The Heir They Underestimated

CHAPTER 1

The Sterling Rose was the kind of restaurant where a single appetizer cost more than Alex Chen's weekly rent.

Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Soft piano music drifted through the air. Well-dressed couples murmured over wine that probably cost three hundred dollars a bottle.

Alex sat across from Melissa, his girlfriend of three years, watching her check her phone for the fifth time in ten minutes.

"Melissa," he said quietly. "Is everything okay?"

She didn't look up. Her perfectly manicured nails tapped against the screen.

Alex glanced down at his own hands. Oil stains still clung to his fingernails despite twenty minutes of scrubbing. The delivery scooter was old and leaked oil everywhere, but that was all he had.

He'd saved for two months to afford this dinner. Melissa had been distant lately. Cold. He thought maybe one nice evening could fix things between them.

"Melissa—"

"We need to talk." She finally set her phone down.

Alex's chest tightened. Those four words never meant anything good.

"I'm listening," he said.

Melissa leaned back in her chair, arms crossed. "This isn't working, Alex. Us. This..." She waved her hand dismissively at the table, at him, at everything. "Whatever this is."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm done." Her voice carried across the nearby tables. Several heads turned. "I'm breaking up with you."

Alex felt his throat go dry. "Can we talk about this somewhere more private?"

"Why? Embarrassed?" Melissa's lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. "You should've thought about that before dragging me to fancy restaurants you can't afford. Look at you. You're wearing a shirt with a collar stain."

Alex resisted the urge to touch his collar. He'd noticed the stain this morning. Tried everything to get it out.

"I wanted to do something nice for you," he said quietly.

"Nice?" Melissa laughed. The sound was sharp, cutting. "Alex, you're a delivery driver. You smell like exhaust fumes half the time. Do you know what my friends say about you?"

He didn't answer.

"They ask me why I'm dating someone who can't even afford a car." She picked up her wine glass, swirling the red liquid. "At first, I thought you had potential. That maybe you were working toward something. But it's been three years, Alex. Three years, and you're still driving that pathetic scooter, delivering food to people who actually have their lives together."

Alex's jaw tightened. His hands rested on the table, fingers laced together.

"I've been saving," he said. "The economy's been rough, but I'm working on—"

"Working on what?" Melissa set her glass down hard enough that wine sloshed over the rim. "You're going nowhere. You've always been going nowhere. I need someone with ambition. With a future."

Movement caught Alex's eye. Three of Melissa's friends were approaching the table, phones already out, recording.

"Oh my god, Mel, are you really doing this?" one of them said, barely suppressing a giggle.

"Finally," another chimed in. "I told you to dump him months ago."

Alex looked at Melissa. "You planned this."

She shrugged. "My friends wanted to see. They didn't believe I'd actually go through with it."

"Melissa, can we please step outside—"

"No." She stood up, smoothing her dress. "I want everyone to hear this. You're a loser, Alex. A nobody. You'll never amount to anything. I wasted three years on you, and I'm not wasting another second."

The restaurant had gone quiet. Every eye in the place was on them.

Alex sat perfectly still. Deep inside, something cracked. But he'd learned a long time ago that showing pain only made things worse.

"I see," he said softly.

"That's it?" Melissa leaned forward. "That's all you have to say? God, even your breakup is pathetic."

Her friends laughed, cameras still rolling.

Just then, the restaurant door opened suddenly. The rumble of an engine cut through the silence.

A red Ferrari pulled up right outside the entrance, visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The door opened, and a man stepped out.

Tailored suit, designer watch, the kind of confidence that came with never being told 'no' in his entire life.

Derek Morrison. One of the wealthiest investment bankers in the country, if not the entire world.

He walked straight into the restaurant like he owned it. His eyes found Melissa immediately.

"Babe," he called out. "Sorry I'm late."

Babe?

Alex looked at Melissa. Understanding settled over him like cold water.

She wasn't even trying to hide the smile. "Derek! Perfect timing."

Derek approached their table, glancing down at Alex with the kind of look someone might give a stain on the sidewalk.

"So... this is the famous delivery boy," Derek said. He pulled out Melissa's chair for her. "Melissa's told me all about you."

"Has she." Alex's voice was flat.

"Don't take it too hard, buddy." Derek flashed white teeth. "Some guys just aren't cut out for women like Melissa. She needs someone who can actually provide, you know? Someone with a real career."

Melissa tucked herself under Derek's arm. "Derek has a penthouse downtown. And a yacht."

"Two yachts," Derek corrected. "The second one just arrived from Italy."

Alex said nothing.

Derek reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He thumbed through several bills and tossed them on the table. Two hundreds fluttered onto Alex's half-eaten dinner.

"Here's a tip, delivery boy." Derek's smile didn't reach his eyes. "For the meal you can't afford. And a little advice? Know your place. Some people are meant to serve. Others are meant to be served. You're the first kind. Melissa and I?" He squeezed her shoulder. "We're the second."

Melissa's friends were still recording, barely containing their laughter.

Alex looked at the money on the table. Then at Melissa, who couldn't even meet his eyes now that she'd gotten what she wanted.

Then at Derek, who stood there like a peacock, preening for an audience.

Alex stood slowly. He was several inches shorter than Derek, wearing clothes that had seen better years.

But he didn't look away.

"Enjoy your evening," Alex said quietly.

He turned and walked toward the exit.

Behind him, laughter erupted. Melissa's voice carried over the noise. "Oh my god, did you see his face? He actually thought—"

Alex pushed through the door.

His delivery scooter sat in the parking lot, dwarfed by Derek's Ferrari. The red paint gleamed under the streetlights.

Alex sat on the scooter. Put on his helmet.

His hands didn't shake. His face didn't move.

But inside his chest, something cold and hard was settling into place.

Three years. He'd spent three years with someone who'd been counting down the days until she could humiliate him for entertainment.

He started the scooter. The engine coughed, sputtered, finally caught.

As he pulled out of the parking lot, he could see through the restaurant windows. Melissa and Derek, laughing.

Her friends? Probably posting those videos on social media. By tomorrow morning, the entire city would know.

Alex Chen. The delivery boy who got dumped at a fancy restaurant he couldn't afford.

With the little dignity he had left, he drove home through empty streets, the cold wind cutting through his jacket.