The Hidden Heir

CHAPTER 6

I spent the morning cleaning the court as usual.  

Ryan and his friends practiced on the other side, but they left me alone. The small victory from the cafeteria still hung in the air. They weren’t sure how to treat me anymore.

After my shift I walked toward the student parking lot. I needed a quiet place to call Dad about Gregory Hale.

Before I could take out my phone, a familiar voice stopped me.

“Damon.”

I turned. Maya stood a few steps away. She wore a new red jacket and carried a shopping bag from a store I could never have afforded two weeks ago. Her makeup was perfect. She looked like she had stepped out of a magazine.

“What do you want?” I asked.

She gave me the soft smile she used when she wanted something. “Can we talk? Just for a minute.”

I didn’t move. “We already talked. You made everything clear.”

Maya stepped closer. “I was angry that night. Ryan pushed me to say those things. I didn’t mean them.”

I almost laughed. “You didn’t mean it when you called me useless? Or when you laughed with him while I was still on the phone?”

Her smile faltered for a second, then came back. “I made a mistake. I’ve been thinking about us. We were good together once.”

“Were we?” I asked. “Or was I just the guy who gave you money whenever you asked?”

She looked down at her bag, then back at me. “Things are different now. I heard… people are saying you came into some money. Is that true?”

There it was. The real reason.

I kept my face blank. “People say a lot of things.”

Maya reached out like she wanted to touch my arm. I stepped back.

“I miss you,” she said softly. “Ryan is fun, but he’s not serious. You always cared. I know I hurt you, but we can fix it.”

I looked at her for a long moment. The girl I had loved for three years stood in front of me, saying all the right words. But her eyes kept drifting to my pockets, like she expected to see a thick wallet.

“No,” I said.

She blinked. “What?”

“No. We’re done. You chose Ryan when I had nothing. You don’t get to come back now.”

Maya’s soft expression cracked. “You’re really going to throw away everything because of one fight?”

“It wasn’t one fight. It was who you really are.”

Her face turned cold. “You’ll regret this. Ryan was right about you. You’re still just a cleaner playing pretend.”

I didn’t answer. I simply turned and walked away.

Behind me I heard her shout something, but the words didn’t matter anymore.

I found a quiet bench behind the science building and called Dad.

“I think Gregory Hale is the leak,” I said without greeting.

Dad was silent for a few seconds. “Why?”

“Old news articles. He and Kane used to do business together before the big fight with our family. And Hale’s name shows up in three meetings where company information was later leaked.”

“Good,” Dad said. “You’re learning fast. Do not approach him yet. I will have someone watch his accounts. If money is moving between him and Kane, we will find it.”

“And Elena’s father?”

“The hospital has scheduled the operation for next week. I arranged for an anonymous donation to cover the full cost. No one will know it came from us.”

Relief loosened something in my chest. “Thank you.”

“Be careful with the girl,” Dad added. “Kane already used her once. He will try again.”

I hung up and sat on the bench for a while. The campus moved around me like nothing had changed. Students laughed, cars passed, the afternoon sun felt warm.

My phone buzzed with a new message from Maya.

“You’ll come crawling back when Ryan gets bored of me. Losers always do.”

I deleted it without answering.

Another message came in right after, this time from an unknown number.

“Sweet rejection, heir.  

But emotions make people weak.  

Watch the news tonight.  

— R.K.”

I frowned and put the phone away. Whatever Kane planned, I would see it soon enough.

That evening I sat in my small room with the television on low. The local news played in the background while I read more files.

Then the anchor’s voice changed.

“Breaking news. A fire has broken out at a warehouse owned by a subsidiary of Carter Global Holdings on the east side of Grandville. Early reports say the damage is severe. No word yet on the cause.”

I sat up straight.

The camera showed flames and smoke rising into the night sky. Fire trucks filled the street.

My phone rang. Dad’s voice was tight.

“It’s started,” he said. “Kane just made his first real move. That warehouse held important shipping records. Someone wanted them destroyed.”

“Was anyone hurt?”

“Not that we know. But this is a message. He wants us to know he can touch our property whenever he wants.”

I stared at the burning building on the screen.

“What do we do?”

“We stay calm,” Dad said. “And we find out exactly how Gregory Hale is involved. Tomorrow I will send you a new set of files. Private ones. Read them carefully.”

The call ended.

I watched the fire until the news moved on to another story.

Maya had tried to walk back into my life the same day Kane burned part of my family’s company.

Two different kinds of attack.

One soft. One hard.

Both aimed at the same person.

I turned off the television and opened my laptop.

If Kane wanted a war, he would get one.

But first I needed to understand every piece of the board.