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The Illegitimate Heir
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The Illegitimate Heir

Urbanlast updateLast Updated : 2026-03-05

By:  Kabirat AleemUpdated just now

Language: English
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Chapters: 26 views: 317

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DramaFast-Paced PlotContemporaryCEOGamerHeir/HeirnessInstant BillionaireWeak to StrongFace-Slapping

A mistake. A stain on the family name. Those were the labels Adrian Cross grew up with. The day he decided to leave it all behind was the day his mother slipped into a coma. Though she had always placed his stepbrother above him, Adrian stayed for her. Enduring the elites’ humiliation and his father’s cruelty, Adrian gave up his secret identity to fulfil his filial duty. Then he was thrust into a bride selection deal, earning the elites’ uproar. Badly beaten, Adrian accidentally rescued a game company mogul who willed his company to him. Reeling from everything, Adrian raced to his mother’s side and found she was awake. His two years of effort reduced to scorn, Adrian’s resolve to finally cut ties with the Cross family was stronger than ever. His status-conscious family had no intention of letting that happen, though. They thought they had him right where they needed him, but Adrian levelled up the game. The Phantom is back. The Spider Network reactivated. As the elites scramble to know and recruit the same man they sneered at, everything they thought they controlled begins to unravel, and beside him, a phoenix stands to burn their world to ashes.

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Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Two black cars screeched to a halt in front of Dominion Group.

The massive chrome and glass building looked on as eight men dressed in black suits jumped out of the cars.

People scrambled out of their way, and even the guards looked wary as they approached the company.

Then suddenly, their leader jerked his hand towards the side of the building.

“There he is! Get him!”

The man he pointed to was dressed in a cleaner's uniform, pushing the wheeled dustbin towards the dumpster.

He had an earpiece on and his back to the men.

People stepped out of their way, smelling trouble.

Adrian Cross was no weak man, but when the eight men pounced on him with kicks and blows, it was too late for defence.

One of the new guards looked at the CSO and asked, “Should we do something?”

The CSO sneered and said, “Are you stupid? Do what? It's only the nobody getting some sense kicked into him! Why should we waste our time? Help him and you'll lose your job!”

The guards looked promptly away while the sounds of beating and grunts echoed in the evening air.

“What is going on?”

“Isn't that the trash feeding off the Cross family?”

“Ah, serves him right. He must have stepped on the wrong toes!”

Whispers and sneers greeted Adrian's ears even as he tried to swing back and struggled to get up.

No such luck!

A hefty kick stole the breath from him and he crumpled hard to the ground again.

“Stay down, you pathetic fool!” the leader yelled when Adrian kept trying to stand on his wobbly leg.

Even though he had been treated like that for years, Adrian was no dog lying down to take anybody's kicks.

He managed to get some punches in, even as a blinding beating followed.

“Stop!” the leader finally ordered.

With a bloodied face, torn clothes and a body aching from the unexpected beating, Adrian refused to lower his head as the man approached him with a sneer.

“What a courageous fool!” The leader patted Adrian's cheek disdainfully.

Adrian jerked his head away and even that single movement hurt so much.

“Look at you! How dare a cheap loser like you have your eyes on Miss Whitmore? You are courting death, I see. Stay away from her or you will pay for it with your pathetic life!”

“Let's go, guys!”

They left as loudly as they arrived, leaving Adrian confused and disoriented.

One moment he was listening to the commentary on the latest game tournament, feeling nostalgic even knowing that he couldn't get back to that yet. He had more important things to deal with now.

Then the next he found himself kicked so hard in the back that he could hear a crack.

What surprised him was not the people giving him dirty looks, not even the beating, but the reason.

Miss Whitmore? Who?

“Hey, trash! Why not just toss yourself in that dumpster too? You will do us all a favour, you know.” The CSO called out as Adrian bent painfully to pack the trash that was scattered all around.

Adrian ignored him and got his job done.

He was done for the day anyway, and he was supposed to leave right after, not get a beating that left him all achy with probably broken bones.

The urgency of where he needed to be hastened his steps even as he thought of what had just happened.

“Could this be one of Daniel’s tantrums again?” he wondered as he headed for the restaurant at the corner.

