Rise of Victor Kane: The Betrayed Heir

Chapter 2: The Discovery

It started with something small—a missed text message on Eva's phone. It was just a glance as he reached for his jacket, a moment of curiosity he would later regret. But what Julian didn’t know was that this single, innocent moment would shatter the world he had spent years building.

Eva’s phone buzzed on the kitchen counter, the screen lighting up with a name Julian knew all too well: Ethan Brooks. He wasn’t the type to snoop—he trusted Eva implicitly. But there was something in the way her smile faded when she picked up the phone, something in her eyes that made Julian pause. She had always been open with him, always. So why was she hiding this? He couldn’t help it. He picked up the phone, not with the intent to invade her privacy, but out of a gnawing feeling he couldn’t explain.

The message was brief. A simple, almost innocent exchange at first glance:

Ethan: "You up for tonight?"

But it was the second message that froze Julian in place:

Ethan: "Can’t wait to see you, baby. It’s been too long."

Julian’s heart skipped a beat. His mind raced as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. He knew Ethan and Eva were close—too close at times—but this was different. This felt... wrong. His eyes flickered over the rest of the conversation, each message confirming his worst fear.

The exchanges were casual at first, playful even, but then they turned more intimate. There was talk of meeting up “in secret,” of how much they missed each other, of their “special time” together. Julian’s throat tightened, the words blurring as his pulse quickened. He scrolled back through the messages, his hands trembling as the truth slowly sunk in.

Ethan and Eva were having an affair.

He slammed the phone down on the counter as if it would make the revelation go away, but it didn’t. The world he had built around him—the trust, the love, the future—was crumbling before his eyes. It wasn’t just a betrayal of their relationship, but a betrayal of everything he had worked for. His fiancée and his best friend, the two people he trusted most in the world, had been lying to him.

The flood of emotions hit him all at once—hurt, rage, disbelief. He felt like he couldn’t breathe, like the walls of the apartment were closing in on him. How long had this been going on? How could he have been so blind? The thoughts whirled in his mind, each one worse than the last.

He needed answers. He couldn’t just sit there, paralyzed by the pain. He grabbed his coat and left the apartment in a daze, driving aimlessly through the streets. His hands were white-knuckled on the wheel, his mind a storm of confusion and fury. He drove to the one place that felt safe—the law firm, the one place where he could try to clear his head, if only for a moment.

The firm was quiet this time of night, the offices dimly lit by the glow of desk lamps. Ethan’s office was at the far end of the hall. Julian approached it with slow, deliberate steps, each one heavy with the weight of what he had just discovered. He hesitated outside the door, unsure if he was ready to confront the man who had been his best friend for years.

But then he heard the laughter. Low and intimate. The sound echoed through the hallway, coming from Ethan’s office. It was unmistakable. Julian pressed his ear to the door, holding his breath, and there it was again—a soft, familiar laugh. And then a voice—Eva’s voice—whispering, “I can’t wait to see you again tonight.”

The ground beneath him seemed to shift, his heart sinking as the full reality of the situation hit him. He couldn’t stay here, not when everything he had ever believed in was being shattered. His feet moved of their own accord, retreating from the door, running down the hall, out of the building, and into the cold night air.

Julian didn’t know where he was going, only that he needed to escape. He drove for miles, the engine of his car humming as his thoughts spiraled, faster and faster. He couldn’t go back to the apartment. He couldn’t face her. He couldn’t face Ethan. He couldn’t face the lies that had built the foundation of his entire life.

In that moment, Julian realized the depth of the betrayal. It wasn’t just about the affair. It was about everything that had been taken from him—his trust, his love, his future. The law firm, his place in the world, everything he thought he would have—it had all been a lie, a façade built on deceit.

But what hurt the most, what cut him deeper than anything else, was the thought of the two people he had once called family—the two people who were supposed to support him—actively plotting behind his back. It was a betrayal that reached deeper than the heart. It was a betrayal of everything that had ever mattered.

The night stretched on, and Julian sat in his car, staring out at the empty street. His future, once bright and certain, now seemed like a distant memory. His hands gripped the steering wheel, knuckles white as his mind raced, trying to piece together the fragments of his broken world.

The discovery had been made. The pain was real. And now, the question loomed large in his mind: What was he going to do about it?

As the first light of dawn broke over the horizon, Julian knew one thing for sure—his life would never be the same again.