“Is the wound serious?” she asked Gage in a cold tone.“No. It missed the organs. With a few hours rest, he should be able to stand,” replied Gage.She breathed in a bit of a relief as the wedding wouldn’t need to be stopped. “What’s your name?”“Isn’t it manners to tell your name first before asking for others?”“Lamiya.”“Gage.”“I’ll find out who you are, Gage,” Lamiya replied. She was a dark brunette with scary red eyes. She was in her mid forties, but she looked to be only in her early thirties. “If I find anything out of the ordinary, I’ll personally find you and kill you.”“I’m a virgin.”“... so?”“Before you kill me, can we…”She raised her gun a little.“Just kidding,” Gage said and then his expression turned serious, even though he wasn’t even looking at her. “Do you think your girls can catch that bastard?”“I’m confident in them.”“To have come in the appearance of Jennifer Bennett, either he’s been planning this for quite long, or he’s some top professional who wasn’t gi
Once Liam was on the move, Roddick’s butler, Ivan, backed away from his operations as it was too risky to try and kill Russell now. “If worse comes to worst, both the Lynn and the Heller families will be fine, but I will be pushing up the daisies.”All Liam needed to do was make a few phone calls, and a hundred snipers were stationed around Russell’s home, while keeping themselves hidden on rooftops. Moreover, there were many new faces roaming in the neighborhood, and there was no way to tell who was working for him.Even for someone like Ivan who had so many resources, this was too risky a task, one that was doomed to fail.Liam met Lamiya who thought she’d be congratulated, but Liam slapped her and said, “You couldn’t even catch a single man. Your head is still on your shoulders because Russell is still alive. Now, get lost from my face.”Lamiya and her team left the scene, looking humiliated even though they were paid.Liam then came to meet Russell who was still in Madison’s home.
Russell opened his eyes much earlier than expected.William told him where he was and what had happened. The Bennett family wasn’t told about anything yet, whereas Madison and her husband were told to keep their mouths shut. William had already paid them 10,000 dollars.“Why would anyone want to kill me so badly?” Russell was still in shock, especially because the assassin had come wearing Jennifer’s mask.“The Lynn family has a lot of enemies,” William said in a neutral tone. “You’ve made some enemies recently, too.”Russell shook his head. “No. Natasha and Denver are not capable of doing something of this scale.”“You’re right. It’s not them.”“Then who is it?”“We didn’t find it out yet,” William showed the face of Edward on his mobile. “This is the guy that tried to kill you. He’s a trained assassin. Only millionaires can hire this type of guy. So it could be anybody who suffered because of the Lynn family’s rise in power.”“How do you intend to narrow down the list?” Russell coul
There was literally not a single soul in the street, except for Russell.Most kids would already be sleeping at this point. In fact, most of the people in the city itself would be sleeping.Russell, however, was walking quickly, ignoring the cold of the night and the sharp pain in his back.Like how sea waves vigorously seek the shore under the growing moonlight, he found himself going to such lengths to meet Jessica.Why?His heart was more chaotic than it ever was.Jessica had always been more than a friend to him. She was like family. If he said that the thought of sharing his life with Jessica never crossed his mind, he would be lying. He knew that his parents wouldn’t allow him to marry Jessica who didn’t have any family or background. Perhaps, that was why he subconsciously never allowed himself to love Jessica in a romantic way, but when she expressed her love to him this morning, he was left both shocked and speechless.Why couldn’t she say those ‘three’ words before Kyra came
The experience of getting slapped was nothing new to Russell. Both Arnold and Jennifer had given him a lot of experience regarding this, but Russell rarely ever got slapped by a girl his age. This was only the second time he got slapped by a young woman. The first time was when Natasha rejected his proposal.Naturally, more than getting shocked, Russell was mentally hurt for receiving a slap. Was it really this easy to slap one’s fiance? What could Kyra’s reason be for treating him like this?Russell could see that she was clearly angry with him.At the same time, Kyra could see that Russell was hurt by what she did. She frowned and looked a little guilty. “I… shouldn’t have hit you. I’m sorry.”Russell still looked hurt. Could a slap be erased with a simple sorry? Probably not. Hurting was always much easier than healing. For good or bad, could Russell ever forget this incident?Kyra, on the other hand, put herself in Russell’s shoes for a second, and that made her feel somewhat terr
The next morning.Jessica had ended up sleeping outside the house.“Ma’am,” someone patted Jessica’s shoulder, waking her up. She slowly looked up at him. He was a handsome pizza-delivery guy with a manly beard. He was the same guy that once stopped Russell from committing suicide.What was a pizza-delivery guy doing at her house? She immediately checked the time on her mobile. It was ten in the morning.“I didn’t order pizza,” she said, standing up. “Are you sure you are at the right address?”“Yes,” he politely said, putting two pizza boxes down. “It was ordered for Jessica by a guy named Derek. He already paid for everything. You must be Jessica, right?”“Yeah…” Jessica looked at the pizza boxes. They were from Rye’s Pizzas. “Uh, I don’t want them. Can you take them back? You don’t need to pay the money back.”The pizza-guy was surprised and kept staring at her face for a little while. “Is everything alright, Miss? I mean, you were sleeping outside.”“Everything is alright,” she re
