2025-09-13 21:05:59“Thirty years old.” Mrs. Gotham’s voice sliced through the air as she tapped her fork against the rim of her glass. Her eyes locked on Ray, cold and unflinching. “And tell me, what exactly have you accomplished, Ray?”
Silence answered her.
The Gotham dining hall gleamed with polished silver, tall candles burning steadily despite the evening breeze that slipped in through the open balcony doors.
Crystal glasses sparkled under the chandelier, the table lined with delicacies brought in from three different continents. It should have been a night of celebration, Ray Anderson’s thirtieth birthday.
But for Ray, it was another night of quiet humiliation.
Maria, Ray’s wife, shifted uneasily beside him, her gaze flickering between her mother and her husband. “Mother, please”
“Please, what?” Mrs. Gotham leaned forward, her diamond necklace catching the light. “Please let me continue feeding this deadweight at my table? Please let me watch my daughter’s life waste away while her husband plays house in poverty?”
The servants froze in the background. Even the clinking of silverware stopped. Ray clenched his fists beneath the table.
His throat burned with words he longed to release, but he knew how this game always played out. One wrong move, one raised voice, and the Gotham matriarch would strike harder.
Maria tried again. “It’s his birthday. Can we not”
Mrs. Gotham cut her off with a sharp laugh. “Birthday? Do you think I care that it’s his birthday? What has he given this family? Has he given you the life you deserve? A man who can’t even afford to buy his wife proper jewelry?” Her eyes darted to Maria’s bare wrists. “Disgraceful.”
Ray’s jaw tightened. He spoke, voice low but steady. “I may not have wealth, but I have dignity.”
The laughter that followed shook the table. “Dignity?” Mrs. Gotham mocked. “Can dignity pay the bills? Can dignity protect my daughter when she’s mocked by her friends for marrying beneath her?”
Maria flinched. She wanted to defend him, Ray saw it in her trembling hands, but fear chained her words. Across the table, a cousin smirked. “Dignity doesn’t look very good in a bank account.”
The room erupted in soft chuckles. Ray lowered his gaze to the untouched food before him, the sting of their contempt slicing deeper than any blade.
He had endured years of this, snide remarks, outright insults, the constant reminder that in the Gotham family’s eyes, he was nothing. Just a stray dog they allowed to sit at their table because their daughter had chosen unwisely.
Mrs. Gotham leaned back in her chair, satisfied with the silence she had forced upon him. “Maria, darling,” she said sweetly, as though her venom had not just filled the room, “I spoke with Mr. Lambert earlier today. A fine young businessman. He’s very interested in meeting you. Unlike your current… mistake.”
The air cracked with tension. Maria’s face went pale. “Mother!”
Ray’s hand froze on the table. He looked up slowly, his eyes narrowing. “You spoke with another man about my wife?”
Mrs. Gotham’s lips curled. “Your wife? She may bear your name, but she’s my daughter. And I won’t watch her rot in misery because you refuse to be a man.”
Ray’s chair scraped against the floor as he pushed it back. His voice was calm, but a storm brewed beneath. “I may not be the man you want me to be, but I am her husband. And I will not tolerate this.”
The room went dead silent. Even Maria’s breath caught.
Mrs. Gotham smiled, icy, triumphant. “Tolerate? What will you do, Ray? You can’t even stand without my family’s shadow covering you. You are nothing.”
The words hung heavy in the air. And then.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Three deliberate knocks echoed from the front door. Everyone turned. The servants looked uncertain. Mrs. Gotham’s brows furrowed in annoyance. “Who interrupts my dinner?”
She rose, her heels clicking sharply against the marble floor as she strode to the door. With an irritated pull, she swung it open.
Standing there was a man in a perfectly tailored black suit. Tall, expressionless, his eyes carried the weight of something unspoken.
Mrs. Gotham frowned. “Who are you?”
The man ignored her. His gaze slid past her, settling directly on Ray. His posture shifted, then, to everyone’s shock, he bowed. “Mr. Anderson.” His voice was steady, reverent. The hall froze. Gasps rippled.
