THE HEIR'S REVENGE

Chapter 17: Daniel's Violence

The university library stood like a fortress of knowledge against the evening sky. I had come here after visiting Lily, needing a quiet place to review the documents before tonight's meeting with Marcus Pierce. The campus was mostly empty at seven o'clock, just a few students hurrying between buildings. I should have noticed the footsteps following me from the parking lot, but my mind was on Victoria's crimes and the parent she'd hidden in that nursing facility.

The first punch came from behind, catching me just below my left ear. The world tilted sideways, and my papers scattered across the concrete like white birds trying to fly. I stumbled forward, my vision blurring, and turned to see Daniel Pierce standing there with his fists raised. His face was twisted with rage, nothing like the smirking bully I'd known for years. This was someone whose world was crumbling, and he'd decided I was to blame.

"You destroyed everything!" Daniel screamed, spit flying from his mouth. His expensive shirt was untucked, his usually perfect hair wild. "My family, my future, my life! You took it all!"

He swung again, but this time I was ready. The weeks of training with Henry kicked in without thought. I ducked under his wild haymaker, pivoted on my left foot, and brought my elbow up into his solar plexus. The move was clean, precise, exactly as Henry had taught me. Daniel's breath exploded from his lungs, and he doubled over, gasping.

"I didn't take anything," I said, keeping my voice calm even as adrenaline flooded my system. "Your mother's crimes destroyed your family, not me."

Daniel straightened up, his face purple with fury and lack of oxygen. "Liar! You poisoned my father against us! You turned Emma against me! You even stole Brandon!" He lunged at me again, this time trying to grab my throat.

I stepped aside, using his momentum against him. My hand found his wrist, twisted it behind his back, and pressed him face-first against the library's brick wall. It had taken less than three seconds. All those mornings of Henry making me repeat defensive moves until they became instinct had prepared me for this exact moment. Daniel struggled, but I had leverage now, and he couldn't break free.

"Stop this, Daniel," I said, holding him firmly but not cruelly. "It's over. Fighting me won't change what your mother did."

"Everything was perfect before you came back!" He was crying now, ugly sobs that shook his whole body. "We had money, respect, power! Then you show up with your dead grandfather's fortune and suddenly we're nothing! You're nothing! You've always been nothing!"

Students had started gathering, their phones out and recording. The blue light from their screens created a strange halo around us, like we were performers on the world's worst stage. I could hear them whispering, some recognizing us from the news articles about my grandfather's inheritance.

"That's Ethan Blackwell," someone said. "The billionaire's grandson."

"Is that Daniel Pierce attacking him?" another voice asked. "Quick, get this on video!"

Daniel heard them too and his struggles became more desperate. "Get your phones away!" he screamed at the crowd. "Stop recording! Don't you know who I am?"

"You're nobody now," one student called back. "Your family's broke, man. Everyone knows."

This sent Daniel into complete madness. He managed to twist free from my grip and spun around, swinging wildly. But anger made him sloppy, telegraphing every move. I dodged two punches, blocked a third with my forearm, then swept his legs out from under him. He hit the concrete hard, the sound like a sack of flour dropping.

Campus security arrived then, two officers jogging toward us with their radios crackling. They saw Daniel on the ground, saw me standing over him with defensive posture, saw the crowd of witnesses with their phones out. The older officer, Officer Martinez according to his badge, approached carefully.

"What happened here?" Martinez asked, though his eyes were already reading the scene.

Before I could answer, Daniel screamed from the ground: "Arrest him! He assaulted me! He's trying to destroy my family!" He tried to get up, but his rage made him clumsy and he fell back down.

"That's not what we saw," a girl from the crowd said loudly. She held up her phone. "I got the whole thing on video. This guy attacked Ethan from behind, threw the first punch. Ethan was just defending himself."

"I have video too," another student added. "This dude went crazy, screaming about taking everything back."

