CHAPTER 10 — THE HEIR NOBODY KNEW EXISTED
The world changed overnight.
One day, Lucas was a forgotten boy sitting on a wet sidewalk in Paris, holding an old shoeshine box and wondering where his next meal would come from.
The next day...
His face was everywhere.
Television screens.
Newspapers.
Social media.
The name that had disappeared fifteen years ago had returned.
ADRIAN LAURENT.
The missing heir of the Laurent Empire.
The child everyone thought was gone forever.
But behind the headlines and cameras...
Lucas was still trying to understand one simple thing.
Who was he?
The Laurent mansion became a fortress.
Security guards surrounded the property.
Journalists waited outside the gates.
Helicopters flew above the estate.
Everyone wanted a story.
Everyone wanted to see the boy who had returned from nowhere.
But Lucas stayed inside.
Away from the cameras.
Away from the attention.
He stood in front of the large mirror in his bedroom.
The reflection looking back at him was unfamiliar.
A clean suit.
Expensive shoes.
Perfectly styled hair.
Everything had changed.
Except his eyes.
His eyes still belonged to the boy who slept under bridges.
The boy who cleaned shoes for strangers.
The boy who accepted a piece of cake from another child because he was hungry.
Lucas touched the necklace around his neck.
The blue gemstone reflected in the mirror.
"You still look the same."
Subi's voice came from the doorway.
Lucas turned.
"What?"
Subi walked inside.
"Your eyes."
He pointed.
"They are the same."
Lucas smiled slightly.
"Even if I live here?"
Subi nodded.
"Yes."
"Even if everyone says I'm important?"
"Yes."
"Even if I'm rich?"
Subi shrugged.
"You're still Lucas."
The answer was simple.
But it meant everything.
Across the mansion, Alexander was preparing for the biggest press conference of his life.
Not a business announcement.
Not a company merger.
Not a billion-dollar deal.
Something much more important.
Introducing his son.
Before stepping onto the stage, Elena approached him.
"Are you ready?"
Alexander looked nervous.
"I have faced CEOs, governments, and competitors."
He smiled sadly.
"But I have never faced the world like this."
Elena understood.
Because today wasn't about power.
It was about a father and a son.
The cameras began recording.
The entire world watched.
Alexander Laurent stepped forward.
For years, he had been known as a billionaire.
A businessman.
A man who never showed weakness.
But today...
His voice shook.
"Fifteen years ago, my son disappeared."
The room became silent.
"During those years, many people believed he was gone forever."
Alexander paused.
"But I never stopped searching."
Behind him, a screen displayed an old photograph.
A baby.
A necklace.
A family that had been broken.
"Today, I want the world to meet my son."
The doors opened.
Lucas walked in.
Thousands of cameras flashed.
But Lucas did not look at them.
He looked only at Alexander.
And Alexander smiled.
Not as a CEO.
As a father.
"This is Adrian Laurent."
The world held its breath.
The reaction was immediate.
People celebrated.
The story of the lost heir touched millions.
But not everyone was happy.
Inside the Laurent boardroom...
Several executives watched the announcement.
Some smiled.
Others calculated.
Because Lucas wasn't just a child.
He was the future owner of one of Europe's largest empires.
And that threatened many people.
That evening, Alexander sat with Lucas in the library.
A place filled with books about history, business, and the Laurent family.
"I want to show you something."
Alexander opened an old wooden drawer.
Inside was a small toy.
A wooden horse.
Lucas stared.
"That was yours."
"My?"
Alexander nodded.
"When you were a baby."
Lucas touched it carefully.
"You kept it?"
"Every day."
"Why?"
Alexander looked at him.
"Because I believed one day I would give it back to you."
Lucas became quiet.
Nobody had ever saved something for him before.
Not a toy.
Not a photograph.
Not a place.
Nothing.
Then Alexander showed him another room.
The nursery.
It had remained untouched for fifteen years.
The small bed.
The toys.
The paintings.
Everything preserved.
Lucas stood in the doorway.
His expression changed.
"Someone lived here."
Alexander nodded.
"You did."
Lucas looked around.
Then whispered:
"I don't remember."
The words hurt.
But Alexander didn't hide from the pain.
"I know."
He walked beside him.
"And I'm sorry."
Lucas looked at him.
"Why are you sorry?"
"Because this room waited for you."
A pause.
"But you had to grow up somewhere else."
Lucas looked down.
"I survived."
Alexander nodded.
"I know."
The answer was quiet.
"And I wish you never had to."
Later that night...
Lucas received his first official document.
A new identity.
A birth certificate.
The paper showed:
ADRIAN ALEXANDER LAURENT
But underneath...
There was something else.
A legal note.
A name change fifteen years earlier.
Lucas Moreau.
Two identities.
Two lives.
One child.
Lucas stared at the document.
"I was two people."
Elena, standing nearby, answered gently:
"No."
She smiled.
"You were always one person."
But outside the mansion...
Someone was watching.
A black car had been parked across the street for hours.
Inside sat a man wearing a dark coat.
He held a photograph.
A photograph of Lucas.
The man made a phone call.
"The test is real."
A woman's voice answered.
"Then begin."
The man looked toward the mansion.
"What about Alexander?"
The woman replied:
"Alexander is emotional."
A pause.
"Emotions make people careless."
The next morning...
A package arrived at the Laurent mansion.
No sender.
No address.
Only Lucas's name.
Alexander immediately became suspicious.
"Nobody opens this."
But Lucas looked at it.
"I know that handwriting."
Everyone froze.
"What?"
Lucas touched the package.
"My mother's."
Inside was a letter.
Only one page.
Alexander watched as Lucas opened it.
His hands shook.
The first line made him stop breathing.
"My dear Lucas, if you are reading this, they have already told you who you are."
Everyone gathered around.
Lucas continued.
"But there is something they have not told you."
His eyes moved across the page.
Then his face changed.
Fear.
Confusion.
Pain.
Alexander stepped closer.
"What does it say?"
Lucas slowly lowered the letter.
His voice was barely audible.
"My mother said..."
He looked at Alexander.
"...you are not the only one who lost fifteen years."
Silence.
"What does that mean?" Elena asked.
Lucas looked back at the letter.
The final sentence was written underneath.
A sentence that changed everything.
"The person who stole your childhood is not Victoria Laurent."
Everyone froze.
Because for fifteen years...
They believed they knew the enemy.
But they were wrong.
The real person responsible...
May you like
Was still inside the Laurent family.
And Lucas had just discovered the beginning of the biggest secret yet.
