Chapter 6 - The Forgotten Heir
Nobody moved.
The world seemed to stop.
Adrian Vale.
A name I had never heard.
A person who supposedly didn’t exist.
But the wolf mark on his arm was real.
The same symbol.
The same design.
The same family secret.
“You’re lying.”
My voice was cold.
Adrian didn’t react.
“I expected you to say that.”
He reached into his jacket slowly.
Mateo immediately raised his weapon.
But Adrian pulled out something else.
An old photograph.
He handed it to me.
I looked down.
And everything changed.
The picture showed three children.
Me.
Luca.
And a third boy.
A boy who looked exactly like us.
“What is this?”
Adrian looked away.
“The truth your father buried.”
My fingers tightened around the photograph.
“My father?”
Adrian nodded.
“I was born before you.”
The words hit like a weapon.
“My mother was part of the Vale family.”
“Then why don’t I know you?”
“Because they erased me.”
The room became silent.
“Why?”
Adrian’s eyes hardened.
“Because I was the original heir.”
My mind struggled to process it.
The Vale inheritance.
The hidden trust.
Emma.
Everything suddenly connected.
“The council removed you.”
“Yes.”
“Then Luca found out.”
“Yes.”
“And they went after him.”
Adrian nodded.
“Because Luca tried to expose them.”
I looked at Emma’s room.
A child sleeping peacefully while the entire family history burned around her.
“Why come now?”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“Because the person who ordered Luca’s death knows I’m alive.”
A chill moved through me.
“Who?”
He looked directly at me.
“Your mother.”
I froze.
The room went silent.
That name hurt more than Victor.
More than Richard.
Because my mother was the person who taught me what family meant.
The person who held my hand when Luca disappeared.
The person who cried beside me.
Adrian continued.
“She wasn’t the mastermind.”
“Then why?”
“Because she chose survival.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
Adrian looked toward Emma.
“It means someone gave her a choice.”
A pause.
“Protect one son.”
“Or lose both.”
---
Before I could ask more, every phone in the room rang.
Mine.
Mateo’s.
Daniel’s.
Even Victor’s.
A single message appeared.
From an unknown number.
**THE SECOND WOLF HAS AWAKENED.**
Then another message.
**COME TO THE OLD VALE ESTATE IF YOU WANT THE REST OF THE TRUTH.**
Daniel looked at me.
“It’s a trap.”
I nodded.
“I know.”
Mateo stepped forward.
“Then we don’t go.”
I looked at Emma.
At Clara.
At the people Luca left behind.
“No.”
I picked up my coat.
“We go.”
Mateo frowned.
“Sebastian.”
I looked at him.
“For thirteen years, everyone has been deciding my family’s fate.”
My voice became cold.
“Tonight, I take it back.”
I walked toward the elevator.
Behind me, Adrian followed.
The forgotten heir.
The man who shouldn’t exist.
The missing piece of a puzzle that had destroyed my family.
As the elevator doors closed, I looked at the city below.
Somewhere out there was the person who killed my brother.
Somewhere out there was the person who tried to erase Emma.
And soon…
They would learn one thing.
The Vale family had spent years hiding wolves in the shadows.
May you like
But they forgot one thing.
A cornered wolf was the most dangerous animal alive.
