REJECTED BY THE HEIR AFTER DIVORCE

Chapter Two – The Call That Changed Everything

The night air outside the penthouse was colder than Adrian remembered. Or maybe it was just the emptiness gnawing inside him. He stood beneath the neon glow of the city, his breaths visible in the dark, the weight of betrayal pressing harder with every heartbeat.

Elena’s voice still echoed in his ears, her excuses, her panic, but none of it mattered now. That chapter was closed.

He lifted the phone back to his ear, the caller’s silence stretching across the line like a taut wire. “Who is this?” he asked finally, his voice raw but steady.

The man on the other end chuckled, deep and deliberate. “So it’s true. You’ve forgotten us.”

Adrian frowned. “Forgotten who?”

“You’ll understand soon,” the voice replied. “But know this, the time has come. The name Cole is no longer something you can run from. A car will be waiting at dawn. Don’t make us come find you.”

The line went dead. Adrian stood frozen, the words echoing in his mind. Cole. It wasn’t just his name, it was a legacy. A dynasty whispered about in boardrooms and political chambers, a family empire that had once reached for the world.

But he had buried that part of himself years ago. His fists tightened at his sides. Why now? Why, after everything, did the family he had distanced himself from suddenly reappear?

A sharp gust of wind whipped through the street, snapping him out of his thoughts. He exhaled hard, shoving the phone into his pocket. Whatever this was, it couldn’t be worse than the ruins of his marriage. And maybe, just maybe, it was exactly what he needed.

The city was barely awake when Adrian stepped outside the penthouse building. He hadn’t slept a wink. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Elena’s face, her coldness, her betrayal, her feigned surprise when he had caught her. He rubbed his temples and looked down the street.

It wasn’t hard to spot. A black sedan, sleek and imposing, idled at the curb. Its tinted windows reflected the faint blush of sunrise, while the man standing beside it looked as though he belonged more to a boardroom battlefield than a city street.

Tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in a tailored suit, his presence radiated authority. “Mr. Cole,” the man greeted, his voice clipped, professional. “We’ve been waiting for this day.”

Adrian’s steps faltered. “And you are?”

“Marcus Kane,” the man replied, offering a curt nod. “Your grandfather’s chief of staff. I’ve been instructed to bring you home.”

Adrian stiffened. Home. That word carried no warmth for him, only shadows. Memories of cold marble halls, voices dripping with expectations, and the constant reminder that he was never enough.

“I think you have the wrong man,” Adrian said flatly. “I left that life behind a long time ago.”

Marcus’s expression didn’t change. “With respect, sir, you don’t have a choice. The Chairman has declared it. You are to resume your rightful place in the family. The empire cannot be run from the shadows.”

Adrian’s jaw clenched. He wanted to turn and walk away, to disappear into the anonymity he had clung to for so long. But the words from last night gnawed at him: It’s time you came home.

And after Elena… after the humiliation, the betrayal, the destruction of the only thing he had fought for, what did he have left to lose?

Adrian met Marcus’s gaze. “Fine. Take me to him.”

Marcus opened the car door with a respectful incline of his head. “As you wish, Mr. Cole.”

Adrian slid inside, the leather interior swallowing him in silence. As the car pulled away from the curb, a strange calm settled over him.

For the first time in years, he wasn’t walking into another night of mockery, another morning of indifference. He was walking into the unknown.