Daniel Cross, legitimate heir and Adrian's stepbrother, was society's darling and Adrian's nemesis.

Daniel's family name and his average looks made most people ignore the fact that he was an arsehole. Adrian had had to endure that as long as he had lived.

Born on the same day twenty-seven years ago, their paths were as different as light and dark.

“Ugh, what is that smell?” A well-dressed lady coming out of the restaurant Adrian was about to enter held her nose as she gave Adrian's uniform a disgusted look.

The man beside her immediately pushed Adrian back, the shove causing the bruise on Adrian's chest to flare in pain.

While still holding the glass door of the restaurant open, the man looked back into the restaurant, saying, “Is this the kind of trash you allow here? We will not be coming back!”

“Oh, please. Come back. We will not…” The owner, who rushed out at the sound of the customer, stopped when she saw them enter their car and leave in anger.

She turned and glared at Adrian.

Normally a breathtaking man with jaw-dropping good looks and above-average height, the darkening bruise on Adrian's face, blood on his tattered uniform and scruffy shoes disgusted the owner.

“Are you happy now? You just chased my good customers away, you idiot!”

“I have been your customer for years too, Madam Su. Is this how you treat customers?” Adrian spoke calmly, despite the glares and dirty looks shooting at him from the customers around.

“Pah!” The woman spat at his feet. “You call yourself a customer? Selling my food to you is doing you a great favour. Do you think I want someone like you darkening my doorstep? Everyone who comes here dresses so well. And you! You are either coming here in that uniform or in your cheap clothes. Well, that is it! Leave now and never come back!”

Adrian did not want to be at such a place any more either. But then, the beating had cost him precious time.

If he did not leave soon, he would miss visiting hours, and the wonton soup he came for was important.

He was not leaving without it.

“Fine. I will leave.”

“Better! Get your stinking self out of…”

“Right after you sell my wonton soup to me,” he completed.

“What? Are you deaf? I said I won't…”

“That's fine then. I will just go in and make sure I send all your customers away,” he interrupted smoothly, heading towards the door.

“How dare you! What do you think you are doing?!”

She grabbed his arm and pulled him back, the pull making him clench his teeth against the pain that shot through him again.

Still, he did not let it show as he looked at her furious face mildly. “One bowl. Regular. I want it steaming.”

Madam Su wanted to argue again, but she saw more customers getting up, while others looked displeased, pointing at the man before her.

“Aiya! I will get it. After today, don't you ever come back.”

“You can be sure of that,” Adrian responded coldly, knowing it was her loss.

When she was just selling from a cart at the corner, he had thought she was a humble person and helped her out anonymously.

And now, he was an eyesore to her?

All that did not matter to Adrian as he got the food and left.

The earpiece had been pulled out of the phone in his pocket earlier and damaged. Thankfully, his phone screen was only cracked, but it was still on.

Seeing the time on his phone and knowing he was going to be late, he decided to take a shortcut to the hospital three streets away.

“Hand it over, old man.” Adrian heard the order as he was passing the mouth of an alley.

“How…how can you do this to me? Do you know who I am?” An old voice trembled in response.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
    Comments

    • Kabirat Aleem

      10

      Hello, dear reader. Thank you so much for checking out Adrian's adventures. I promise it will be an enjoyable rollercoaster ride. Your comments, reviews and support will be highly appreciated in this journey. You are my real MVP. Enjoy. ...

      2026-03-01 01:21:47
      4
    Latest Chapter

  • The Illegitimate Heir   Chapter 21

    Balding, pot-bellied, toothpick in mouth, with his starched suit and shiny shoes, Manager Mark squinted at Adrian through beady eyes.He had always hated Adrian for being connected to the Cross family at all, even as a bastard.Mark hated the rich in general and hated it even more that he had to depend on them for his living.But since he had to, he had mastered the skill of sucking up to them, which was how he got promoted to manager from being the office errand boy.Being able to torture someone who was an elite without protection or means was a dream come true for him.Doing th

