The Billionaire’s Hidden Heir

Before Victor Takes It

Daniel didn't speak until they were inside the car.

He started the engine but didn't drive.

"Forget RouteLink."

Adrian looked at him.

"No."

Daniel turned.

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

"Victor controls Vale Logistics. If he's already negotiating with Bennett, getting involved will create a problem you don't need."

Adrian looked through the windshield.

"Is he buying the company for Vale Group?"

"I don't know."

"Then we should find out."

"We?"

Adrian smiled slightly.

"You brought me here."

"I'm starting to regret that."

Daniel finally pulled away from the building.

Adrian opened his notebook.

Michael Crane.

Vale Logistics.

Victor.

Three names connected to a company that would eventually become worth billions.

He needed more information before making an offer.

"What do you know about Vale Logistics?" Adrian asked.

Daniel sighed.

"It's one of the group's fastest-growing divisions."

"And Victor runs it?"

"Victor oversees it. He pushed Father to expand into freight and distribution a few years ago."

"Does he own any of it personally?"

Daniel glanced at him.

"Why does that matter?"

"Because there's a difference between Victor wanting RouteLink and Vale Group wanting RouteLink."

Daniel became quiet.

Good.

Adrian had learned early in Black Veil that organizations didn't make decisions.

People did.

And people always wanted something.

"Vale Group owns the division," Daniel finally said. "But Victor has performance incentives. If Logistics grows, he benefits."

Adrian nodded.

That made sense.

"So RouteLink could help him."

"If the software works."

"It will."

Daniel looked at him.

"You sound very sure."

Adrian closed the notebook.

"I think Noah built the right product badly."

"That's not exactly a compliment."

"It's fixable."

Daniel stopped at a red light.

"There's another problem."

"What?"

"You don't have the money."

Adrian looked at him.

"Yet."

Richard had agreed to consider a loan after seeing a business plan.

That meant Adrian couldn't simply return and ask for seventy thousand dollars because he liked Noah's company.

He needed numbers.

More importantly, he needed to know Victor's offer.

When they reached home, Adrian went straight upstairs.

He searched for Michael Crane.

This time, he found plenty.

Michael was thirty-eight and worked as Director of Strategic Development for Vale Logistics.

He had joined the company six years earlier.

Adrian searched deeper.

Acquisitions.

Contracts.

Industry events.

Then he found something useful.

A photograph from a logistics conference.

Victor stood beside Michael.

The caption described Michael as one of Victor Vale's closest advisers.

Adrian saved it.

His phone rang.

Unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Adrian?"

Noah.

"Yes."

"I probably shouldn't be calling you."

"Then this should be interesting."

Noah gave a nervous laugh.

"I wanted to clarify something about earlier."

Adrian waited.

"The Vale Logistics offer isn't final."

"How much?"

"I can't tell you."

"Then there's nothing to discuss."

"Wait."

Adrian smiled.

Noah needed him.

That was useful.

"The offer is for the company," Noah said.

"All of it?"

"Seventy percent initially. They'd have an option to purchase the rest later."

"For how much?"

"One hundred and twenty thousand."

Adrian sat straighter.

Victor wanted control of RouteLink for almost nothing.

In twenty years, Noah's future company would be worth billions.

Of course, RouteLink wasn't worth billions today.

It barely had enough cash to survive four months.

But Victor had still seen something.

"Why haven't you accepted?"

Noah was quiet.

"Because I'd become an employee."

There it was.

Not money.

Control.

Adrian understood immediately.

"You don't want to sell."

"I started this company in my apartment."

"Then don't."

"It's easy for you to say."

"No. It's expensive for me to say."

Noah laughed.

Adrian continued.

"I can't beat their offer in cash."

"Then why are we talking?"

"Because I don't need seventy percent."

Silence.

"How much do you want?" Noah asked.

"Thirty-five."

"I already told you no."

"And I'm still asking."

"For seventy thousand?"

"Sixty."

Noah laughed again.

"Now you're offering less?"

"Yes."

"That's not how negotiation works."

"It is when my deal lets you keep your company."

Noah stopped laughing.

Adrian leaned back.

"I'll take thirty-five percent for sixty thousand. You keep control. The remaining forty thousand of my capital stays available for growth if we hit agreed targets."

Noah didn't answer.

"Noah?"

"I'm listening."

"You continue running the technical side. We rebuild how the product is sold. We focus on small delivery companies first."

"And Vale Logistics?"

"Let them buy something else."

"You make that sound simple."

Adrian looked at Michael Crane's photograph.

"It won't be."

Noah exhaled.

"I need time."

"You have until tomorrow."

"Vale gave me a week."

"I'm not Vale Logistics."

"Clearly."

The call ended.

Adrian opened a blank document.

Now he needed Richard.

For the next several hours, he built the business plan.

Not twenty pages of meaningless projections.

Five pages.

Problem.

Product.

Market.

Investment.

Growth.

He used public statistics showing increases in parcel delivery and internet use.

He included RouteLink's current clients and costs.

Then he added the part Richard would care about.

Risk.

If RouteLink failed, Adrian could lose sixty thousand dollars.

If it survived, Adrian would own thirty-five percent of a company positioned inside a growing industry.

At least, that was the argument.

The real reason was much simpler.

Adrian had seen the future.

He knew Noah Bennett wasn't finished.

By evening, the plan was ready.

Daniel read it at the dining table.

Claire sat beside him.

Adrian waited.

Daniel turned the final page.

"You wrote this today?"

"Yes."

Claire looked at Daniel.

