Wheel of Time: The Heir who isn't Useless

Chapter 5: First Major Face-Slap & Declaration

Lyon POV

"Why is that cripple sitting in the front row?"

Oscar stood near the grand entrance of the central gala hall, pulling his velvet suit jacket straight while his fingers squeezed Kelly’s shoulder until she winced.

"He does not belong here!" Kelly whispered, her eyes fixed on the back of the sleek customized wheelchair stationed directly beside the empty head table. She smoothed down her silk evening gown, her chest heaving as sweat broke through her heavy makeup. "Oscar, he ignored all my calls today. He blocked my number. He has no money, no title, and no invite. Call security right now and have them drag him out into the rain!"

"You don't need to yell," Oscar sneered, though his own palm was slick against his champagne glass as he stared at the dark gold pass resting on Lyon's lap. "My father controls the security detail for the entire venue tonight. One word from me and that paralytic piece of trash will be tossed into the gutter."

Lyon sat perfectly motionless in his wheelchair, ignoring the low hum of whispers rippling through the crowded room. He didn't look at the crystal chandeliers, the tables lined with white orchids, or the hundreds of high-society guests staring at his plain black suit. His focus remained entirely on the live digital ledger streaming across the screen of his phone.

Darlington Logistics: 30% Equity Transfer Completed.

Transaction Hash: Approved by Central Banking Authority.

"Look at him sitting there like he owns the place," Connie sneered, walking up to the head table alongside Lydia and Jennifer. She adjusted her diamond necklace, her mouth twisted in disgust. "Father, why is the trash we threw out yesterday allowed to breathe the same air as us?"

Dean Darlington straightened his tuxedo tie, his face dark with suppressed rage as he glared down at Lyon. "He stole an administrative pass from the research hospital. He is using fake prestige to embarrass our family in public."

"He always was a shameless parasite," Jennifer chimed in, leaning against Nathaniel's arm. She tilted her chin up, looking down her nose at Lyon's motionless legs. "Nathaniel spent the whole morning securing our new logistics partner while this cripple was probably begging on the street corner for cab fare."

Nathaniel smiled warmly at the surrounding crowd, adjusting his gold cufflinks with practiced ease. "It is fine, Jennifer. Lyon was always confused about his place in the world. As his older brother, I will personally see to it that he is escorted to a psychiatric facility after the banquet."

[Camera Cut: Outside the banquet doors, two security guards in black suits reached for their tasers as Oscar gestured toward Lyon with a sharp nod of his head.]

"Get up," Oscar commanded, walking over to stand directly beside Lyon's wheelchair, accompanied by Kelly and three private guards. "You have five seconds to wheel your useless body out of this hall before my men toss you down the front stairs."

Lyon did not turn his head. He didn't raise his voice or shift his posture. "Your father's company owes thirty million dollars to the Macao syndicate, Oscar. If I were you, I would spend my evening looking for a loan instead of standing near my chair."

Oscar's face went instantly white, his jaw dropping open. "What... what did you just say?"

"You heard him!" Kelly snapped, stepping forward and pointing her manicured finger straight at Lyon's face. "Stop making up lies to protect your pathetic pride! You are nothing! You were my servant for two years, Lyon! You paid for my bags, you did my homework, and you sat in that metal chair like a broken dog while I laughed at you! You think buying a fake suit makes you a man?"

Lyon slowly turned his head to look at her. His dark eyes were flat, hollow, and devoid of any emotion. "Your tuition for the spring semester was paid from my primary patent account. The transaction reversal was finalized ten minutes ago. Expect a withdrawal notice from your university portal before midnight."

Kelly gasped, her hands flying to her mouth as her phone suddenly vibrated with an automated SMS alert in her clutch purse.

"Silence!" Dean roared, stepping into the center of the floor with his arms raised, drawing the attention of all two hundred corporate executives in the room. "Ladies and gentlemen! Forgive this minor disturbance! This cripple was once taken in by the Darlington family out of pure charity! But yesterday, due to his repeated theft and mental instability, we officially removed him from our lineage!"

The crowd gasped, whispering furiously as cameras began to flash from the media section near the stage.

"That's right!" Connie yelled, pointing dramatically at Lyon. "He used to clean our toilets and scrub our floors! He has no medical degree, no money, and no future! He came here tonight to stalk my brother Nathaniel because he cannot accept that he was replaced by a true genius!"

"Is that true?" a reporter from the business news channel asked, holding out a microphone. "Mr. Darlington, was this man really just a domestic servant in your household?"

"He was less than a servant," Esther stated coldly, walking up beside her husband with her arms crossed over her embroidered dress. "We gave him food and shelter for twenty years out of the goodness of our hearts. In return, he tried to sabotage our family finances before leaving. He is a disgraced parasite."

[Camera Cut: Nathaniel stood beside his mother, a faint, triumphant smirk playing on his lips as he watched the surrounding guests shrink away from Lyon's wheelchair in absolute disgust.]

"Security!" Oscar barked, recovering his nerve as he pointed at Lyon's chest. "Drag this retard out of here right now! He is disturbing the Darlington family's celebration!"

The two heavy security guards stepped forward, their thick hands reaching down to grab the handles of Lyon's wheelchair.

"Touch that chair," a thunderous, gravelly voice echoed from the main entrance, "and I will have your security firm dissolved by midnight."

The entire ballroom went dead silent.

The security guards froze in mid-air, their faces turning pale as the heavy oak doors swung open wide.

