stirred in his mind. Maybe things had changed, maybe Geraldine had changed. Maybe the Brooks were finally ready to see him as more than a scapegoat.

He raised a hand to flag down a taxi, but instead, a sleek black sports car glided to a stop in front of him and the door opened. Geraldine stepped out, elegantly and radiantly.

For one foolish, aching second, Gilbert believed she came for him. It was their wedding anniversary after all four years today amd maybe this was her way of making things right.

Then she shattered the moment by saying, “I see you’re out,” she said coolly, handing him a file. “I want a divorce.”

Gilbert stared, stunned. The words echoed but didn’t register.

“What? Wait, what’re you saying?” His voice cracked. “Geraldine… I just got out. I took the fall for you. You think this’s how you welcome me back?”

She folded her arms and looked him over like he was something stuck to the sole of her shoe.

“You’re an ex-convict now. That’s not the image that Brooks or I, Geraldine Brook can afford.”

She said his name like it disgusted her.

“The first time you went to prison, we weren’t even married. That’s the only reason I didn’t cut you off then. But now? I’m done. I can’t be tied to someone like you.”

Then she glanced down at her stomach, her hand resting on it with quiet pride. “I’ve moved on. I’m with someone else now and I’m pregnant with his baby.”

Gilbert’s legs faltered. “Pregnant?”

She twisted the ring on her finger slowly. It wasn’t the one he’d given her.

His chest tightened. “How could you…” His voice broke. “You never even let me touch you. Not once.”

Except that one night she’d came to the prison drunk, smelling of wine and desperation. She asked to speak to him alone. He thought maybe, finally, she wanted to talk. Instead, she kissed him and touched him. She'd pulled him into her arms like she needed him and afterward, in the cold light of morning, she screamed and cried, calling it a mistake. Called it assault and a nightmare.

Now she was here for this again.

“You were seeing someone else while I was rotting in a cell for you?” His voice shook. “What did I ever do to deserve this? I gave up everything for you and your family and this’s what I get? On our anniversary?”

For a split second, regret and guilt something flickered in her eyes but it disappeared as fast as it came.

“Don’t make this dramatic,” she said, exhaling sharply. “It’s done. I’m offering you ten million dollars. That should be enough for you to disappear quietly.”

She pulled out a cheque and handed it to him. Gilbert looked at it, then back at her.

“Ten million?” he said, his voice thick with disbelief. “That’s what I’m worth to you?”

Geraldine rolled her eyes. “You act like you cured cancer. You went to jail, it’s not that deep. Just take the money and go live whatever life you want.”

He said nothing, just stared at it. Then, slowly, he took the file from her and collected the cheque. His hands trembled as he signed the papers. He returned it to her and she smirked, turned, and walked back toward her car.

Gilbert clenched his fist as he watched her go, then he looked at the cheque in his hand and tore it.

“I don’t want your fucking money. Go to hell with it,” he snapped, walking away.

Geraldine stood frozen, watching the torn pieces fall before scoffing and shaking her head.

Hours later…

Gilbert stood before the grand Brooks mansion gates. He shouldn’t be here, but he had something very important inside.

He clenched his fists and stepped in, ignoring the guards’ stares. They didn’t stop him. Maybe they hadn’t heard about the divorce.

Inside the mansion there was complete silence. No one was in sight and he knew they wouldn't even be at this time of the day. It was night already and they always held a meeting in Uncle Ryan’s home.

Gilbert moved quietly up the grand staircase toward the room that’d once been his. It was more of a storage closet than a husband's space. Passing Geraldine’s bedroom, his legs stuck to the floor.

There were moans coming from inside the room.

His jaw clenched. It was Geraldine’s who was moaning but her car wasn’t even outside.

He stepped closer, hand halfway to the doorknob then her voice came: “I’ve divorced that worthless fool. He’s finally out of the way.”

Gilbert’s hand dropped.

“Took you long enough,” a man replied, smugly. “I told you two years ago to end that farce of a marriage while he was still rotting in prison.”

Gilbert’s chest tightened, but he listened.

“Well, I’ve done it now,” Geraldine said with a giddy laugh. “The divorce is final, the baby’s on the way, and soon I’ll have the life I deserve, with love, wealth, and a real man beside me.”

“Right,” the man said, chuckling. “You Brooks are coldbloodd, though.”

That was all Gilbert needed, he flung the door open and froze. There was Geraldine, tangled in bedsheets. Beside her was a shirtless and smug Ethan Dolan, New York’s notorious millionaire and Geraldine’s ex. The same man she claimed to have ended things with before the marriage. The same man who had cheated on her publicly.

Now, here they were.

Geraldine sat up, clutching the sheets.

“What the hell are you doing in my house?” she snapped. “I divorced you. You don’t get to walk in like you still matter!”

Ethan leaned back on the bed frame, smirking. “Well, look who it is. The jailbird returns.”

“So it was him,” Gilbert said slowly. “That’s what all of this was about.”

Geraldine didn’t deny it. She stood, heading for the wardrobe.

“Yes,” she snapped. “He’s everything you’re not. Powerful. Respected. Not a damn charity case.”

She yanked out Gilbert’s old clothes, tossing them on the floor.

“These rags?” she laughed. “You left them here when we married. I didn’t throw them out because I knew you’d crawl back eventually. Pathetic.”

Gilbert clenched his fists, watching the woman he gave everything for humiliate him without flinching.

