Rebirth Of The Fallen Heir

Austin Vance lay perfectly paralyzed on the hospital bed, his entire body reduced to a broken shell after a meticulously planned car accident on the lower district highway.

At forty-two years old, he had the wealth to buy the city, yet he could not even raise a finger to wipe away the cold sweat pooling in his eyes.

The only thing tying his soul to the mortal realm was the rhythmic, synthetic hiss of the ventilator.

Beside his bed stood Vivienne.

She didn’t spare him a single glance.

Instead, she casually adjusted her flawless makeup in the reflection of the glass window, the rare diamonds on her fingers—diamonds he had poured from his family's wealth at her feet—glinting under the harsh fluorescent lights.

"Disconnect it," Vivienne said, finally looking up after fixing her lipstick, her voice completely devoid of warmth.

The attending doctor hesitated, his fingers trembling over the control panel.

"Madam... Mr. Vance's vital matrix is still stable. If we begin the advanced Aether infusion therapy right now, his core might—"

"I said, pull the plug." Vivienne picked up her designer purse, her tone sharpening into an icicle that cut through the sterile room.

"The Vance family's core assets have already been legally signed over to the Cross corporation. Keeping this useless creature breathing is just a waste of premium spirit stones. Do it."

The doctor lowered his head, refusing to meet Austin's eyes, and quietly reached for the master switch.

Click.

The mechanical hum died instantly.

The heavy breathing tube was violently wrenched from Austin’s throat.

His chest buckled.

His lungs spasmed with frantic, agonizing violence as the oxygen vanished.

He wanted to scream, to ask why, to tear her throat out with his bare teeth, but he could only lie there as his face turned a dark purple.

His bloodshot eyes staring at his wife in sheer horror and disbelief.

He couldn’t understand.

How could the woman he had protected for twenty years become the person who wanted him dead?!

Vivienne slowly leaned down, bringing her face mere inches from his.

The suffocatingly expensive perfume she wore—a high-end brand he bought for her by the dozen whenever she pouted—smelled sickeningly sweet.

“I can see you’re confused,” she smiled.

"Did you really think a high-and-mighty Walker heir like you was ever anything more than a tool to me?" she whispered.

Her manicured finger gently tapped against his freezing cheek, as if she were touching an object that no longer had any value.

"For twenty long years, you were such a good, obedient dog. You completely severed ties with your wealthy parents just because I shed a few fake tears.”

“You let your gentle sister Olivia rot in a nameless, unmarked grave, while you spent your fortune paying off my brother’s gang debts and my mother’s drug habits.”

“And the most ridiculous part?”

“You even shattered your own Aetherial Core taking a fatal blow from the Syndicate to save my life.”

A low, cruel laugh escaped her throat, vibrating with absolute triumph.

"And what did you get for being so devoted, Austin? Look at yourself. Those five children you spent twenty years slaving away to raise, nursing through fevers and enduring their slights?”

“Not a single one of them carries your filthy Walker blood.”

Vivienne leaned closer, whispering each word like a knife being slowly pushed into his heart.

“Every single one of them belongs to Harrison Cross.”

The words hit Austin’s fading consciousness harder than the physical impact that had crushed his spine.

For a moment, the world seemed to stop. The pain from his broken body suddenly became meaningless.

Not mine.

Those words echoed endlessly inside his mind.

Twenty years.

Twenty years of sacrifice, late nights, broken bones, and absolute degradation, all to raise a nest of vipers.

All of it was a lie!

Because of this woman, he had broken his mother’s heart, ignored his father’s dying words, and let his innocent sister die alone in misery and despair.

He had traded his true family for a parasitic illusion!

A wave of grief crashed through his soul.

Grief, thick and suffocating, tore through the remnants of his soul before instantly hardening into a catastrophic, primordial hatred.

Vivienne looked at his devastated expression and smiled.

She seemed to enjoy watching the last bit of hope disappear from his eyes.

“Die quickly. Harrison is waiting downstairs right now. We're going to the Obsidian Club to celebrate our engagement."

"You should be happy for us. Without you, we can finally be together."

Her words became the final blow.

As the absolute darkness began to swarm his peripheral vision and his chest collapsed entirely, his soul howled into the empty void of the universe with everything he had left.

He could no longer feel his body.

But he could still feel one thing.

Hatred.

A hatred so deep it burned through his soul.

The memories of his past life flashed before him.

His parents' disappointed faces.

His sister's helpless cries.

And... every moment he had wasted on people who never deserved him.

All of it replayed like a cruel joke.

No!

He refused to accept this ending!

If the heavens have eyes, if the earth has a soul, then give another chance!

This time, I will never trust the people who betrayed me!

This time, I will protect those who truly love me!

And everyone who destroyed my life... I will turn their paradise into a bloody slaughterhouse!!!

The heart monitor released one final sound...

Beep—

Then the line stretched into a flat, continuous wail.