The Rise of the Heir

Chapter 7

"Where's Yanuar?!"

The man in the front row slammed his iron rod onto the teak dining table, shattering it. "You haven't paid your security deposit this month! Do we need to burn this dumpster to remind you?!"

Theo stood in the second-floor corridor, his hands gripping the wooden railing until his knuckles turned white. Below, the restaurant's customers had already fled through the back door, leaving broken plates and food scraps scattered about.

Yanuar grabbed Theo's shoulders, gripping him tightly. "Don't come down yet, Theo. Your body isn't ready yet."

"Valen's dogs," Bima hissed from behind the table downstairs. His hand gripped the butcher knife tightly, his eyes red with anger.

"Valen?" Theo asked without turning, his eyes fixed on the movements of the five men in denim jackets below.

"The street hyenas who used to scavenge for food at your father's feet," Yanuar replied bitterly, his voice trembling slightly with suppressed anger. "Now they're allied with Valen and feel like kings in Sector 4 because their lion is dead."

A scarred-faced man below looked up. Seeing Theo standing near the second-floor railing, he grinned broadly, revealing rows of jagged teeth.

"Eh? So this is Roy's son? The delivery man who tried to usurp the throne?" The man slammed his iron bar against the restaurant's support beam, producing a deafening clang. "Good. Boss Valen will be pleased if we finally sever the Atmaja bloodline today."

Theo couldn't bear to hear any more. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his back, he broke free from Yanuar's grip and sprinted down the stairs.

***

As one of the attackers raised the iron bar high, aiming it at the head of a male waiter trapped in a corner, Theo's body moved faster than his mind.

He lunged forward.

The restaurant floor shook with his heavy footsteps as he approached. Just as the pipe fell with a loud whoosh, Theo parried, his left arm moving sideways, deflecting the metal's trajectory inches from the waiter's head.

The metallic clang was deafening. Pain shot from his wrist to his shoulder, but Theo didn't give his opponent a chance to react. His body twisted briefly, his right elbow slamming brutally into the man in jeans' jaw.

THUD!

The impact was heavy, like a hammer striking wet wood. The man's head was thrown to the side. A trickle of blood spurted from the corner of his mouth before his large body staggered back two steps.

But he didn't fall.

The man simply spat blood onto the floor, then slowly raised his face. His gaze turned wild, cold, yet ferocious, like a hunted animal that had just been provoked. His jaw moved slowly, as if ensuring his bones were intact, before his fingers tightened their grip on the metal pipe.

The next second, the slash came again. Faster and more precise. Each swing was aimed at vital points like the head, neck, and knees. There was no wasted movement.

Theo's breath hitched for a moment. Only now did he realize something that made the air in the room feel much colder. These weren't amateur thugs like the ones he'd faced yesterday.

These were trained men, and they weren't coming to intimidate. Instead, they were coming to kill.

BUGH!

Off balance, a powerful blow from another attacker struck Theo in the right rib—the same spot he'd hit with the wooden block yesterday.

Theo's breath instantly stopped. His lungs felt paralyzed by the excruciating pain. His body was thrown hard, hitting the corner of the cash register, causing the cash drawer to fall to the floor. Theo's vision suddenly blurred, and the world before him spun sideways.

"THEO!" Yanuar shouted frantically from the top of the stairs, rushing down with his two bodyguards.

"Is this all Roy Atmaja's son is capable of?" The scarred-faced man approached. The iron bar dragged across the dirty marble floor, making a piercing, painful sound. "This delivery guy is still street trash."

"Hahahaha!" His friends laughed.

Theo tried to kneel, trying to gather the last bit of oxygen in his chest. But before he could stand up straight, the iron bar in the scarred man's hand swung down hard, hitting him squarely in the right shoulder.

CRACK!

Theo heard the sound of a joint dislocating. A scream of pain caught in his throat. His body collapsed again, his knees hitting the cement floor hard. Warm blood began to seep from his temple, which had been cut by a broken ketchup bottle.

For the first time in his life, Theo felt true terror. The martial arts techniques his father had taught him meant nothing when his body was too frail and fragile to support them.

On the other side of the restaurant, Bima was fighting like crazy. The giant man smashed a wooden chair into the head of one of his attackers, shattering it, but his limp made him unwieldy under the three men surrounding him. One of the longtime Rouza Grill members, who tried to step forward to help, was knocked to the ground after a pocketknife lodged in his stomach.

Fresh blood began to pool on the restaurant floor, mixing with the spilled steak sauce and alcohol.

"Enough, don't let him die here. Valen needs this boy to keep breathing until the documents are submitted." The scarred man motioned for his men to retreat.

The man crouched in front of Theo, roughly grabbing the young man's hair to force him to raise his head. His eyes were filled with utter contempt.

"Tell Yanuar that the Valen faction's contribution quota will double starting next week. Otherwise, this place will be your grave." The scarred man leaned in close, whispering a sentence far more devastating than a broken bone. "Roy should have died with his son that night. Bringing you back to life was just a waste of our time killing you twice."

The grip was released roughly, sending Theo's temple crashing back against the cold floor. The group of attackers turned and walked away, leaving the restaurant, now completely destroyed like a battlefield. Theo lay still amidst the shards of glass and the pungent stench of blood. He stared at his trembling palms on the marble floor.

He had the right to inherit, the famed Atmaja Group, and documents worth billions in his boarding room. But tonight, reality hit him hard in the face…

All of that was meaningless if he lacked the strength to defend it. His father's inheritance wasn't a gift, but a coffin waiting for his body to be placed inside.

If he didn't change now, he would die before he could set foot in Armagenda University.