"Is it good?"

Daniel didn't answer immediately.

"Annoyingly."

Adrian smiled.

Daniel pointed at one section.

"Your growth projections are aggressive."

"They need to be."

"And you're assuming online retail grows significantly."

"It will."

"Why?"

Adrian had prepared for that.

"Convenience."

Daniel frowned.

"That's your entire argument?"

"People hate wasting time. If buying something from home becomes easier than driving to a*****e, they'll do it."

Claire nodded.

"I would."

Daniel looked at her.

"You like shopping."

"I like receiving things more."

Adrian laughed.

Daniel shook his head.

"Both of you are impossible."

His phone rang.

Daniel checked the screen.

His expression changed.

"Who is it?" Claire asked.

"Victor."

Adrian stopped smiling.

Daniel answered.

"Hello?"

Adrian couldn't hear Victor's words.

But he watched his father's face.

"No. Why?"

Pause.

Daniel looked at Adrian.

"Yes, I met Bennett."

Another pause.

"Because Adrian wanted to."

Claire looked confused.

Daniel stood and walked toward the window.

"No, Victor. I'm not involved."

His voice hardened.

"He's my son. If he asks me to drive him somewhere, I don't need your permission."

Adrian listened carefully.

Daniel's jaw tightened.

Then Victor apparently said something that changed everything.

Daniel looked directly at Adrian.

"I'll tell him."

He ended the call.

"What did he want?" Adrian asked.

Daniel placed the phone down.

"He knows you're interested in RouteLink."

That was fast.

"What else?"

"He wants you to stay out of it."

Claire frowned.

"Why does Victor care what Adrian does?"

Daniel didn't answer.

Adrian did.

"Because he wants the company."

Daniel looked at him.

"He said Vale Logistics has been negotiating for months."

"Then they should've closed the deal."

"Adrian."

"What?"

"This isn't one of Richard's dinner games anymore."

Adrian knew that.

That was exactly why he wanted it.

Victor had made a mistake.

If he had ignored Adrian, RouteLink would have remained an investment.

Now he'd shown Adrian that it mattered.

Adrian picked up his business plan.

"I'm going to Grandfather."

Daniel stared at him.

"Tonight?"

"Victor wants me out."

"That's supposed to convince you to stop."

"It convinced me to move faster."

Daniel stood.

"You're treating this like a competition."

Adrian looked at him.

"It is."

"You don't know Victor."

There it was again.

Adrian almost told him.

He almost said that he knew exactly what Victor became.

That he'd heard Victor order men to kill him.

That Marcus had died because of him.

Instead, Adrian held the business plan tighter.

"Then maybe it's time I learn."

Daniel stared at him.

Claire broke the silence.

"Daniel."

He looked at her.

"Go with him."

Daniel rubbed his face.

"I'm surrounded by insane people."

Twenty minutes later, they were back in the car.

Richard was still at the estate when they arrived.

His assistant led Adrian into the study.

This time, Richard was alone.

He looked at the clock.

"You're becoming expensive."

Adrian placed the business plan on his desk.

"You told me to bring you this."

Richard looked at the cover.

"Already?"

"Already."

Richard opened it.

Adrian remained standing.

Richard read without speaking.

One page.

Then another.

When he reached RouteLink's financial information, he stopped.

"You want to buy thirty-five percent of this company."

"Yes."

"For sixty thousand."

"That's my offer."

"And the other forty?"

"Reserve capital. I don't want to invest everything before we know what needs fixing."

Richard continued reading.

Then he reached the final page.

"Vale Logistics is also trying to buy it."

Adrian wasn't surprised Richard knew.

"Yes."

Richard closed the document.

"So you're competing with your uncle."

"If he sees it that way."

Richard smiled faintly.

"He will."

Adrian waited.

Richard tapped the business plan.

"Victor called me an hour ago."

That was unexpected.

"What did he say?"

"That you're interfering in an acquisition you don't understand."

"And what did you tell him?"

"That if a sixteen-year-old can ruin an acquisition he's been working on for months, perhaps he doesn't deserve it."

Adrian couldn't stop himself.

He smiled.

Richard didn't.

"Don't celebrate yet."

The smile disappeared.

Richard opened a drawer and removed the paper from their earlier agreement.

"You asked for one hundred thousand dollars."

"Yes."

"I'll give you access to it."

Adrian's heartbeat increased.

"But."

There it was.

Richard slid another document across the desk.

"You get twelve months."

Adrian looked down.

"If the company fails?"

"You still owe me every dollar."

"Fair."

"If you use my name to force Bennett into accepting your offer, the deal ends."

"I don't need your name."

Richard leaned back.

"Everyone needs my name eventually."

Adrian picked up the document.

"Then I'll see how long I can survive without it."

Richard smiled.

"Now you sound like your father."

Adrian signed.

Richard signed beneath him.

It wasn't a fortune.

It wasn't an inheritance.

It wasn't even technically Adrian's money.

It was debt.

But when Adrian looked at his signature beside Richard Vale's, he felt something Ethan Carter had never felt after completing a mission.

This belonged to him.

His decision.

His risk.

His future.

Richard closed the folder.

"One more thing."

Adrian looked up.

"If you're going against Victor, don't expect me to protect you."

Adrian thought of the warehouse.

The guns.

Marcus.

The river.

He met Richard's eyes.

"I wasn't planning to ask."

When Adrian left the study, his phone vibrated.

A message from Noah.

I've made my decision.

Adrian stopped walking.

A second message appeared.

We need to meet tomorrow morning.

Come alone.