Officer Martinez looked at the scattered papers around us—the documents I'd been reviewing about Pierce Industries. His expression changed as he recognized what they were. The whole campus knew about the embezzlement scandal by now; news traveled fast in a university.

"Mr. Pierce," Martinez said formally, "I'm going to need you to stand up slowly and put your hands behind your back."

"What?" Daniel's voice cracked. "You're arresting me? I'm Daniel Pierce! My father owns half this city!"

"You're under arrest for assault," Martinez continued, pulling out his handcuffs. "You have the right to remain silent."

As Martinez read Daniel his rights, the younger officer checked on me. "You need medical attention? That's a nasty bruise forming on your jaw."

I touched my face, feeling the swelling already starting. "I'm okay. Just document everything for the report, please."

Daniel wasn't going quietly. As Martinez cuffed him, he kept screaming: "This isn't over, Ethan! You hear me? My mother will destroy you! She'll take everything! You'll be nothing again, just like before! Nothing!"

"Your mother is going to prison," I said quietly, but my voice carried in the sudden silence that followed his outburst. "She's been stealing from your father's company for years. She kept someone in a coma to hide her crimes. The woman you're defending is a monster."

Daniel's face went white. "You're lying. You have to be lying."

"Check the Peaceful Gardens Nursing Facility records," I told him as Martinez started leading him away. "Room 314. Ask your mother who's in that bed and why she's paying fifty thousand a month to keep them there."

The fight went out of Daniel then. His shoulders slumped, and he let Martinez guide him to the security car without another word. But his eyes stayed on me, filled with something between hatred and fear.

The crowd was growing larger now, and I could hear the whispers spreading like wildfire. Someone said they were already uploading the videos. Another mentioned starting a hashtag. Within minutes, #JusticeForEthan was apparently trending, though I wouldn't know until later.

"Ethan!" Brandon's voice cut through the crowd. He pushed through the students, took one look at my face, and cursed. "I left you alone for one hour. One hour!"

"Daniel was waiting," I explained, gathering my scattered papers. Several students helped, handing me documents with sympathetic looks. "He must have been watching the campus, waiting for a chance."

Brandon examined my jaw with surprising gentleness. "You need ice on this. And we should document it for evidence." He turned to the crowd, his security training taking over. "Okay, everyone, show's over. Anyone who has video, please send copies to campus security."

As the crowd slowly dispersed, still chattering excitedly, I noticed one student hadn't moved. She stood by the library entrance, her phone still recording. When our eyes met, she lowered her phone and walked over.

"I'm Sarah Chen from the campus newspaper," she said. "I know this is a bad time, but this is going to be everywhere by morning. Do you want to give a statement? Control the narrative?"

Brandon stepped between us protectively, but I put a hand on his arm. "What kind of statement?"

"The truth," Sarah said simply. "Daniel Pierce has been bullying students here for years. Everyone's afraid of his family's power. But you stood up to him. You defended yourself. People should hear your side."

I thought about it for a moment. Tomorrow, Victoria would try to use her divorce hearing to escape with millions. Having public opinion on my side might help. "Okay. One statement."

Sarah raised her phone, and I looked directly at the camera. "Tonight, Daniel Pierce attacked me because his family's crimes are being exposed. I defended myself, nothing more. The Pierce family has hurt many people over the years, including me, but their time of using wealth and power to escape consequences is over. The truth always comes out eventually."

"Is it true Victoria Pierce has been embezzling?" Sarah asked.

"The authorities have all the evidence they need," I said carefully. "Justice will be served."

After Sarah left, Brandon drove me to a nearby urgent care clinic. The doctor confirmed nothing was broken, just bruised, and gave me ice packs and pain medication I probably wouldn't take. By the time we left, my phone had exploded with notifications.

The videos were everywhere. Every angle of the fight, Daniel's screaming threats, his arrest—all of it spreading across social media like a virus. The comments were overwhelmingly supportive of me, with many people sharing their own stories of Daniel's bullying.