An elderly man in a tailored dark blue suit stepped into the hall. He walked with a heavy silver-headed cane, but his eyes were like polished iron. Behind him stood six elite bodyguards in military uniforms, along with Dr. Jessica and the regional banking director.

"Master Lawrence?!" Dean gasped, his voice instantly cracking as he took three rapid steps forward with a obsequious bow. "Master Lawrence! You... you are conscious! We heard you were in critical condition at the Central Hospital!"

Lawrence completely ignored Dean's outstretched hand. He didn't even look at the Darlington patriarch. He walked straight past Dean, straight past Nathaniel, and stopped directly beside Lyon's wheelchair.

To the absolute horror of everyone in the room, the legendary patriarch of the Lawrence Medical Conglomerate bowed his head sixty degrees toward the young man sitting in the metal chair.

"Young Master Blackwood," Lawrence spoke clearly, his deep voice carrying to every single corner of the quiet hall. "Thank you for saving my life this morning. The emergency tracheostomy you performed with a simple needle saved my airway when the hospital staff had already given up."

The entire room erupted into a deafening wall of shocked murmurs.

"Young... Young Master Blackwood?!" Kelly stumbled backward, her heels catching on the hem of her dress as her heart slammed violently against her ribs. "No... no, that's impossible! His name is Lyon Darlington! He is a cripple!"

"Shut your mouth, woman!" Lawrence snapped, turning his head to glare at Kelly with lethal intensity. "You are speaking to the primary founder and chief executive of the Blackwood Medical Group! The man who holds over forty international surgical patents!"

Dean felt the blood completely drain from his brain. His knees trembled so violently that he had to grab the edge of a dining table to keep from collapsing onto the floor. "Blackwood? The... the anonymous investor who has been funding our corporate debt for the last three years?"

"Precisely," Mandolin stepped out from behind Lawrence, holding a gold-embossed leather folder in his white-gloved hands. He opened the file and projected the central equity seal onto the large presentation screen at the front of the stage.

The digital document illuminated the entire room in bright white light.

[Entity Name: Blackwood Medical Assets LLC]

[Primary Shareholder: Lyon Blackwood (100% Equity Control)]

[Recent Acquisition: 30% Controlling Stake in Darlington Logistics Group]

"No... no!" Nathaniel shrieked, dropping his champagne glass onto the floor, where it shattered into a hundred jagged pieces. "That's fake! It's a forged document! He was sitting in our basement yesterday! He didn't have a single dollar in his bank account!"

"His bank account was locked because he was transferring his personal capital into the Master Blackwood Vault," Mandolin stated coldly, turning his sharp gaze toward Nathaniel. "And as of five minutes ago, Master Lyon has officially exercised his right as the largest individual shareholder of Darlington Logistics."

Mandolin raised a stamped legal document for the press cameras to see.

"By order of the primary shareholder, the Darlington Group's board seats held by Dean Darlington, Daniel Darlington, and Nathaniel Darlington are hereby revoked immediately due to gross corporate negligence and pending fraud investigations!"

"Revoked?!" Dean screamed, clutching his chest as he stumbled forward, his eyes wide with utter terror. "Lyon! Lyon, my son! You can't do this to us! We are your family! We raised you!"

"Family?" Lyon spoke for the first time since the revelation. His voice was low, smooth, and chillingly quiet, cutting through the frantic noise of the room like a steel blade.

He adjusted his dark pass on his lapel, his fingers steady as he clicked the auto-drive mechanism on his wheelchair armrest.

"You threw me out of the house in the middle of a thunderstorm," Lyon said flatly, looking Dean dead in the eyes with absolute indifference. "You called me trash. You gave my inheritance to a planted fraud."

"Lyon, please!" Esther cried out, her voice breaking into hysterical sobs as she tried to reach for his arm, only for Lancelot to step smoothly between them, blocking her path with a wall-like chest. "We were confused! Nathaniel lied to us! You are my real blood! Please, come home!"

Kelly stood frozen in the center of the aisle, her face covered in tears as she looked at the man she had mocked for two years. "Lyon... I... I was forced by Oscar! He threatened me! I still love you, Lyon! Please give me another chance!"

Oscar didn't even look at her. He was staring at his phone screen, where a text message from his father had just arrived:

“We are ruined. Blackwood Group just bought our master mortgage notes. The marshals are at our front door.”

Lyon did not pause his wheelchair. He didn't look back at Kelly, he didn't look at Oscar, and he didn't spare a single glance for the weeping Darlington family members kneeling on the marble floor behind him.

His wheelchair turned smoothly toward the grand exit doors of the hall, where a line of armored black sedans was waiting for him under the flashing lights of the city.

"You discarded the wrong son," Lyon said, his cold words echoing through the silent banquet room like a funeral bell. "Enjoy the fall."

As the heavy oak doors swung open to let him pass into the cool night air, Lancelot leaned down to hand Lyon a small silver cylinder that had just arrived via an encrypted courier.

"Young Master," Lancelot whispered under his breath, his voice laced with sudden, intense gravity. "We intercepted a private broadcast from the old family mausoleum five minutes ago."

Lyon took the silver cylinder, his thumb pressing against the biometric reader on the cap.

A faint blue light flashed, and a tiny speaker inside the cylinder crackled to life with a garbled, high-pitched audio transmission.

“We have secured the old man's body... but the wooden chest inside the coffin was already opened from the inside...”