The Forgotten King

Chapter 3: The Secret Inheritance

Adrian couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. He took a deliberate route through the city, doubling back several times, until he was certain he had lost the black car. His mind was spinning with questions, but one thing was clear—he needed to find out what was on that USB drive.

He couldn't go home. That would be the first place they would look. He needed somewhere safe, somewhere unexpected. After thirty minutes of careful navigation, Adrian found himself outside a small internet café in the older part of town. The kind of place where tourists came to check their email, where the security cameras were outdated, and where nobody paid attention to the customers.

He rented a computer in the back corner, paid in cash, and inserted the USB drive with trembling hands. What appeared on the screen made him gasp.

There were hundreds of files—medical reports, bank statements, photographs, and videos. Adrian started with the medical files. They were his mother's blood work from the six months before her death. Each test showed increasing levels of a rare toxin in her system. The compound was called "Silendox," a chemical that was used in certain medical treatments but was incredibly dangerous if misused.

Adrian scrolled through the bank statements next. His mother had withdrawn large sums of money just before she died—over one million dollars in total. Next to each withdrawal, she had written notes in the margins. The handwriting was different from her usual precise style. It was shaky, as if written in pain or fear.

The notes read: *"Money for the truth." "Insurance policy." "For Adrian's future."*

Then Adrian found the video files. He clicked on the first one with hesitation. The video opened, and his mother's face appeared on the screen. She looked weak, pale, but her eyes were sharp and determined.

"Adrian, if you're watching this, I'm already dead," his mother's voice came through the speakers. Adrian had to adjust the volume to keep it quiet. "I don't have much time, so I need you to listen carefully. The person who is poisoning me is someone you trust. Someone close to you."

Adrian's hands clenched into fists.

"I discovered the poisoning three months ago when I noticed strange symptoms. I went to my doctor and demanded a full toxicology report. That's when I found Silendox in my system. I've traced it back to my daily supplements. Someone has been poisoning me slowly, methodically."

His mother paused, coughing. Adrian could see the pain in her eyes.

"I know who it is, Adrian, but I'm not going to tell you. Not yet. You need to figure this out on your own, because if I tell you, you might do something rash. You might get yourself killed trying to take revenge. Instead, I've prepared everything you need to expose this person. All the evidence is in these files."

The video continued for another hour. His mother explained the chemistry of Silendox, how it worked, and how someone could administer it without detection. She explained how she had discovered the poisoning and how she had begun to prepare her revenge.

But then, near the end of the video, something unexpected happened. His mother's expression changed. She looked afraid.

"There's something else you need to know," she said quietly. "I didn't come up with the Silendox formula on my own. I learned it from someone at my company. Someone who was experimenting with it years ago. I thought they had abandoned the research, but now I realize they never did. They were always planning something."

Adrian leaned closer to the screen.

"That person is still working in the pharmaceutical industry. They're powerful. They have connections. And they know I've discovered their secret. Adrian, I'm running out of time. I can feel the poison working in my system. So I need you to be very careful. The person who is poisoning me might also be connected to your life in ways you can't imagine yet."

The video ended abruptly. Adrian sat back in his chair, his mind reeling. His mother had known she was going to die. She had prepared this evidence for him. But she had also hidden the identity of the poisoner, forcing Adrian to solve this mystery himself.

He spent the next two hours going through the files methodically. He found photographs of his mother meeting with different people, all dated from the months before her death. There were financial records showing unusual transactions. And there were notes—pages and pages of notes—detailing her investigation.

One name appeared repeatedly in the files: "Dr. Victoria Sterling."

Adrian's breath caught. Dr. Victoria Sterling was Victoria's father. He was a renowned pharmaceutical executive who had founded Sterling Pharmaceuticals thirty years ago. Adrian had met him only a few times, but the man had always been polite, if distant.

Adrian clicked on a folder labeled "Dr. Sterling's Research." Inside were scientific papers dating back fifteen years. They were all about Silendox and its potential uses. But as Adrian read through them, he realized something chilling.

These weren't theoretical papers. These were practical applications. Someone—Dr. Sterling—had been researching how to use Silendox as a weapon. How to poison someone slowly without getting caught.

And Victoria's mother? Adrian remembered her vaguely. She had died of a sudden illness about ten years ago. An illness that had caused her great pain in her final days.

The pieces were falling into place, but the picture they formed was horrifying.

Adrian heard a noise outside the internet café. He quickly ejected the USB drive and closed all the files. His heart was racing. He needed to get out of there.

As he walked toward the door, his phone buzzed. It was a text message from an unknown number: *"Stop looking into the past, Adrian. Some secrets are kept for a reason. Back off, or you'll regret it."*

Adrian's blood ran cold. Someone knew what he was doing. Someone was watching him, tracking his movements. And they were warning him to stop.

But Adrian couldn't stop now. Not when he was so close to the truth. What else would he find, and how far was he willing to go to expose the people who had destroyed his family?