"This changes things," Brandon said as he drove me toward the Metropolitan Club for my meeting with Marcus. "Victoria will see this. She'll know Daniel attacked you and got arrested."

"Good," I said, holding an ice pack to my jaw. "Let her see her son's true nature. Let her see what her poison created."

My phone rang. Henry.

"Young Master, I saw the videos. Are you hurt?"

"Just bruised," I assured him. "Daniel's in worse shape—he's in custody."

"Good," Henry said with satisfaction. "But be careful tonight. A desperate woman whose son just got arrested is dangerous. She might do something extreme."

"That's why I have Brandon and his team," I said. "We're ready for whatever she tries."

But as we pulled up to the Metropolitan Club, its windows glowing gold in the darkness, I wondered if we really were ready. Victoria had played this game longer than any of us. She'd hidden bodies, stolen millions, destroyed families. What would she do when she realized she'd lost everything?

Marcus Pierce's car was already in the parking lot—a black sedan that had seen better days, nothing like the luxury vehicles his family used to drive. The embezzlement had clearly taken its toll on him too, though he didn't know the real reason why yet.

"I'll be right outside," Brandon said as I prepared to go in. "Any sign of trouble, just call."

I nodded, straightened my tie to hide my mother's necklace, and walked into the club. The host led me to a private room where Marcus sat alone, staring at a glass of whiskey he hadn't touched. He looked older than his fifty-five years, his hair more gray than I remembered, his shoulders curved with exhaustion.

"Ethan," he said without looking up. "I heard about Daniel. They called me from the police station."

"I'm sorry it came to that," I said, sitting across from him. "I didn't want to hurt him."

Marcus laughed bitterly. "Hurt him? You defended yourself against my son's stupid rage. He's his mother's child through and through—all emotion, no thought." He finally looked at me, and I saw despair in his eyes. "Why did you want to meet? Come to gloat about our family's destruction?"

"No," I said, pulling out the folder of evidence. "I came to show you the truth about why your family is really falling apart."

I placed the embezzlement records on the table between us. Marcus stared at them for a long moment, then slowly reached out and began to read. As his eyes moved across the pages, his face changed—confusion to understanding, understanding to horror, horror to rage.

"Three point two million," he whispered. "She stole three point two million from our own company?"

"Over five years," I confirmed. "Through shell companies and fake invoices. Your CFO helped her—he's her cousin."

Marcus's hands shook as he turned pages, seeing his wife's betrayal laid out in black and white. "This explains everything. Why we could never get ahead, why every expansion failed, why the company was always just barely surviving."

"There's more," I said gently. "And it's worse."

I showed him the medical records from Peaceful Gardens, the fifty-thousand-dollar monthly payments, the admission date that matched his brother's accident. Marcus read it three times before the truth sank in.

"She... she kept one of them alive? In a coma?" His voice broke. "My brother or his wife, locked away like a secret?"

"We'll know which one tomorrow," I said. "My team is investigating tonight."

Marcus stood abruptly, pacing the small room like a caged animal. "Twenty-three years of marriage. Twenty-three years, and she was a monster the whole time." He stopped, staring at me with desperate eyes. "What do you want from me? Why show me this?"

"Because you're a victim too," I said simply. "And because tomorrow, at her divorce hearing, Victoria's going to try to take half of everything you have left. Unless we stop her."

"How?"

"You file criminal charges tonight. Embezzlement, fraud, attempted murder. With your testimony and this evidence, she'll be arrested before the hearing."

Marcus sat back down heavily. "My own wife. The mother of my children."

"The woman who destroyed your brother's family," I reminded him. "Who's been stealing from you for years. Who turned your children into weapons against innocent people."

He was quiet for a long moment, then pulled out his phone. "I'll call the district attorney. He's a friend." He paused before dialing. "Ethan, I owe you an apology. For years of letting Victoria poison our families against each other. For not protecting you when you lived with us."

"Help me stop her," I said. "That's apology enough."