A wedding even the billionaires would envy was taking place on the rooftop of the 77-floor building owned by the Lynn family.Every floor had something special prepared for the guests, whether it be top music artists performing or magicians ready to display all the tricks in their books. However, all those that entered the Lynn Tower were escorted by a pair of beautiful female and male escorts who were also couples in real life.The guests were taken to the elevator so they could head straight to the rooftop where the wedding was taking place. After the wedding finished, the guests could then explore the tower and be entertained for the rest of the day. This was the plan carefully crafted by Charlotte Lynn herself.Most of Russell’s friends weren’t invited as the Lynn family didn’t want his friends whispering and talking about Russell’s past before other guests.A Ferrari and a few top sports cars stopped outside the main entrance. Roddick and his friends got out of the cars, but inst
Before the wedding started, Liam told the Bennett family these words, “Stick to the script, but don’t talk about your past unless someone asks you. Lie as little as possible.”Arnold and Jennifer perfectly executed these words so much so they completely avoided talking about their past. Even when someone asked them what the Bennett family does these days for them to have gotten the attention of Liam Lynn, they just replied, “It’s not because of our greatness but because of our son. He and Kyra fell in love, and we were also distant relatives, so… things just worked out this way.”Even the billionaires couldn’t hide their envy toward Jennifer and Arnold and especially Russell.The rich young men who had their eyes on Kyra for a while now gave rough handshakes to Russell, and some even went out of their way to say, “you’re one lucky bastard,” though only joking on the surface.Russell countered them, saying, “There’s no such thing as luck. Every marriage is decided in heaven; so is mine
THANK YOU:: The Secret Successor has found his family as well as his love! There’s no one more lucky in the world than one who has a family that loves them. They don’t say blood is thicker than water for no reason. But I’d say, love is even thicker than blood. So, Russell is lucky to have a loving mom, dad, grandfather, and a childhood girlfriend. How lucky are you in your life in terms of relationships? Do you have people who support you when you are down? I hope so. I started the novel with the thought of finishing it in 500 chapters, but it took this long. To all those who read every chapter and reached this page… you have my humble and grateful thanks. A big thanks to reader Oyewale Gabriel for your immense support. And then to Mickey Ritch for your votes as well as comment support. Next is Ricky, who is one of the earliest readers of this novel. Good to still see you around. To Charlie Mcmillen, who has a silent but strong presence, you have my Mcvery thanks. And then, we hav
A few weeks later.Charlotte was at her home, eating peanuts, which didn’t taste good on her tongue right now. It wasn’t the peanuts that had the issue, but her tongue and her mind.“Even the food isn’t going inside,” Charlotte pitifully said. She called Kyra’s mobile, but Kyra didn’t answer.Seconds later, Kyra sent a text message: Don’t bother me.“Tsk, she’s completely cut herself off,” Charlotte tossed the mobile away at the wall. “But she’s sticking with Liam and Russell when they’re not even related to her by blood. It doesn’t make any sense!”“Do you want me to kidnap her and bring her here?” William asked.“Do you want Liam to kill both of us?” Charlotte asked him back.“N-No.”“Forget about Liam…” Charlotte looked at the file in her hand. “This bastard Russell came up with such a clever contract. If I sign this, I’ll basically be giving up my shares in the company, but in return, I’ll earn in the billions.”“Since he’s going to trouble you anyway, he’s giving you a profitable
Jessica was never gifted so many chocolates by anybody before. She immediately hugged Russell with excitement. “You’re the best!”“Wait, they are not just for you,” Russell said. “You’ll be sharing these with everyone at the table.”“U-Uh, of course,” Jessica couldn’t smile as freely anymore because there weren’t multiples for some types of chocolates, and she didn’t want to give those away to others. “I-I will do it after we finish dinner,” she said. “I mean, if we eat chocolates before, then we won’t be able to eat the meal properly.”“You can just distribute them now,” Russell said.“U-Um,” Jessica reluctantly got up and began to distribute the chocolates to everyone at the table. But when she came to Russell, she didn’t put any chocolate on his plate.“Wait, you forgot me,” Russell said.She leaned in and whispered in his ear, “Didn’t you say that I AM your chocolate?”Russell blushed. “Ahem,” he quickly controlled his expression. “I see.”Jessica sat down. The waiters began to se
A few nights later.At Tuna Waves restaurant.The entire top floor was booked by the Lynn family for the night.A large dining table was arranged in the center of the floor. Kyra was the first to attend, because she was the only one who arranged this dinner and invited the people she believed she should.As she waited a bit nervously, to her shock, Jessica was the first to arrive. She was dressed in her work attire and didn’t even have makeup on. Was she coming straight from work?Jessica sat down at a chair but didn’t speak to Kyra and just waited.There was an awkward atmosphere between these two.“I’m not going to eat you, so you can talk,” Kyra voiced her mind. “You came here early so that you can make sure nothing ‘strange’ happens, right?”“Well, I have to protect my guy,” Jessica replied, putting her mobile down, “so that I won’t lose him again.”“Don’t worry then. I think of Liam as my dad, so Russell becomes my brother now,” Kyra stated. “I can’t marry my brother now, can I?”
