The One and Only Heir

Tyler stood in the doorway and pointed at me. "This room! I want this one!"[Here we go, the classic room-stealing scene!][Told you, now that's more like it!]I looked up and gave him a calm glance. This was the best suite in the entire mansion, the master bedroom. He certainly knew how to pick."Fine." I closed my book and stood up. "Though I should warn you, this room gets the western sun, so it's hot in the afternoons. The soundproofing isn't great either. When the home theater downstairs is running, you can hear what sounds like shells going off right next to your ear."Tyler hadn't expected me to agree so readily, and the speech he'd prepared stuck in his throat. He froze for a couple of seconds before forcing out, stiffly, "I don't care!""All right." I nodded. "Suit yourself."I picked up my book, intending to make do in the study next door for the night. Tyler stood rooted to the spot, half the triumphant excitement already draining from his face.At dinner, Tyler fina

After the dressing-down Chelsea gave him, Tyler stayed quiet for several days. He spent all his time sulking in the room he'd claimed, apparently tinkering with something.I was glad for the peace and quiet, and went back to my usual reading and handling my emails. That calm lasted exactly three days.On the fourth day, I went downstairs for a glass of water and found Tyler pacing back and forth near the second-floor landing. One moment he'd study how steep the stairs were, the next he'd tap the edge of a step with his toe, muttering to himself the whole time.I leaned against the living room wall with my water and watched with real interest.[Here it is! The classic stairs tumble!][I'll guess: the fake heir pushes the real one, gets caught by the parents, and gets disowned on the spot!][Wrong read up there. Clearly the real heir's about to stage a fall and pin it on the fake one!][Anyone want to bet when this fake heir takes his fall? It's finally happening! My heart's racin

With that, Cody went straight upstairs to the study. Isabel stood up as well and walked over to Sebastian, looking down at him with a hint of warning in her tone."One more thing," she said. "My legs are expensive. Don't go grabbing them again."The living room fell into dead silence.Sebastian was far smarter than Tyler. He quickly worked out that tears were the least useful currency for gaining a foothold in this house, so he changed tactics.The very next morning, he stopped wearing the faded old clothes that made him look like a helpless waif. Instead, he put on the new clothes the household had prepared for him and combed his hair neatly, looking a good deal more put-together.He started making small talk with the staff on his own, especially the young women who'd just started working there, handing them a glass of water, saying "you must be tired," always with a perfectly calibrated warm smile. It worked well on the young women who were new to working in a household like thi

[I'm floored! What is this script?]The comments went wild, but Cody's and Isabel's expressions didn't shift at all."My marriage to Isabel was a business arrangement from the very start." Cody's voice stayed frighteningly level. "The alliance between the Wade Group and the Stevens Group needed an heir who was absolutely stable and absolutely neutral, someone who wouldn't favor the Wade Group or the Stevens Group."He paused, his gaze landing on me. "So we had Luis."Isabel picked up where he'd left off. "Luis received the finest heir's education from childhood, and more importantly, he shares no blood with either of our families. He's the perfect manager, the sole legitimate heir to this business empire."When she finished, the whole world seemed to go quiet.Tyler's mouth hung open. The fantasy he'd played out countless times, of the real heir's grand comeback, had torn to shreds in his head. As for Sebastian, his head stayed bowed, and I couldn't read his expression. But I s

Silence lasted a few seconds on the other end. "Short it?" Chelsea's voice turned serious. "You're going for their throat. How much capital would that even take?""Every asset I have. Property, real estate, stocks, funds, all of it mortgaged." My voice stayed perfectly even. "If that's not enough, count your share in too.""Sure, go big, I like it. Consider it my down payment on backing you as the Wade heir.""Pleasure doing business."After hanging up, I called my private legal team and authorized them to handle the asset mortgage. Once that was done, I turned back to the television. The financial anchor was still analyzing Stevens Group's troubles in a grave tone. But in front of me, the tide of the comments had already started quietly turning.[Wait, why do I get the feeling this fake heir's actually got something going for him? He's super calm under pressure.][Mortgaging everything he owns? Is he insane? Win and it's champagne; lose and he's flipping burgers?][No, wait