CHAPTER 8 – The Heir They Could Never Control
The breaking news spread across every screen in America.
"Daniel Harrison Confirmed Dead. Fortune Estimated at $18.7 Billion. Sole Heir Unknown."
Within minutes...
Television crews surrounded the ruins of the church.
Politicians issued condolences.
Stock markets reacted.
But one person wasn't watching the news.
The boy.
He was hiding inside an abandoned train station, staring at the black ring engraved with a single word:
HEIR.
Suddenly, the ring vibrated.
A tiny blue light appeared beneath the engraving.
The boy twisted it instinctively.
Click.
A hidden microchip slid from the inside of the band.
"What is this?" he whispered.
Before he could examine it, a luxury sedan stopped outside the station.
A woman in a dark suit stepped out alone.
She raised both hands.
"My name is Evelyn."
"I worked for your grandfather."
The boy backed away.
"I don't trust anyone anymore."
She nodded.
"Good."
"Because your grandfather taught you the first lesson."
"Trust is the most expensive thing in the world."
She handed him a tablet.
The screen scanned the microchip.
A secure file unlocked instantly.
The title read:
THE TRUE HEIR PROTOCOL
The tablet displayed a staggering balance.
$18,742,000,000
The boy's eyes widened.
"Is... this real?"
Evelyn smiled faintly.
"It belongs to you."
"But there's one condition."
"What condition?"
"You must survive the next twenty-four hours."
The screen suddenly changed.
A live video feed appeared.
His father.
Still alive.
Handcuffed to a steel chair inside an unknown warehouse.
Bruised.
Bleeding.
Yet smiling.
"My son..."
"If you're seeing this, they activated the protocol."
The video froze.
Another face appeared.
The judge.
He leaned toward the camera with a satisfied grin.
"Congratulations."
"You inherited everything."
"The money."
"The companies."
"The enemies."
He pressed a button.
A giant digital clock lit up behind him.
23:59:59
"It starts now."
"Every assassin in the organization has received the same message."
He smiled wider.
"The one who kills the Harrison heir..."
"...inherits the empire."
Within seconds, phones across the criminal underworld buzzed simultaneously.
One target.
One reward.
Eighteen billion dollars.
The boy's photograph filled every screen.
Dead or alive.
Outside the train station...
Engines roared to life.
Black SUVs.
Motorcycles.
Helicopters.
Even drones circled overhead.
Hundreds of hunters...
All chasing one frightened teenager.
Evelyn looked him straight in the eyes.
Then handed him a small handgun.
"You have exactly twenty-four hours."
"To stop running..."
"And become the man your grandfather believed you could be."
At that exact moment...
A voice echoed from the shadows behind them.
"You forgot to tell him one thing."
The boy spun around.
A tall figure stepped into the light.
Scarred.
Exhausted.
But unmistakable.
His father.
Alive.
Free.
Holding the judge's severed wristwatch in one hand...
And a blood-stained list of every traitor in the organization in the other.
May you like
He smiled at his son.
"Ready to take back what's ours?"
