The Son-in-Law They Threw Away

Chapter 4: Killian's Identity

Killian walked with his head down through the streets of Birmingham. His old bag hung from one shoulder and felt heavier with every step. He had nowhere to go. For more than a year the only bed he had known was inside the Smith family house. Now that door was closed forever and he was alone.

He stopped under a small bus shelter and let out a long, tired breath. “What a mess,” he said quietly to himself. “Where am I supposed to sleep tonight? Under a bridge? In front of some closed shop?”

He had no real friends in this city. The only people who knew him were the ones who had just thrown him out like trash. His stomach was already starting to hurt. Earlier at the cafe he had only eaten a little because the food did not taste right. Now he had no money left to buy even a piece of bread.

Killian pulled out his old wallet and opened it. Inside were only two strange cards. They were not the normal blue or green bank cards. One was silver-grey and the other was completely black. The numbers on them were hard to read because he had almost never used them. He had no idea if there was any money on them at all.

He stared at the cards for a long time. A thin memory slowly came back to him. About seven months ago a beautiful woman had walked straight up to him on a busy street without any warning. She had pushed these two cards into his hand, said a few strange words, and then left quickly before he could ask anything.

“Welcome… Hello… Young master…”

Those were the only words he could still remember. After that day he had never seen her again. He had simply put the cards in his wallet and almost forgotten they existed. Right now they felt useless. He was too tired, too hungry, and too angry at the world to think about mysterious cards from a stranger.

The clock on his old phone showed it was almost two in the afternoon. Killian kept walking with no real direction until he reached a quiet city park. He found an empty wooden bench under a big shady tree and sat down heavily. People were walking around, talking, and resting on other benches, but he felt completely alone in the middle of all of them.

His stomach made a loud, embarrassing sound. His throat felt dry and rough. “Stupid,” he muttered to himself. “I didn’t even bring a bottle of water.”

He reached down to pick up a small dry branch that had fallen near his feet. Before his fingers could touch it, a soft voice spoke above him.

“Hmm.”

Killian’s head snapped up fast.

A beautiful woman stood in front of him. She was holding out an expensive-looking bottle of cold water. Her clothes were simple but clean, and her face looked calm and sure of herself, as if she had been looking for him on purpose.

“Excuse me,” Killian said, still surprised.

“Good afternoon,” the woman said in a soft but clear voice. “May I sit here?”

“Please,” Killian answered. He took the bottle from her hand almost too quickly and drank nearly half of it in a few big gulps. The cold water felt good going down his dry throat.

The woman sat down on the other end of the bench and waited quietly. For several long seconds Killian could only stare at her face. Something about her felt familiar, like a half-forgotten dream. After almost half a minute he finally found his voice again.

“Who are you?” he asked. “And why do you keep appearing in front of me like this?”

This was the second time he had met her. The first time she had given him the strange cards. Now she was here again with water and that same calm look in her eyes. It could not be a normal accident.

The woman looked at him with steady eyes. “Master certainly does not remember me. But I know you very well.”

Killian frowned hard. “What does that mean? Please explain properly.”

“I will tell you everything,” she said. “But please do not interrupt me until I finish speaking.”

Killian nodded slowly. His heart was already beating faster. “All right. I’ll listen.”

The woman took a small breath and began speaking in a clear, serious voice that did not sound like she was joking at all.

“My name is Irene Adler. I work as a trusted helper for the great master Miguel Spencer. I am also the corporate secretary of the Spencer Group. Mr Spencer ordered me to watch over you carefully and learn about your real life here in Birmingham.”

Killian’s eyes widened, but he forced himself to stay quiet like he had promised.

“You have been away from your real home for seventeen years,” Irene continued. “When you were only eight years old, people said you were taken by a dangerous group that steals children. Your grandfather and your parents searched for you for many long years. After thirteen years of looking and hoping, your parents became very sick from sadness and died. Your grandfather was left alone in London. For the last two years he never stopped searching for any small news about you.”

She paused for a second to let the words sink in, then went on.

“One day some of his people saw you in a local market. Your shirt was open at the front and they clearly saw the necklace around your neck. That necklace matched the old photo they still kept of you as a small child. The news made your grandfather very happy, but he did not rush to meet you right away. Instead he sent me to check if the news was really true. For more than a year I have been watching you from far away to make sure you were the person we were looking for.”

Killian’s hand slowly moved up and touched the necklace under his shirt. His fingers were slightly shaking.

“Your face has changed a lot since you were a child,” Irene said. “But the necklace cannot lie. To be completely sure, we collected a small sample of your blood and hair without you knowing. Your grandfather ordered a special DNA test. The result proved without any doubt that you are his only grandson — the grandson of Miguel Spencer, one of the most powerful businessmen in the country, with companies and connections all over the world.”

Irene looked straight into his eyes and spoke the next words slowly.

“That is why he ordered me to give you those two cards seven months ago. Each card started with ten billion euros. Together that was twenty billion euros. Every month since then he has been adding more money to both cards. By now the total is much higher than twenty billion. The money is safe in two big banks in this country. You can check the balance anytime you want. The password for both cards is your date of birth.”

Killian’s mouth fell open. He could not speak for several full seconds. His mind felt blank and noisy at the same time.

“A… what? Twenty billion euros?” His voice came out loud and shaky. He could not believe the number he had just heard.

“That is correct, sir,” Irene said calmly. “The money has been waiting for you this whole time. Do you still have the two cards with you?”

Killian’s hands were shaking as he pulled out his old, worn wallet. He took out the silver-grey card and the black card and stared at them like he was seeing them for the very first time. The same cards he had almost thrown away many times now felt heavy and dangerous in his dirty fingers.

“These… these two cards really have that much money on them?” he asked, still unable to accept it.

Irene gave a small, knowing smile. “Don’t you remember? About seven months ago someone tried to use one of the cards to buy a small snack from a shop. The payment failed because the machine could not read the card properly. That was you, wasn’t it?”

Killian’s mind was spinning hard. Twenty billion euros. A grandfather he had never known. Parents who had died while searching for him. A huge company called Spencer Group — the same company he had once applied to as a cleaner and been rejected from with a cold look.

He looked down at the two cards in his hands. These were the same hands that had cooked meals, mopped floors, and been slapped and spat on only a few hours earlier.

Irene watched him quietly. She did not rush him or try to fill the silence.

When Killian finally spoke again, his voice came out low and rough, almost like it belonged to someone else.

“If everything you just said is true… then who have I really been all this time?”

He lifted his eyes and met Irene’s calm, steady gaze. The park around them, the people walking by, the sound of the wind in the trees — all of it suddenly felt very far away. The hunger in his stomach was forgotten. The only thing left was the heavy weight of a life he never knew he had, and the two thin cards that now held more power than he could understand.