THE HEIR

Chapter 1

Javier rushed out of his apartment like he had to be somewhere as soon as possible. Just by looking at him, it would be easy to know things aren't going so well for him. He wore a rumpled t-shirt and blue jeans that were faded with worn-out sneakers.

A smile crept on his face when he saw Ruby, his neighbor, come out of her apartment. As neighbors, they got along pretty well and he liked her, but he dared not confess his feelings to her. They were different in so many ways. Ruby works in a nice company, which he doesn't know much about while he works as a delivery guy.

He sighed heavily at his reality.

"Going to work, huh?" Ruby asked and smiled at him. He felt his face turn red and his heart raced in excitement

"Yeah" he cleared his throat "See you later. Have a great day at work," he said. Deep down,he would have loved to extend the conversation,but he was already late for work.

"You too," Ruby replied.

He watched her enter her car while he faced his old delivery scooter.

He expertly navigates his way through cars and pedestrians on the busy street. He stopped the scooter when he got to the destination where the delivery was to be made. It was a hotel. His mouth dropped open as he stared at the posh and luxurious hotel. He marveled at the beauty of the hotel as he walked towards the reception area. He felt ashamed of how he looked compared to every other person in the hotel lobby.

"Good day" he announced his arrival to the receptionist who looked at him immediately "I'm here to make a delivery to room 103," Javier said as he brushed his hair with his fingers and exhaled

"One minute sir, I need to confirm your appointment with our guest," the receptionist said politely.

"Well, here is the delivery order and confirmation email, just in case," he said and showed it to her.

"Great! I'll just make a quick call"

In a minute, the receptionist dropped the phone "Thank you for your patience. Room 103 is located on the third floor, left wing.

"Thank you," Javier said and made his way to the elevator. He bumped into a man who was putting on a black hoodie when he landed on the third floor.

"I'm very sorry" he quickly apologized.

"No, it's fine," the man quickly said without looking at Javier.

Javier wasn't sure what the smell was, but he could smell a weird smell from the man.

"What on Earth was that smell" he muttered to himself after the man had gotten into the elevator.

He strolled down the hallway, with his attention fixed on the room numbers. He sighed heavily when he finally saw the room number he was looking for.

He was about to ring the doorbell when he noticed the door wasn't locked.

"Hello!" He called out, hoping someone would come out and answer him "Your order is here," he said but still there was no reply. He gently opened the door and got in. He could hear the shower running when he entered the room fully.

"Who opens their door when they are showering?" he said to himself and carefully placed the package on the bed.

He wanted to leave immediately but gave it a second thought. He wondered why the person in the shower didn't even hear him enter.

"What if I'm seen as a pervert?" He asked himself inwardly. He just couldn't go like that, what if the person had slipped and needed help? With that, he opened the bathroom door but didn't see anyone. There was no one using the shower that was running. He got in and stopped the shower, he was about to leave when he heard a shallow breathing coming from the direction of the bathtub. He slowly opened the curtain that was used to demarcate it from the rest of the bathroom and screamed at what he saw.

There was blood everywhere and a man lying in the bathtub,breathing slowly. His neck was slashed with a knife. Javier rushed to him hoping he could help.

He was more shocked when he saw that the dying man looked just exactly like him. The hair color, eyes, and even body shape. The only difference was that the man's skin looked richer than his. Shaking, he took out his phone to dial the emergency number.

"This is 911, what's your emergency? '' a feminine voice said.

"A..m…, fuck!" He stammered because he couldn't bring himself to talk.

"What's going on, sir?" The lady asked

"A man is dying here! He needs help as soon as possible!" he yelled and ended the call.

He planned to leave the hotel room immediately after the call so that he wouldn't get involved with the case, but it was already late for him as he heard footsteps rushing in.

"Freeze!" He heard the police men say and he quickly got on his knees with his hands over his head. One of the policemen moved closer to him and cuffed him.

"Suspect taken down," the police said into his radio.

Another police officer went closer to Damian to see if he was still breathing,but he was already dead.

"I didn't kill him, I swear," Javier said as he was taken out of the bathroom.

"I'm just a delivery man. He was barely breathing when I came in, you can check the CCTV" he kept telling them hoping someone would listen to him.

When the receptionist confirmed his appointment, a call had been made to the police by the real murderer to frame Javier. He remembered the guy in the hoodie that he met earlier. His instinct told him he was the murderer, so he decided to tell the police his little information.

"I met the real murder on my way, check the CCTV" he quickly said "Will somebody listen to me?" He yelled at them.

A female Police officer came into the crime scene and looked at one of the policemen, Javier immediately guessed he was their superior.

"Unfortunately, Mr Damian's family had requested that no CCTV should be on this floor to protect their son's privacy," the police said "And the receptionist said Mr Damian was still alive when she called him about the delivery guy. Which means he was the last person to see him alive"

Javier's shoulders fell after hearing the police. There was no way out for him. No evidence to prove his innocence.

"You are under arrest as a suspect of Damian Stevenson's murder”