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-04
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    26 chapters
    Chapter 1
    Two black cars screeched to a halt in front of Dominion Group.The massive chrome and glass building looked on as eight men dressed in black suits jumped out of the cars.People scrambled out of their way, and even the guards looked wary as they approached the company.Then suddenly, their leader jerked his hand towards the side of the building.“There he is! Get him!”The man he pointed to was dressed in a cleaner's uniform, pushing the wheeled dustbin towards the dumpster.He had an earpiece on and his back to the men.People stepped out of their way, smelling trouble.Adrian Cross was no weak man, but when the eight men pounced on him with kicks and blows, it was too late for defence.One of the new guards looked at the CSO and asked, “Should we do something?”The CSO sneered and said, “Are you stupid? Do what? It's only the nobody getting some sense kicked into him! Why should we waste our time? Help him and you'll lose your job!”The guards looked promptly away while the sounds o
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-02-20
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    Chapter 2
    Nasty things mostly happen to those who do not mind their business.And Adrian had a place to be too.Yet he could not just ignore that trembling voice.Mocking laughter echoed as Adrian silently moved closer.“Who you are? A dead man. That is what you will be if you don't give us what we ask for!” another man shouted.Adrian could see them clearly now. There were two of them.Thugs, from the look of them. One had a club in his hand, while the other held a knife.The one with the knife had it raised as he approached the old man, who tried to move back towards the dead-end alley.He tripped over something and fell hard to the ground. The men laughed as the old man groaned in pain.“Ready to cooperate now, or should I gut you like a fish first?”Taking those maniacs on with his wounded body would be a suicide mission, and Adrian knew it.He moved back from the mouth of the alley as he raised his voice loud enough for them to hear. He took his phone out.“Hello, is that the police? Yes,
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-02-20
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    Chapter 3
    “Really?” Adrian muttered in annoyance as he turned to face the man he rescued.“Don't be silly, Edward. He helped me. I was taken from the park and would have probably met my end if he had not stepped in,” the old man said tiredly.Rushed sounds came from the hospital doorway as nurses and a doctor hurried out with a wheelchair and stretcher in tow.“Who dared to do this?” Edward wondered furiously as the chairman waved aside the stretcher and opted for the wheelchair.“Young Master Scott. That's what they called him,” Adrian muttered tersely as he remembered. “Can I go now?”He stopped when he saw the ashen look on the chairman's face.Not even when the man had been sweating from the effort of trying not to show his pain had he looked that defeated.“What's going on?”Adrian wondered as Edward shook his head at the chairman's dazed look, saying, “Maybe there is a mistake, sir.”“Are you sure?! You can't joke about this,” Edward snapped at Adrian.Glad he had decided to record earlie
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-02-20
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    Chapter 4
    “Please, let me have your number, and here is my card too. We need to talk soon.” The lawyer told Adrian before leaving as well.Still reeling from the unexpected event, guilt stabbed into Adrian's chest when he realised he only had a few minutes before the visiting period ended.He held the now-lukewarm food and ran towards her wing, earning disapproving looks from the nurses and others.He patted the hand cream in his pocket. Though it had burst during the beating, there was still enough in the tube to be used.The nurses knew him, so they didn't bat an eye as he headed to her door.He knew he had to be fast, though, or someone would come to send him out soon.Two years. It's been two years since she had slipped into a coma from an incident no one would admit was Daniel's fault.Two years that Adrian had committed to caring for her and staying by her side while others had seen it as a waste of time.The doctors had said having relatives around who could talk to them and bring famili
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-02-20
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    Chapter 5
    The question Adrian had heard too many times in his life struck him like a blow.Patricia had shown up on the Cross’s doorstep just as heavily pregnant as the madam twenty-seven years ago.She had declared herself as Chairman Cross's woman, claiming she was there to claim her soon-to-be-born son's place.The chairman had been away on a trip and some grappling had happened between the two pregnant women.The madam had gone into premature labour and Patricia had gone into labour too.The two women eventually gave birth at the same hospital but the madam passed away from complications.Since Patricia had broadcast for all to hear that he was the father, the chairman had to accept her into his home.Her name was never entered into the family register, though.Same as Adrian, who was only a Cross in name.Yet one would think Adrian was not Patricia's son.She vented all her frustrations on him while he was growing up, telling him on many occasions that his existence dragged her down in lif
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-02-20