Ray’s pulse quickened. He had never seen this man before, yet something in that voice stirred a buried memory.
The man reached into his coat, pulling out a small, weathered wooden box. He held it with both hands, as though it carried the weight of centuries. “This,” he said, his eyes never leaving Ray’s, “belongs to you. From your mother.”
Ray’s world tilted. His heart pounded as he rose to his feet, every eye watching him. The room faded, his breath shallow.
He stepped forward, his hand trembling slightly as he reached for the box. The man’s grip lingered for a moment before releasing it, a silent acknowledgment of the gravity it carried.
Ray’s fingers traced the carved edges. A symbol was etched into the wood, familiar, haunting. He remembered seeing it once, long ago, when his mother whispered bedtime stories about things she promised to tell him when he was older. Things she never lived long enough to explain.
Mrs. Gotham’s voice broke the silence, sharp and demanding. “What nonsense is this? What box? Who sent you?”
The man’s eyes flickered toward her with disdain, then back to Ray. “The answers you’ve sought lie within. But beware, the path you step on tonight will change everything.”
Maria’s voice trembled. “Ray… what is it?”
Ray swallowed hard, his chest tight. He looked down at the box in his hands, then back at the man. “What do you mean?” Ray asked, his voice low.
The man in the suit gave a single, grave nod. “The blood you carry is not what you’ve been told. Your mother’s death… was no accident.”
The dining hall erupted. Gasps, shouts, disbelief. Mrs. Gotham’s face blanched, her confident smile faltering for the first time.
Ray staggered back a step, the box pressed tightly to his chest. His vision blurred, his heart slamming in his chest. His mother’s death. Not an accident. The words echoed in his skull like thunder.
The man bowed once more. “You are the rightful heir. And tonight… your life begins anew.”
And with that, he turned sharply and strode out into the night, leaving silence and shock in his wake. Every gaze turned to Ray, Maria’s wide with fear, Mrs. Gotham’s twisted with rage, the relatives whispering in panic.
Ray stood frozen, the box heavy in his trembling hands. The storm had begun.
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Chapter Eleven – Shattered Trust
The explosion ripped through the Gotham estate like a cannon blast. Glass shattered, wood splintered, the marble floor cracked beneath the force.When the smoke cleared, the grand hallway was unrecognizable, chandelier dangling by a single chain, portraits smoldering, the air thick with dust and fire.Ray lay sprawled across the floor, chest heaving, blood trickling from his temple. The torn journal page fluttered inches from his hand, scorched at the edges.Opposite him, Frederick rose slowly, a devil in the wreckage. His coat was torn, his face streaked with blood, but his eyes gleamed with triumph. In his fist, clutched like a relic, was half the page.Maria knelt in the middle, trembling, her hands pressed to her ears as though the Guardian’s scream still echoed in her skull.Ray pushed himself up, voice raw. “Maria, stay back!”Frederick laughed, coughing through smoke. “Do you see, girl? Do you see what he brings into your house? Fire and ruin! This is what he is!”Maria’s tear-
Chapter Ten – A Counterstrike in Shadows
The Gotham estate was a fortress by daylight, its towering gates glinting with iron and arrogance. By night, it was worse, shadows crawling across the marble façade like watchful phantoms.Ray Anderson stood across the street, hood pulled low, his fists jammed into his coat pockets. His mother’s journal weighed against his ribs, the ring on his finger pulsing like a heartbeat. He had never hated a house so much.Inside those walls lay Frederick. Inside those walls lay Maria. One sought to destroy him; the other, torn apart by doubt, might already be slipping from his side.Ray clenched his teeth. Tonight, he wouldn’t run. Tonight, he would strike first.The back servants’ gate groaned as he forced it open. He slipped through the kitchen garden, moving with the silence of desperation. The mansion loomed above him, all white stone and black windows, watching.A shadow detached from the wall. “Going somewhere, sir?”Ray froze. A Gotham guard stepped forward, lantern raised. Ray’s pulse t
