The Heir They Humiliated

CHAPTER 3

 

I stood paralyzed in the deluge, my small bag of pathetic belongings clutched to my chest like a shield. I looked around the empty, rain-slicked street, but there was no one else in sight. The old man was looking directly at me.

“Quick! Get an umbrella over his head!” he commanded, his voice cutting through the roar of the storm.

Before I could blink, a man appeared at my side as if he’d morphed out of the shadows. Suddenly, the heavy, turbulent rain stopped lashing against my skin. A massive black canopy held by a silent, stone-faced guard now shielded me.

“Let’s get out of the rain, young master,” the old man said, his tone softening but remaining firm.

I shook my head and stepped back, letting the cold water soak my hair again. "Young master?" I shouted. "I don’t know who you are, and I don't know why you keep calling me that. You’ve got the wrong guy. My name is Carter. I’m a nobody. I’m not your guy."

The old man didn't look offended. He walked closer, his leather boots splashing in the puddles. He reached out and caught my wrist in a grip that was surprisingly strong. “How about we talk about this in the car? You shouldn't stand under this merciless rain. I assure you, Carter, you are in safe hands. Safer than you’ve been in years.”

I hesitated, my breath hitching. I weighed my options, and they were non-existent. Elara had my house. Julian had my job. Beatrice and Jax had my dignity. I was a man with a bag of wet clothes and zero dollars to my name. I searched for a lie in the old man's eyes, but I only found a strange, haunting loyalty. Finally, I nodded.

The old man snapped his fingers. A black, elongated limousine—longer and more beautiful than any vehicle I’d ever seen—purred to the curb. A guard held the door open with a deep bow. I stepped inside, my jaw dropping. It was a palace on wheels: cream leather, polished mahogany, and the scent of expensive cedar.

As the car pulled away, I sat on the edge of the seat, dripping onto the pristine floor. “What’s happening? Where are you taking me?” I asked, my voice rising toward hysteria.

“Relax, Carter. You’re safe,” the old man said. He opened a small wood-paneled bar and poured a glass of amber liquid. “Here. Drink this. It will take the chill out of your bones.”

I stared at the glass. “How did you know my name?”

“We’ve been looking for you all over the city. Luck finally shone upon us tonight,” he replied, lighting a cigarette. “I know almost everything about you, Carter. I know about the marriage. I know about the humiliation you suffered three hours ago.”

The fact that this stranger had been watching my life from the shadows sent a shiver down my spine.

“You’ll catch your death in those wet rags,” the old man said, pointing to a well-tailored suit hanging on a mahogany rack. “Change. We’ll talk when you’re comfortable.”

I moved to the back of the limo and stripped off my soaked clothes. When I pulled on the suit, the fabric felt like a second skin. It was silk and wool, weighted perfectly. I caught my reflection in the darkened window. I looked different. The slumped shoulders of a defeated man were gone, replaced by a sharp, powerful silhouette.

The old man smiled, revealing three distinct gold teeth. “Look at that! You truly took after the Van Alen bloodline, Carter.”

“I’m an orphan,” I snapped. “I don’t have a bloodline.”

“Oh, but you do,” the man said, his face dropping into a melancholic mask. “I am Adolph, the Chief of Staff for the Van Alen family. You were taken from your parents when you were only a year old—a kidnapping that shattered the most powerful family in this country. Your parents spent every cent searching for you. They eventually died in a car accident during one of those searches.”

He paused, letting the information hit me like a physical blow.

“Your grandfather never gave up, though,” Adolph continued. “And finally, after twenty years, we’ve found the heir to the Van Alen Empire. You aren't a commoner, Carter. You are the heir to a conglomerate that dictates the world’s economy.”

I fell silent, the whiskey burning in my throat. “I don’t believe you,” I whispered.

“Get some rest, young master,” Adolph said kindly. “You’ll see the truth soon enough.”

***

Across the city, Jax stood in the driveway of the family estate. “Mom! I swear it was him!” he shouted. “He was getting into a limousine that costs more than this house! There were guards bowing to him!”

Beatrice walked onto the porch, her face pinched. “Now, Jax, use your head. Carter is a parasite who just lost everything. He’s probably huddled under a bridge. You saw a shadow and a fancy car and let your imagination run wild.”

“But I saw his face!” Jax insisted.

“Enough! That man will never be anything more than a smear on our history. Forget him.”

***

We drove for hours. I eventually fell into an exhausted sleep. I woke up when the tires moved from smooth asphalt to a crunching dirt road. I looked out the window and gasped. We were winding up a mountain path toward a fortress of stone and glass.

“Your grandfather’s estate,” Adolph said as the massive golden gates, embossed with a soaring hawk, parted for us.

The interior was a cathedral of wealth. In the center of a massive living room sat an elderly man in a motorized wheelchair. He was stroking a huge, silver-furred wolfdog. He looked frail, his skin like parchment, but when he saw me, his eyes ignited with a piercing intelligence.

Adolph stepped forward and bowed low. “We have brought him home, Mr. Van Alen.”

The old man’s hands trembled on the dog’s fur. He beckoned me closer with a crooked finger. “The heir…” he whispered, his voice thin but carrying the weight of a King. “It really is you. Carter. I thought the Reaper would take me before I saw your face again.”

He reached out, his cold, thin fingers brushing my arm. “When your parents died, the light went out of this family. I have spent decades maintaining this empire, waiting for the day I could hand the keys to the rightful blood. Now, I can die fulfilled. You are home, Carter.”

Looking into his eyes, I felt a spark of something cold and dangerous ignite in my chest. My life as a victim was over. The Van Alen heir had returned, and I was going to make them all pay.