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    Chapter 6
    Sitting stiffly in the living room with a business brochure in his hands, an austere-faced man with the same jet-black hair and piercing grey eyes as Adrian looked up as they entered.Fit for his age and a force to reckon with in the business world, Richard Cross was the picture of domineering as he watched them approach.“Honey, I am home,” Patricia said excitedly, in a way that showed she had been very immune to his coldness in the past or maybe just good at pretending.His gaze flickered to her as he responded, “Oh, welcome.”“Couldn't you have come to the hospital to pick me up? I have been gone for two years after all. Don't you miss me?” Patricia pouted in a way that was very unbecoming of a fifty-two-year-old woman.Adrian was beginning to wonder if the coma had done more damage than the doctor had noticed.Richard probably thought so too, as he gave Patricia a long look.Face still expressionless, he clicked his fingers and one of the staff who were always silently around appr
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-02-20
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    Chapter 7
    He had served this family for as long as he had lived.Cleaned up after Daniel because his mother believed he needed it to build character.Tried for years to please his father by doing the things the staff should do, because Patricia believed that's the only way his father would fully accept them.He catered to his mother's every whim because she had always drummed it into his head that his existence dragged her down in life.Every single time Daniel messed up, he was forced to take the blame because Patricia believed it was what he owed Daniel.Though he did well in school and could have gotten into Ivy League schools, he was forced to follow Daniel to the only school that would accept him.Richard's pride wouldn't let him buy his son's way into a top college.So Adrian had been made to forfeit his own Ivy League acceptance to follow Daniel to Mottimer, where Daniel lived like a king and Adrian like his servant, even while topping his class.Yet when they graduated, Richard had easi
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-02-20
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    Chapter 8
    Richard's forbidding look followed Adrian as the latter left.Getting what he wanted was second nature to him, yet bitterness mingled with that satisfaction.He hated it.He hated how much he could see himself in the boy.Adrian was the result of the mistake of his youth, and God had decided to punish him by stamping his own look right on him.Adrian looked younger. Not even Daniel took after him that much in looks and temperament.Yet Daniel was the son he owed.One night of weakness had brought Patricia and Adrian into his life.He had broken Annabel's heart and he did not even get to make her see reason before she passed away.Yet he could not do away with Adrian.Apart from Patricia's devotion, Adrian had caught Charles’ attention when he was ten years old.Adrian had been up to one of his shenanigans at his old friend's birthday back then.He beat his friend at arrow-pot throwing.When Richard would have punished him for stepping out of line at an event he had sneaked into in the
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-02-20
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    Chapter 9
    Still shaken by the sudden revelation, Adrian sat weakly on his bed, which was a flat mattress on the floor. It was as if all the fight had been punched out of him. The pain he had received from the blows, and not even Patricia's treatment, shook him this much. His wound was superficial and would heal soon enough. His mother's preferential treatment was not new, even if the ache had not been dulled by two years' respite. But this? That pain carved at his heart, threatening to reduce him to a bloody mess. Still, Adrian straightened as he exhaled a shaky breath. He looked around his cramped space like he had not remembered how he entered. His eyes caught on the concrete, low-sloped ceiling that was also touching his head even though he was seated. The low steel door he always had to bend his six-foot height to enter stared back at him as if it were judging, just like everyone else. The narrow mattress he sat on took up most of the space in such a way that if he stretched his f
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-02-20
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    Chapter 10
    The maid looked guiltily at Patricia and back at Adrian. Had he not always taken everything they were ordered to do to him quietly? When had he suddenly changed? She wondered as Adrian turned to leave. “Stop right there! How dare you leave when I am not done talking? I want my tea. Go and make it for me right now!” Adrian stopped, his tone cold and gaze unwavering as he looked at her. He responded, “I will not be doing that for you anymore. In fact, I will be gone soon enough. It is better to get used to the maids doing it. I am done.” The truth was, one of the maids had tried to be helpful that morning when Adrian had not gone to the kitchen to prepare Patricia's tea as usual. Patricia grimaced as she remembered the taste. It had tasted horrible. The foam was not right. The texture was flat and the taste was not the same. “Adrian has a special way of brewing your tea, ma’am. The water was always at a certain degree, and we could never get the whisking just right the way he do
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-02-20
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