THE UPRISING HEIR

Chapter 4: The Price of the Throne

The broken coin rested heavy in Jayden’s hand. Smooth on one side, bearing the Worldsen crest: a dragon encircling the globe. Jagged and bloodstained on the other, deliberately snapped in half, like a declaration. “One heir dies. One heir rules.”

“You have seven days.” The note was unsigned. But the message was clear. This wasn’t business. This was war.

The Emergency Council. At dawn, Voss summoned the Inner Circle, six of the most trusted advisors and operatives who had once served Wesley Worldsen. They gathered in the underground war room, seated around a circular steel table. Tactical maps glowed across the screens, surveillance feeds blinked from all corners of the estate and beyond.

Jayden stood at the head of the table, the coin placed before him like a relic of ancient judgment, Voss remained standing beside him. “The council must vote,” he said. “This threat escalates beyond security. It’s now about succession.”

An older woman with silver hair, Lucinda Graves, Head of Strategic Intel, leaned forward. “You are the legal heir. But if this ‘Evelyn’ has evidence and allies... we may be walking into a civil war inside the consortium.”

Another councilman, the weapons chief Bo Lang, frowned. “I say we strike first. End her before she grows roots.” Jayden slammed his hand on the table. “She’s my blood. I’m not ordering a hit on my sister.”

“She may not give you the same courtesy,” Lucinda said coldly.

Jayden exhaled. “I’ll give her a choice. One chance. After that… I’ll do what I must.” The council voted: 3 for diplomacy, 2 for war, 1 abstention. The next 72 hours would determine everything.

That afternoon, Jayden met with the estate’s chief cyber operative, a genius recluse named Sage, who looked like a hacker straight out of a conspiracy film, hoodie, mismatched socks, and eyes that hadn’t seen daylight in a week. “I found the source of the breach,” Sage said, throwing a holographic map onto the table.

A red line traced from Evelyn’s last known location Warehouse 39 to multiple encrypted server pings across Westgate, Geneva, and Tokyo. “Her people are in deep. But they’re not alone.”

Jayden leaned in. “What do you mean?”

Sage zoomed in on a signal signature. “Someone else accessed your estate’s internal systems before she did.”

“Who?”

Sage hesitated. “Someone using Mr. Worldsen’s personal backdoor access code.”

Jayden froze. “He’s dead.”

Sage shrugged. “Then someone else has his master key.” Jayden’s mind raced. A third player? Or someone on the Board still pulling strings?

A Visit from the Past. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the estate’s outer gate buzzed with an unexpected arrival. Jayden watched the security feed as a man stepped out of a matte-gray Aston Martin.

Grant Whitaker. His former boss. The man who’d once tossed coins at Jayden like he was garbage. “Should I turn him away?” Voss asked.

Jayden shook his head. “Let him in.”

Whitaker entered the grand lobby looking older than Jayden remembered. Smaller. His usual smirk replaced by something else. “Mr. Cole,” he said stiffly. “I heard about your… ascension. I wanted to extend my apologies for my behavior in the past.”

Jayden didn’t move. “You called me a parasite.”

“I was wrong,” Whitaker said quickly. “Clearly. And I… I may have information you’d find useful.”

Jayden tilted his head. “Information for what?” Whitaker hesitated, then handed him a thumb drive. “Someone from inside your company reached out to me. They think you're being targeted, not just by this Evelyn girl, but by someone on the Board. Someone who wants the inheritance split between you two, then stolen altogether.”

Jayden took the drive, expression unreadable. “Why help me now?”

“Because I know the Board,” Whitaker said, voice shaking. “And if you’re not careful… you won’t survive the week.” Jayden said nothing as Whitaker was escorted out. He didn’t need revenge anymore. He needed leverage.

Evelyn’s Offer. That night, Jayden received a secure transmission from Evelyn’s camp. Not a video. A voice call. “You have the coin?” she asked. “I have it.”

“It wasn’t from me.”

Jayden’s brow furrowed. “Then who sent it?”

There was silence, then Evelyn said, “They want us to kill each other. And when we do, the Board takes everything. Divide and conquer.”

Jayden leaned against the wall. “So what are you proposing?”

“A ceasefire,” she said. “Seven days. No hits. No leaks. We both investigate who sent the threat. If we find the traitor... we handle it. Together.”

Jayden was silent. Trust wasn’t a luxury anymore. It was a gamble. Finally, he said, “Deal. But I want a meeting. In person. This time, no shadows. No body doubles.”

Evelyn replied, “Then come to me. Tomorrow. I’ll send coordinates.”

The Board Reacts. In an undisclosed tower in Zurich, the Board watched. “They’re aligning,” said a man known only as The Architect, who never showed his face.

“Not for long,” said the snake-eyed board member, Kane. “We have seven days to turn them against each other… or bury them both.” A voice crackled through a hidden speaker. “Activate Protocol Ouroboros.”

The Coin’s Secret. That night, unable to sleep, Jayden examined the broken coin again. Something about the crack bothered him, He placed both pieces together under UV light. Etched into the split was a code X12-R04-V13, He brought it to Sage, who immediately decrypted it. “It’s a location,” Sage said. “Russia. An old Worldsen facility… sealed off for two decades. Forbidden even to Board members.”

Jayden’s eyes narrowed. “Whatever’s there… someone doesn’t want us to find it.”

The next morning, as Jayden prepares to leave for Evelyn’s location, he receives a chilling video message on his private channel. It’s his sister, Mia, tied to a chair, a blindfold over her eyes, A voice off-screen says: “The world gave you seven days, heir. But for her, you only have twenty-four hours, Prove you can save your family, Or we’ll bury your blood.”