THE UPRISING HEIR

Chapter 3: Bloodlines and Backstabbers

Alarms shrieked through the mansion’s underground level, casting the control center in pulsing red light. Security personnel rushed through the hallways, guns drawn, voices clipped with tension. Jayden stood frozen in the center of the breached server room, the blood-drawn symbol burning itself into his memory.

A perfect circle with a dragon’s eye. Below it: “He wasn’t the only heir.” He forced himself to breathe.

“Voss,” Jayden said, his voice low and cold, “what the hell is this?”

Voss crouched near the blood, his expression grim. “This… this is a warning.”

“From who?”

The older man looked up, and for the first time, there was uncertainty in his eyes. “I don’t know.” Jayden followed Voss to a secure chamber behind the control center. There, Voss pulled a black book from a hidden safe and opened it on a polished steel table. Inside were sketches, emblems, and seals. He flipped to a page near the back. There it was, the same dragon eye symbol.

“It’s ancient,” Voss said. “Not officially recognized by the consortium. But some say it belonged to a secret bloodline, one that helped build the empire before Wesley Worldsen took control. A family that was erased from the records.”

Jayden narrowed his eyes. “Why erased?”

“Because they were too powerful. Too dangerous. They believed the consortium should control governments, not just companies. Mr. Worldsen disagreed… and he crushed them.”

Jayden’s knuckles whitened. “And now they’re back?” Voss nodded slowly. “Or someone claims to be them. And if that’s true, you’re not the only one with a claim to this empire.”

That morning, the sunlight barely reached Jayden’s room before his tablet lit up again, this time, not with an alert, but a private message, encrypted and anonymous, You’re sitting in a throne built from stolen blood. If you’re truly his heir, prove it. Meet me at Warehouse 39, East Sector, midnight. Alone.

Jayden showed it to Voss. “This is a trap,” Voss said immediately. “You can’t go.”

Jayden stared at the screen. “If I don’t go, I’ll always wonder who else claims to be me. What if they’re not just a threat? What if they’re family?”

Voss looked conflicted, then finally relented. “If you must go, you won’t go alone. But you’ll look like you are.”

Meanwhile: The Board Plots. Far across the Atlantic, in a private villa overlooking the Côte d'Azur, Marcello Kane, head of the Pillar of Trade, reviewed surveillance footage of the server breach. “The boy’s being played,” he said, swirling a glass of wine.

A younger man at his side his son asked, “Should we intervene?” Marcello chuckled. “Why kill a lion cub when the hyenas are already circling?” He tapped a screen. Operation Chimera: Active.

“Let the ghost heir make his move. If Jayden survives, he’ll be worth our attention. If not… easier for us.” The Warehouse Meeting, At 11:59 PM, Jayden stood in the shadow of Warehouse 39, surrounded by crumbling brick walls and flickering street lamps. He wore black, a comms device in his ear. Hidden a block away, four operatives from Voss’s elite unit waited silently, watching through drone feeds. The warehouse door groaned open.

Jayden stepped inside. “Close the door,” a voice said from the shadows. Jayden obeyed. As the metal clanked shut, a single bulb overhead lit up. A figure stood just beyond its reach. Tall, slim, wrapped in a long coat. A woman. “Who are you?” Jayden asked. She stepped into the light.

Mid-twenties. Auburn hair. Scars along her jaw. Eyes sharp as razors, “My name is Evelyn Worldsen. Your half-sister.” Jayden’s blood went cold.

“You’re lying.”

She tossed a folder at his feet. “DNA tests. Birth certificates. Hidden bank records. My mother was his mistress. You? His charity project.” Jayden picked up the folder, flipping through documents. They looked real frighteningly real, “Why now?”

Evelyn’s smile was bitter. “Because the moment he died, the Board buried me. They knew I was a threat. But you… you got the crown by accident.”

“I didn’t ask for any of this.”

“Doesn’t matter. You have it. And now, they’ll try to kill you, or control you. Just like they tried with me.”

Jayden stared at her. “Why not kill me now and take it?”

She stepped closer. “Because I want the same thing you do: to burn the corruption out from the inside. But I won’t follow you, Jayden. I want partnership... or war.”

Back at the Estate. Jayden returned at dawn, exhausted. Voss waited at the gates, his face unreadable. “Well?” he asked. Jayden handed him the folder. “She’s real,” he said. “She’s got proof. And a plan.”

Voss glanced through it and went pale. “She’s the Ghost,” he muttered. “The one Wesley tried to erase.”

Jayden sat down on the steps outside the mansion. “So what now?”

Voss looked up. “Now, you either bring her into the fold, or prepare for a war that will tear this empire apart from the inside.”

Meanwhile: Evelyn’s Next Move, In a hidden compound outside Westgate, Evelyn poured over a digital map of the consortium's structure, A voice spoke behind her, an old man with a breathing device, scars etched into his face like battle medals. “He doesn’t know what he’s holding,” he rasped.

Evelyn didn’t look back. “That’s what makes him dangerous.” That night, Jayden receives a package with no return address.Inside: a bloodied silver coin bearing the Worldsen crest, snapped in half. A note pinned to it read: One heir dies. One heir rules. You have 7 days.