The Forgotten Grandson

Chapter 6

The old man took the necklace off and placed it carefully back into Damien’s hand.

“Yes,” he said. “This is only a temporary fix. My sickness has gone too far. I would need nothing short of a real miracle to be completely well again.”

Damien stared at him. The whole night already felt like a miracle. A few hours ago he had lost everything. Now he was standing in a mansion as the future head of one of the biggest companies in the world. He was starting to believe impossible things could happen.

“What kind of miracle?” he asked.

The old man looked surprised by the question. “A miracle of the biggest kind. What I need is a special and very rare root called the Ayurbouros root. I have spent most of my life searching for it. I never found it.”

“How do I find it?” Damien asked right away.

The old man stared at him. He had not expected that kind of determination. “It is impossible, boy. I appreciate the spirit, but if I could not find it, then it cannot be found.”

Damien shook his head. He had only just found his last living family member. He was not ready to lose him so soon.

“If you have already given up, then there is no harm in me trying,” Damien said. “The worst that can happen is I come back empty-handed.”

The old man let out a short laugh. “I guess you are right.” He grew serious again. “I am part of a secret society. We train people to become complete men. We learn martial arts, old healing methods, and other knowledge most people will never hear about. If you really want to walk this path, I can put in a request for you to join. But understand this clearly—it will be a hard and painful journey.”

Damien thought about it for a long moment. Deep down he was still hurting from what Courtney had done. He had loved her for years. That pain sat heavy in his chest and was not going away on its own. Maybe a hard path was exactly what he needed right now.

“I will do it,” he said.

Joy lit up the old man’s face. His own son had rejected this path long ago. To see his grandson accept it felt like a second chance he never expected.

“You really are my blood,” he said. “Angela, bring it.”

Angela walked over and handed Damien a plain black card. “This card has no limit. You can buy whatever you need with it. Use it until you start getting paid as the new head of the company.”

In the corner of the room, Renee finally exploded.

“Why does he get that?” she shouted. “What has this street guy ever done to deserve all of this while the rest of us work hard for what we have?”

She glared at Damien like she wanted him gone from the earth.

Angela’s face hardened. The old man looked tired of the noise.

“Scraps?” he said, turning to Renee. “You drive a Porsche. You live in a penthouse. Do you even know how much those cost? No, because I pay for everything, you ungrateful child.”

“Calm down, sir,” Damien said quietly. “No need to get worked up.” He paused, then asked, “Now that I am taking over, does that mean I will be in charge of all the money going out?”

A small grin spread across the old man’s face. He already liked the way his grandson thought.

“Yes, grandson. Every single bit of it.”

Damien nodded slowly, as if thinking hard. “So that means I am the one who pays her rent and her monthly money?” He pointed at Renee.

“Don’t point your dirty finger at me!” Renee yelled.

“Yes, you will be,” the old man confirmed. “You have full control over how the money is used.”

Damien nodded again. “Then from now on, people only get paid for the work they actually do. That seems fair. It stops anyone from feeling like they are owed something for free, right?”

Renee’s face went pale as she finally understood what was happening. This man had walked in off the street and was already cutting off her easy life. She hated him with every part of her. She promised herself she would make him pay for this.

The old man smiled with clear pride. “Entirely fair. I knew you would be a good fit. Now go and make me proud.”

Damien turned to leave, but Angela stepped in front of him and put a hand on his chest.

“You need to tell him the rest,” she said to the old man. “Putting it off will only make it harder later.”

The old man let out a long breath. He had been dreading this part all night.

“I have not told you everything,” he said to Damien. “You might want to sit down for this.”

“I’ll be fine standing,” Damien answered.

The old man looked at him with heavy eyes. “Do you remember when I said I was afraid Saul would take strong action against you?”

Damien nodded. “Yes. But I don’t think he would have done much. He’s a bad person, but he’s not that dangerous.”

“Oh, dear boy,” the old man said softly. “He is far from harmless. He has deep ties to the worst people in the city. He works with crime groups and uses them to do his dirty jobs. He… he is the one who caused the death of your parents.”

The words hit Damien like a truck. The room seemed to tilt under his feet.

“No,” he said. His voice came out low and rough. “That’s not possible. They died in a helicopter crash.”

“Yes,” the old man said. “On a vacation that Saul planned and paid for.”

Damien’s mind raced back through the years. His parents had received the tickets from Saul as a late wedding gift. Saul had always hated that Damien’s mother left him for another man. Everyone thought he had finally made peace when he gave them the trip. But now the truth was clear and ugly.

“He loved my mother,” Damien said. His hands were shaking. “He would never do that.”

“He did love her,” the old man agreed. “But he could not have her. So he decided that if he could not have her, no one else would.”

Anger exploded inside Damien’s chest like fire. The man who had raised him after his parents died—the same man who had just slept with his wife—had also killed his mother and father.

“Why didn’t you do anything?” Damien demanded. His voice was shaking now. “You are one of the richest men alive. Why did you let him walk free?”

The old man did not flinch. “I understand your anger. I wanted to kill him myself. But I had already lost my son in many ways before he died. Saul only finished what was already broken. You are the one who lost both parents. The right to decide his fate belongs to you.”

He placed both hands on Damien’s shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. “I want you to be the one who makes him pay.”

Even through the red haze of rage, Damien understood. The old man had given him the full truth so he could choose what came next.

Damien nodded once. Then he turned and walked out of the room without another word.

“Follow him,” the old man told Angela. “Make sure he does not do anything foolish tonight.”

Angela ran after him. She almost tripped on the long stairs in her hurry. She caught up to him just outside the front doors of the mansion.

“Hey,” she said, stepping in front of him and blocking his path. “Where are you going?”

Damien did not answer. His mind was full of only one thing.

Angela put both hands against his chest to stop him from walking past her. “I know you are angry. I know you want revenge. But what are you planning to do right this second?”

Damien looked at her with cold, hard eyes.

“I’m going to kill him.”