Chapter Nine – Whispers in the Walls
The Gotham mansion slept under a shroud of silence, its grand halls dark, save for the soft glow of candelabras lining the marble staircase.Maria sat rigid in her dressing gown, untouched wine trembling in her hand. Her reflection in the mirror across the room was pale, haunted, every bit the woman torn between two worlds.The knock at her chamber door was soft, deliberate. Her heart lurched. She set the glass down, gathering her robe tighter. “Come in.”The door opened, and Frederick stepped inside. His presence swallowed the room, his dark coat glistening faintly with the night’s damp. He moved with unhurried precision, closing the door behind him.“Uncle,” Maria breathed, though her voice was strained. “It’s late.”Frederick’s smile was razor-thin. “Late for some, early for others. I bring you tidings, my dear.”Her eyes narrowed. “What kind of tidings?”He paced across the carpet, fingertips brushing the spines of her books as though he owned them. “A death. And a theft. Both, I
Chapter Eight – Blood on the Floorboards
The bell above the door still swung faintly, the glass from the shattered window crunching beneath Ray’s boots.The old man lay against the shelves, his breath ragged, blood spreading across his shirt in widening blossoms.The night air whistled through the broken frame, carrying the echo of hurried footsteps fading down the street. Ray’s chest heaved. His fists clenched. The journal was safe in his coat pocket. The map was gone.And the old man, the one man who had spoken truths Frederick dared not, was dying before his eyes.“Ray…” The old man’s voice cracked. He coughed, crimson spattering his lips. “Go. Don’t waste the chance. The map will lead him straight to the Guardian.”Ray dropped to his knees beside him. “I can’t leave you.”The old man gripped Ray’s wrist with surprising strength. His eyes, clouded with pain, locked on Ray’s. “If you stay, the Guardian is lost. Frederick wins. Do you understand? Run!”Ray’s body screamed to obey, to chase the hooded thief who had stolen ev
Chapter Seven – The Mask of Blood
The lamp flickered, throwing shadows across the cramped backroom. The smell of dust and smoke pressed against Ray’s lungs as he stayed frozen between the shelves, the journal clutched against his chest.Frederick’s polished shoes clicked across the floorboards, deliberate, unhurried.“I can smell you, boy,” Frederick said smoothly. His voice carried the weight of authority, as though the ruined Gotham dining hall were nothing compared to the control he held here. “You think you can play shadow in my city? Step forward.”The old man’s voice cracked. “Leave him be, Frederick. He doesn’t know”Steel hissed. A flash of silver glinted under the lamp. Frederick pressed the tip of his blade against the old man’s throat.“Don’t lie to me. He has the journal, doesn’t he?”Ray’s knuckles whitened on the spine of the book. His heart hammered in his chest. The old man swallowed. “You won’t touch him.”Frederick’s laugh was cold, elegant. “You forget who you’re speaking to. I don’t need to touch h
Chapter Six – The Old Quarter’s Whisper
The rain had stopped, but the city still glistened with its residue, puddles catching the flicker of gaslamps, alleys steaming with damp fog.Ray’s shoes splashed as he pressed deeper into the Old Quarter, every sense sharpened by what the cloaked stranger had said. A key. A door. The Guardian finds you.The ring felt heavy on his finger now, no longer just metal. Every few steps, he glanced back, half-expecting to see those shadowed eyes again. But the streets were empty, too empty.A broken sign swung overhead, its faded paint barely legible: Eldritch Books & Curiosities. The windows were dark, yet a single strip of candlelight leaked through the gap beneath the door.Ray hesitated, then pushed it open. The bell above the door gave a brittle jingle. Inside, the air was stale, thick with dust and secrets.Piles of books teetered precariously, and shelves bowed beneath the weight of manuscripts, scrolls, and objects he couldn’t name. “Closed.”The voice came from behind the counter, a
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