“You’re done,” she spat. “Take your trash and go. You’ve seen enough.”

Gilbert looked at Ethan, who gave a mocking wave. “Tough break, man. Some of us are built for this world. Others just survive it.”

Gilbert said nothing. He turned and slammed the door behind him. To hell with them all. He stormed downstairs, rage pulsing, then stopped as he saw the entire Brook family lounging in the living room, sipping wine in the comfort his sacrifices had bought.

They looked up at him, then they laughed.

“Well, well,” came the voice of Ryan Brook, Geraldine’s smug uncle. “Look who finally shows up. The ex-convict. The sacrificial lamb. Just in time to catch his ex-wife celebrating with her fiance upstairs.”

There came more laughter.

Gilbert didn’t flinch, he walked to the door, heart burning.

They would all regret this. Every last one of them.

“What’s that worthless thing still doing here?” Sierra Brook, Geraldine’s mother, sneered. “Didn’t she already divorce him?”

Then Gilbert remembered why he’d actually came back, but he couldn’t go back up there.

“You should’ve known,” Granny Brook chimed in. “Beggars don’t stay put. Always sniffing around where they’re not wanted. Just like the time he came into my room on my birthday, begging for money to buy cough medicine. I didn’t give him a dime and he had the nerve to come back asking again. Pitiful.”

The old woman had hated him from the start. They all had.

“I heard he even tore up the cheque Geraldine gave him,” Diana Brook, her younger sister, snorted. “A broke man with an attitude. Real class act.”

Laughter followed.

“Still wondering who got him released, though” Ryan Brook said, sipping whiskey. “If Grandpa were alive, I’d have guessed him. But now? Maybe someone in high office still likes criminals.”

Sierra sighed. “At least my daughter’s free of the trap Grandpa forced her into. I never saw what he saw in you.”

Gilbert looked around, scanning smug, cruel faces everywhere. Then he spoke, voice low: “Y’all think this is funny now. But you’ll all regret this. Not just what you did but how you also laughed while doing it.”

Ryan clapped mockingly. “Oh, the ex-con speaks. Thought you came to soak up insults.”

Sierra walked up to Gilbert.

“Good,” she said. “Now I can enjoy this one last time.”

SMACK. Her palm hit his cheek hard. Gilbert didn't react. She’d done this before but never had it cut this deep. His jaw tightened.

She smirked. “Now I can finally regret in peace.”

She turned, but Gilbert’s voice stopped her. “You’ll regret it alright,” he said. “You’ll come back on your knees, crying, begging with the same hand you used to slap me. Mark my words.”

Silence fell in the room. He turned to leave, his hand on the doorknob, when Granny Brook’s voice rang out.

“That vow better be short-lived,” she croaked. “Because the police are waiting right outside. The old case you took the fall for has been reopened. I made a few calls myself.”

Cruel laughter erupted again.

Gilbert stepped out into the cold, driving rain with a hollow heart.

It all made sense now. They needed him out of the way for good.

He suddenly heard sirens and just immediately, red and blue lights cut through the rain. Police cruisers screeched to a stop and officers jumped out.

“Freeze! Gilbert Brook! Hands where we can see them!”

He didn’t move because he was ready. His hands were cuffed and they started taking him to their car when sleek black luxury cars rolled up beside the police cruisers.

Doors opened in perfect sync and men in sharp black suits stepped out, holding umbrellas. They all looked deadly serious. One stepped forward, flashing a gold-plated badge.

“Stand down, officers,” he said coolly. “We’re taking Mr. Brook.”

“Under whose authority?” The officer asked.

The man flipped open a leather ID. The symbol made their posture shift instantly, respectful.

“Federal.”

Gilbert’s eyes widened as the police retreated immediately. They uncuffed him, apologized, before speeding off.

One of the suited men stepped forward and bowed. “Master, we deeply apologize for the delay. We searched the world for years. Only recently did we learn you were here in New York.”

Gilbert gasped. “Who... who are you people?” He asked, eyes wide.

An older man stepped forward and bowed. “Master Gilbert, I’m Peter Raymond, your grandfather’s loyal friend. Your true identity has come to light. Your grandfather, King Richard Steele, was ruler of the hidden Kingdom of Aurelis, and one of the richest men the world has ever known.”

He continued solemnly, “Before he died, he named you heir to his third-generational legacy, an empire forged over centuries. The fortune, the throne, the Steele dynasty… it’s all yours.”

Gilbert’s breath caught. “My grandfather? The Steele empire?”

Peter nodded. “Your parents, Prince Grinch Steele and your mother were assassinated the night you were born. You were stolen from the hospital. Only you and your sister survived and she has searched for you ever since.”

A sister?

“She’s the one who had me released, isn’t she?”

“Yes, Master.”

A guard handed Gilbert a leather file. Inside were birth records, DNA proof, royal decrees:

HEIR TO THE STEELE EMPIRE: GILBERT BROOK

BIRTH NAME: ALEXANDER STEELE

BENEFICIARY: $10 TRILLION

SUCCESSION: IMMEDIATE

SISTER: ALESSANDRIA STEELE

He stared at the truth in his hands. He'd been mocked, abandoned and betrayed, but all along, he was heir to a trillion-dollar dynasty.

He lifted his head, eyes blazing. Rain poured like cleansing fire. From beggar to king. From disgrace to destiny.

Gilbert—no, Alexander Steele had risen.

But a chilling thought struck him: What if this was just another trap by the Brooks to land him back in jail?