THE RETURN OF THE FORGOTTEN SON

Chapter 2

The silence inside the boardroom stretched long after the elevator doors closed. It was as if Adrian Cole had taken the air with him, leaving only confusion, unease, and the faint scent of something electric in the room.

Vanessa Knight was the first to move. Her manicured fingers tightened around her pen until the metal bent slightly between them. Her eyes dark, sharp, restless darted toward her husband.

“Victor,” she said slowly, “who is that man?”

Victor leaned back, his hand trembling faintly as he rubbed his temple. “An investor,” he muttered. “A very powerful one.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Her voice was low, tense. “The way he looked at me” She stopped, pressing her lips together, realizing she sounded nervous, a thing she despised. “It was unsettling.”

Caleb exhaled loudly and leaned back in his chair. “You’re overthinking it, Mother. He’s just another arrogant businessman who thinks money gives him power. We’ll deal with him.”

Vanessa shot him a glare. “You think that was arrogance? That was control. The kind only men who’ve lost everything and built themselves again possess.”

Victor looked up sharply. “Enough. Both of you.” He stood, straightening his jacket, though his shoulders sagged beneath the weight of something older than this conversation. “We needed him. Without Cole’s investment, this company wouldn’t last another quarter. So we’ll play along.”

Vanessa turned toward him, her voice a razor wrapped in silk. “You’d hand over everything to a man you know nothing about?”

Victor’s gaze hardened. “I built this company from nothing. Don’t talk to me about control, Vanessa.”

But even as he spoke, his thoughts were elsewhere replaying the faint glimmer of familiarity in that man’s eyes. Adrian Cole. There had been something about the way he moved, the tone in his voice, the confidence that bordered on vengeance.

It reminded him of someone he hadn’t allowed himself to think about in years.

Someone buried me.

Someone is gone.

Adrian Knight.

He swallowed, forcing the thought away. It couldn’t be. His son was dead at least to him.

Outside, in the shimmering lobby of Knight Corporation, Elena Moore leaned against a marble pillar, trying to steady her breath.

Her colleagues moved past her, whispering about the mysterious investor, but their voices blurred into background noise. Her mind was stuck on his eyes.

She had seen that gaze before the way it held quiet storms behind calm waters, the way it seemed to know her.

But from where?

Her phone buzzed.

It was a message from Victor Knight.

Elena, prepare a PR strategy. We need to announce our partnership with Mr. Cole before the press leaks anything.

She typed back quickly:

Understood, sir. When should I schedule the briefing?

Tomorrow morning. I want him there

She paused.

The thought of facing him again made her pulse skip.

She slipped her phone into her bag and walked toward the glass exit, her heels echoing in rhythm with her thoughts. Outside, the city was alive, horns blaring, people rushing, rain threatening but none of it touched her. She was somewhere else, seven years in the past, remembering a boy who had disappeared without a goodbye.

A boy named Adrian Knight.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, a sleek black Mercedes rolled to a stop in front of The Cole Tower, the gleaming headquarters of A.C. Holdings.

Adrian stepped out, the rain catching in his dark hair as he adjusted his coat. His face was calm, unreadable, but his eyes flickered briefly toward the skyline toward the building that still bore his family’s name.

Knight Corporation.

The empire that had cast him out.

Inside the elevator, his phone buzzed.

“Talk,” he said quietly.

Lucas Brandt’s voice filled the line, light and teasing as always.

“You made quite an impression today. The Knights’ social feeds are already buzzing. Rumors, panic, confusion. Vanessa Knight tried to trace your background, by the way. Nothing came up. I scrubbed every record she’s digging into a ghost.”

Adrian smiled faintly. “Good.”

Lucas hesitated. “You sure you’re ready for this, man? It’s been seven years.”

“I’ve been ready since the day they left me to rot.”

There was a pause, the soft hum of the elevator filling the silence.

Then Adrian added, quieter: “Did you get what I asked for?”

“Yeah. The files from the Knight archives. The ones about your case or what’s left of it. Someone made sure to bury the evidence deep.”

Adrian’s jaw tightened. “Send them to my private drive.”

“You got it.”

The call ended. The elevator doors opened into a minimalist office black, silver, and glass. Adrian walked to the window, overlooking the city. Rain streaked down the glass, catching the reflection of a man who had learned to turn pain into armor.

He remembered the cell. The damp walls. The whispers in the dark. The betrayal that came from the faces he loved most.

And then, her.

Elena.

