THE PROXY HEIR

Chapter 1 Three Minutes To Die

The location led him to a quiet street with beautiful houses, but one building caught his attention, It rose gracefully against the afternoon sky. James wished he lived there, he checked the address on his phone to confirm the street number he was headed to. Surprisingly, it was the penthouse he admired.

James parked his motorcycle and removed his helmet, unable to hide his amazement.

“Wow,” he whispered to himself, “ some people live in a different world.”

For a while, he forgot about the package in his hand, his eyes wandering around the building, the luxury cars parked in the compound, and the amazing landscape made him feel as though he had stepped into a scene of a movie, noticing the security guard approaching he quickly regained his composure.

“Good afternoon sir” the security guard greeted, directing James to the entrance door.

Jame walked to the entrance door, rings the doorbell. Opening the door was the caregiver Arthur, who was shocked at his sight, he shouted “Edward!!” with one hand on her mouth, pulling James inside with the other hand.

“Your father has woken up.” James froze

“I'm not Edward,” James said, stepping backward to the door.

Arthur grabbed James by the arm, his hands shaking violently.

“Please sir, the board of directors is in a meeting, if they find out you fled to the woods, they will liquidate the company tonight Arthur pleaded.

The narration didn't sound convincing to James, all he wanted was more time in the beautiful penthouse, so he agreed to meet with the directors in the boardroom.

On the way to the boardroom, a tall man with a cold eye stepped out into the hallway. He looked at James.

“Edward!!”

The man called, with his voice echoing.

“Are you finally back to sign the papers?”

James' heart beat fast against his ribs, he felt like running, but gathered little courage, playing along to save a dying man's legacy.

He took a deep breath and adjusted his jacket.

“I'm not signing anything, uncle,” James said.

The uncle smirked, pulled out a document from his file case,

“We will see about that after you explain how the missing seventy million dollars was spent.”

Uncle Charles smiled, seventy million dollars!! Edward!, Needs a reconciliation with the account or you sign the papers.

James blinked multiple times in fear, and his mouth hung slightly open. He hadn't earned such an amount of his own, he barely owns 500 dollars in his bank account with his name. But he couldn't back down, not with the pleading eyes of the caregiver Arthur.

“Check the account again, uncle,” James said. He forced his voice to stay steady.

“You might find a mistake.”

The uncle's smile vanished instantly, and he took a step closer.

“You think you are clever, but your girlfriend from the Wences Cooperations won't save this time.”

James didn't know who that was, he kept his face blank.

“I don't need saving.”

“We will see to that at the meeting tomorrow morning,” Uncle Charles hissed and turned away, slamming the door behind him.

Mr Arthur let out a long breath, that was close sir, but we have a much bigger problem now.

“Bigger than seventy million dollars?” James asked, wiping sweat from his forehead.

Yes, Mr Arthur whispered, looking around the empty hallway.

“The real Edward didn't run away because of the money, he fled because he found out who killed his mother, and they know he knows.” Arthur made James understand that he knew James wasn't Edward despite the resemblance.

Before James could ask another question, his phone rang in his pocket. It wasn't his cheap delivery phone, it was Edward's encrypted device that Mr Arthur had slipped into his coat earlier.

James slid his thumb to pick up the call

“I saw you enter the building, if you don't leave the penthouse in the next three minutes, the bomb under the floor will explode.”

The caller said with no anger, no excitement, only a cold certainty.

James stared at Arthur confused, his legs began to fail, three minutes to die! I don't know how to defuse a bomb he said to himself, immediately running to the door for an escape, but the handle wouldn't budge. It had been locked from the outside.

James didn't waste time, he grabbed a heavy metal sculpture from the side table and smashed it against the glass window, the thick glass shattered into a million pieces. He grabbed Mr Arthur by his arm, “Jump!”, Seconds after the bomb exploded. James and Arthur passed out from the toxic gas of the explosion. For several minutes, neither of them moved.

James regaining consciousness first looked at Arthur, who was covered in dust with visible signs of breathing.

A black sports car suddenly stopped by the incident, its tires making a loud screeching sound, the car's front window rolled down and a girl with sharp eyes and a fierce expression looked at James. “Could it be Edward's girlfriend?” He asked himself.

“Get in, Edward!!”, before they find us here. Her voice sounded urgent.

James supported Arthur through to the passage seat while he sat beside her.

The car continued down the road, carrying them away from danger. She looked at James' bleeding hand, then back to the road,

“You look different, and you are late. Did you bring the flash drive with the killer's name?”

James froze, he didn't have any flash drive. He looked away into the rearview mirror and saw a black Toyota SUV speeding up right behind them with its headlights blinking. It slammed into the bumper of their car with a crashing sound, sending a shockwave through James's body, making his teeth clatter painfully. For a split second, panic seized his chest.

Vivian fought desperately to keep control, but the steering wheel jerked wildly in her hands as the car swerved, trembling curses escaped her lips, as fear and determination battled inside her.

The SUV was still behind them.

James' heart melted, every second felt like it could be the last, yet Vivian refused to give in, with narrowed eyes and gritted teeth, she steadied the car and kept pushing forward.

“ Edward!!”She yelled over the roaring engine.

“The flash drive, do you have it or not?”

James gripped the dashboard in thought, if I told her the truth, she might push me out of the moving car.

“ I lost it in the fire,” he lied, with a shaking voice.

“It's gone.”

She glanced at him, her eyes were in pain. “You lost it? You spent three months hiding in the woods for that information.”

Before the girl could ask James more questions, the black SUV suddenly appeared beside them, the SUV's passenger window rolled down and a barrel pointed straight at their car's left front tire. In a matter of seconds, James and Vivian went from fleeing danger to facing what seemed like certain death. Fear gripped them as they were under attack.

A gunshot was fired, “boom!!” The front tyre exploded, causing the car to lose control and they were overwhelmed with panic.

The sports car slid uncontrollably on the road and spun toward the edge of the bridge, Vivian tried to regain control by hitting the brake, but the inexperienced decision caused the car to tumble over the bridge guardrail.

For seconds, they were airborne, then the car plunged into the river beneath the bridge, the windshield shattered instantly under pressure, letting the river flow through the car, making it difficult for James to breathe as the car began to sink quickly into the dark depths of the river, helplessness set in. Trapped inside a sinking vehicle, James felt desperation as his seatbelt refused to release him, he looked over at Vivan, her head slumped against the steering wheel, unconscious.