Other than Arnold, nobody was told that Liam was Russell’s biological father, as Elora and Liam just didn’t feel the need to do so.They believed that revealing that truth now would only bring unnecessary complications.Elora felt like a lot of burden had been lifted off her heart after she told Arnold the truth.Russell also felt happy that Viola was talking to him. Though James was still clouded by his anger, Russell didn’t feel bad about it as James was known for his impulsive behavior.Russell believed that James would understand with time.Liam and Elora went away in a different car, whereas Russell left in his Boyen Redemption. Driving with an injured hand wasn’t easy, but he somehow managed it and got home.Regan was talking with Gage’s dad and introduced him to Russell. “This is the man I trust the most in the world. He’s your friend Gage’s father. His name is Steven.”Russell saw that Steven’s eyes were completely white. “Nice to meet you, Steven?” he looked at Regan. “Is he b
“I don’t get it. Why do you want to marry her of all people?” Teresa asked quickly. “She’s been sick for decades, and no one knows when she might get sick again and die, not that I’m wishing for it, but I’m just stating the possibility. In addition to that, Russell is already your son-in-law, isn’t he? So, if you marry his mother now, what will the world think of it?”Liam smiled and asked her, “You think I didn’t consider all those things?”“U-Uh…” Teresa didn’t know what to say because he looked calm despite everything she had just said. She looked at Elora. “Are you not going to eat anything?”“No, I’m full,” Elora said, even though the real reason she refused was because she didn’t want to eat what was brought by Jennifer. Elora then glanced at Arnold. “Can we talk privately?”Arnold was not expecting that. Without even looking at Teresa or Jennifer, he said, “Sure. Why not?”Jennifer didn’t want them to talk, but all she could do was stand there and watch as Arnold and Elora walk
Charlotte left the hospital, but on her way home, she received pictures from one of her friends.And these were pictures of Liam and Elora eating at a restaurant.“Stop the car,” Charlotte said.William quickly pressed the brake. He looked back, and Charlotte was fuming.She felt like her body was set on fire. She wasn’t able to stand it.“How can he…”Seeing Liam hold some other woman’s hand, she wasn't able to digest it and pulled her hair with one hand. “Fuck! This isn’t happening. Fuck! Fuck!”“What’s wrong, ma’am?” William quickly asked.“He’s getting away from me,” she said angrily as well as sadly. “He’s really getting away from me.”One mistake cost her everything.Her husband, her daughter, and even her sister, all of them moved away from her.The only person that was still with her was William.“Why won’t you also leave my side?” she asked him.“Does a dog ever leave the side of its master?” he said. “They may be manipulative, abusive, but the dog still loves its master.”Ch
“Fuck off, bitch,” Natasha pressed the trigger.However, nothing happened.Jessica thought she died, but she didn’t. She quickly recovered from the mental shock and slapped Natasha’s hand, making the gun fall out of her hand. “That’s an autoloader. You should manually cock for the first shot for it to be fired.” She kicked Natasha in the gut as hard as she could.Jessica was a very powerful woman, and so her kick sent Natasha crashing back violently.Jessica then sat on Natasha and began to hit her.“W-Wait,” Natasha tried to speak. “That gun wasn’t loaded.”“You expect me to believe that?” Jessica began to punch her face repeatedly, making her lips rupture and bleed. Still, she didn’t stop and kept going.The other employees gathered around. One of them picked up the revolver and checked for the bullets. “Ma’am, this gun really is empty.”Jessica was a bit shocked to hear that. “What?”“I told you…you fucking bitch!” Natasha grabbed Jessica’s throat and squeezed it. “I’ll kill you fo
“Aww,” Elora crashed on the floor and cringed in pain. Liam rushed over to help her and tried to help her get up, but she got up on her own, saying, “I’m not that old yet.”“I never said you were,” Liam put forward the bouquet of lilies.“What the… too white and bright,” she blurted. “Your taste sucks.”Liam was shocked because it was Russell’s suggestion.Elora plucked just one lily from the bouquet and smelled it. “Anyway, what brought the great Liam Lynn here. There’s no child in this house, you know.”Liam’s expression suddenly hardened. Whether she was trying to mock him or was purposely trying to tease him, it felt like a joke that went too far. However, he saw not a ounce of negativity in Elora’s eyes. It was as if she was testing him to see how he’d react. “My child, no, our child is in this house, is he not?” Liam replied.Elora somewhat smiled. “Yeah, he is upstairs. You can go and talk to him.” She sat back on the couch. “If you move out of the way, I’ll watch the TV. The c