The one who believed him when no one else did.

He closed his eyes for a moment, and the memory burned behind his eyelids, her voice trembling as they dragged him away, her tears falling against his hands through the bars of that police van.

“Adrian, I know you didn’t do it.”

He had never forgotten that.

Back at Knight Corporation, Vanessa poured herself a glass of wine in her office, her reflection staring back through the dark window.

She couldn’t shake the feeling of déjà vu, of recognition. That man’s eyes had haunted her all day.

A knock on her door broke her thoughts.

It was Caleb.

“Mother, you’re drinking again?”

“Don’t start,” she said coldly. “Sit.”

He did, sinking into the chair across from her.

“Cole’s not who he says he is,” she muttered. “I can feel it.”

Caleb rolled his eyes. “You say that about everyone who doesn’t fall for your charm.”

Her glare silenced him. “No, Caleb. This is different. He looked at me like he knew. Like he’s been waiting for this.”

Caleb frowned. “You think he’s a competitor?”

“Maybe. Or maybe something worse.” She sipped her wine slowly. “Dig into his background. Discreetly. I want to know where he came from, who he worked for, who he is.”

Caleb smirked. “You really think I’ll find anything?”

Vanessa leaned forward, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Everyone has a past. Even ghosts.”

The next morning, the rain had stopped.

The Knight Corporation building gleamed under the pale light, as if yesterday’s storm had never happened. But inside, tension buzzed beneath the polished surfaces.

Elena was in early, finalizing the press release draft for Victor Knight. She wore a pale gray suit neat, calm, efficient but her eyes betrayed the restlessness she couldn’t shake.

At exactly nine, Victor arrived, followed by Vanessa and Caleb. The boardroom was prepared again, and this time, the air was heavier, expectant, and wary.

Then came the quiet click of polished shoes.

Adrian Cole entered once more, as controlled as ever.

Every pair of eyes turned.

Victor rose slightly. “Mr. Cole. Thank you for joining us again.”

Adrian nodded curtly. “I trust you’ve considered my proposal.”

“We have,” Victor said, clearing his throat. “And we’ve agreed on one condition. I remain as Chairman.”

Adrian tilted his head. “Of course. Symbolically.”

Vanessa’s jaw tightened. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” Adrian said, stepping closer, “you’ll still have your name on the plaque. But the real ones will be mine.”

Vanessa laughed softly. “You think you can walk in here and take what we built?”

Adrian’s eyes locked on hers and this time, she flinched.

“I’m not taking anything,” he said quietly. “I’m reclaiming what was stolen.”

The words hung between them were heavy, deliberate.

Elena looked up sharply. Something in his tone cracked through her confusion, stirring an old ache she thought she’d buried.

She studied his face again, the curve of his jaw, the faint scar near his temple, the depth of those gray eyes and suddenly her chest tightened.

It couldn’t be.

It just couldn’t.

But before she could speak, Victor cleared his throat. “If we’re done with riddles, let’s proceed. The signing ceremony is tomorrow morning.”

Adrian gave a faint nod. “Perfect. I’ll see you then.”

As he turned to leave, his gaze brushed Elena’s for a heartbeat. The look in her eyes searching, frightened, fragile nearly broke through the wall he’d built.

Nearly.

When the door closed behind him, Elena pressed a hand to her chest.

She could feel her pulse racing.

“Adrian Knight…” she whispered under her breath, though she didn’t yet know why.

Later that evening, in the underground garage of Knight Tower, Vanessa’s car sat idling in the dark.

Caleb climbed into the driver’s seat, his face pale.

“Mother,” he said, handing her a folder. “You were right.”

She took it, flipping through the printed pages of fragments of data, blurred images, financial histories.

At the top of one file, the name stared back at her like a curse:

 Adrian Cole formerly registered as Adrian Knight.

Her hand froze. The papers trembled between her fingers.

“Impossible,” she whispered. “He was supposed to be gone. We made sure”

She stopped, realizing what she had just said.

Caleb looked at her sharply. “You what?”

Vanessa’s eyes rose to meet his, cold and burning all at once.

“This changes everything,” she said.

The engine hummed in the silence that followed.

Outside, the night pressed close, heavy, waiting.

And somewhere high above the city, in his glass tower, Adrian Cole stood by the window, staring down at the world that had once forgotten him.

He didn’t know it yet, but the ghosts he had come to bury were already digging into his.

Vanessa has discovered Adrian’s true identity and intends to use it before he can strike.