THE HEIR

Chapter 3

Javier felt like he was being pranked. First, he got involved in a murder he knows nothing about, and now he is told to live his life with another identity.

"Only you can help me out. I don't want his Uncle, whom we all suspect, to have killed him, take his position", Ashley pleaded and held Javier's hand.

"You are asking me to impersonate your son? How do you think your son would feel?"

"He will be very happy, as long as I did it to prevent his Uncle"

"Then I'll be discarded once you have been able to get what you want, isn't it?"

"Who said you would be discarded? This is a rare opportunity to live the rest of your life in riches. Forever". Ashley said and Javier's eyes widened.

He had thought the arrangement would be for a short period, but forever? It made him think twice. Will he be out of prison and even become a conglomerate heir?

"This is the best opportunity anybody can offer you," Ashley added.

"I'll have to think about all of this privately. I can't just agree without giving it deep thought", Javier finally said one of the things Ashley expected to hear from him.

"Fine! I'll give you just three days to think about it because we don't have time on our side." With that, Ashley stood up. "We will come back in the next three days" They left, leaving Javier alone before the police officer that brought him there came in to take him away.

—-----------------------

"As we all know, when the late president was on his sick bed, he requested I be in charge of his company," Mathew said in the board of directors meeting "And also instructed me to hand it over to his son when he is of age, but unfortunately, as we have heard, on the news, his son has passed away" he added.

"This leaves me with no choice but to continue as the acting president of his company. In the past fifteen years, I have done a great job of promoting the company", he smiled at the directors.

He was sure nobody was going to go against him. He has them all wrapped around his fingers.

The conference room door opened and distracted them all. Ashley and her assistant walked in.

"I'm sorry to inform you, but you will not be able to continue acting or even become the real president of my husband's company," she said loudly as she walked in, causing the directors to murmur.

Mathew stood up from his seat, with a smirk on his face, and walked closer to Ashley.

"What do you think you are doing, Mrs Stevenson?" He asked calmly.

"What do you think? I'm telling you the fate of the company".

"Then what is your plan? Your Son is dead!" One of the directors said.

"That's right, you don't plan to take over the company, do you?" Another asked.

Ashley stared at Mathew. She could see the greed and wickedness in his eyes. Her heart ached once again because she was unable to protect her son from the monster standing before her. She exhaled briefly, trying to hold back her emotions.

"My Son is not dead! The news you all saw was just to distract the media", she said, catching them all by surprise. She could see the confusion on Mathew's face, which gave her a little happiness.

"Your Son is not dead? Then where is he? We all saw the news about him, didn't we?" Mathew asked.

"He was only injured, and receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital," Ashley said, and all the directors exchanged glances.

"Then, bring your Son before us in a month if he's really not dead", Mathew challenged her.

For the three days Javier was given by Mrs. Stevenson, couldn't stop thinking about the proposal before him. The choice to either change his pathetic life to a better one or go to jail for an offense he didn't commit was for him to make.

He stood up sluggishly when he was told he had a visitor. Without being told, he already knew that it was Ashley, Damian's Mom.

"I believe I've given you enough time to think about what we discussed" Ashley said immediately after they met.

"Yes," Javier said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Okay?"

"I will do whatever it is you want if you get me out of here," he said, and a smile appeared on Ashley's face. She was happy that things were going her way.

"Good! You have made the best choice you can ever make!" She remarked him.

"Then when do I get to leave this place? When will I be released?" He asked impatiently.

"You will be out of this place as soon as possible. You can put your mind at rest now" she paused briefly "Refuse to see any other visitor till you are out of here".

After spending another three days in the detention center, Ashley finally pulled her strings and Javier was released. He got into one of the cars that came for him. He found it unbelievable that a convoy of cars came for nobody like him.

"I'm no more the poor Javier Caden, I'm now Damian Stevenson, the only son of Ashley Stevenson," he said to himself inwardly.

The car stopped in front of a hospital, and he was led to the morgue building where Ashley was already waiting for him. He felt nauseous immediately when he saw Damian's dead body. His slashed neck made him remember how he first saw him in the bathtub.

"As you already know, this is my son," Ashley said slowly, and her eyes became watery. What type of mother wouldn't cry when she sees her son lifeless? Especially if he was killed cruelly.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Javier said, hoping his words would calm her down.

"And you are going to live your life like him henceforth. You will achieve everything he wasn't able to achieve and take back everything that rightfully belongs to him" She grabbed Damian's cold hand, and just couldn't hold back her tears.

"To prevent any suspicions, you will have to look perfectly like him, which includes all his scars, and learn how to speak eloquently like him," she said when she found her voice.

"His scars? That doesn't include the cut on his neck, does it?" His eyes widened in shock, and he began to retreat from Ashley.

"Don't worry, it's not going to be a deep cut", Ashley tried to reassure him.

"No, I will not accept that! You didn't tell me about that from the get-go", he protested.

He became stiff when he felt a cold object on his neck, and then he felt pain. He touched the left side of his neck that had been slashed with a knife by someone behind him, then his vision slowly became blurry.