The Decoy Heir's Revenge

Margot planned a secret proposal behind my back. Ashton, the family’s precious adopted son, deliberately leaked it to me three days early.

I arrived at the venue, fully prepared to fake a shocked reaction. Instead, Margot stepped out in a stunning wedding dress.

In front of a massive crowd, she thrust the bouquet directly into Ashton’s hands!

Ashton slapped a hand over his mouth, playing the absolute victim. "Kian, I swear I didn't know she wanted to marry me.

I thought she was picking you…" Owen, my best friend, practically vibrated with rage. "You're just going to take this?!" I watched them embrace. No heartbreak. No shattered ego.

Just an overwhelming urge to laugh. Oh, I could take it. Because I'm not Kian.

I was just a guy collecting a twomilliondollar monthly paycheck to play him! — Chapter 1 Margot stepped into the spotlight in a sweeping bridal gown. She walked right past me.

In front of a sea of guests, she thrust the bouquet directly into Ashton’s chest.

Ashton gasped, instantly slipping into his best manipulative, innocentvictim act. "Kian, I swear I didn't know she wanted to marry me. You two are so close.

I thought she was picking you…" Margot crossed her arms, sneering at me. "So what if you share their blood, Kian? Ashton and I grew up together. I hope today teaches you a lesson.

Stop grasping at things that will never be yours." Owen's fists trembled. "You're just going to take this?!" I could.

I wasn't Kian. … Margot slid the diamond ring onto Ashton's finger. The crowd's mocking stares immediately zeroed in on me. "He actually thought she wanted him.

Hilarious." "If I were him, I'd crawl into a hole and die. So embarrassing." "Serves him right. Ashton and Margot are endgame.

He just uses his bloodline to bully Ashton." Owen lunged forward. I grabbed his collar and yanked him back. "They're publicly humiliating you!

How are you not ripping them apart?" Owen snarled. "Why wouldn't I let them?" Ashton pulled Margot flush against his chest. Over her shoulder, he shot me a smug, victorious smirk.

My chest loosened. A massive weight lifted off my shoulders. I was finally done playing my part in this family's twisted reality show.

Six months ago, I walked into Reginald’s corporate office for my first day of work. Reginald locked eyes with me.

His vision instantly blurred with tears. "Kian… after all this time.

You finally came home?" "You ran away just to spite Ashton," he choked out. "He still blames himself." I tried to explain. Over and over. I told them my name wasn't Kian.

I was Declan. It was literally printed on my HR files. They just stared at me, deadpan. "Stop this nonsense now that you're back. Using a fake name? Really?

Are you trying to sever ties with this family? Or will you only stay if we kick Ashton to the curb?" "He's lived with us for over twenty years!

Throwing him out is no different from abandonment!" That was how I uncovered their twisted little family drama.

The longlost biological son returned, only to find his parents heavily favoring their adopted golden boy. Even his arranged fiancée took the adopted son's side.

The real Kian blew up. He stormed out three years ago and vanished without a trace. And I happened to be his exact genetic doppelgänger.

Margot shielded Ashton behind her back that day. "Ashton nearly spiraled into depression when you disappeared. He thought it was all his fault.

I'll honor our family's engagement pact," Margot declared. "But only if you stop throwing fits.

And you never cross Ashton again." I wanted zero part in their twisted little family drama. I handed in my resignation on the spot. Margot chased me down into the lobby.

She chucked a sleek bank card at my chest. "Are you trying to drive Ashton insane again? Stay. You get one of these every single month.

Two million dollars." Who could say no to that? I became Kian. I kept my head down, stayed out of their way, and quietly collected my massive checks.

But Ashton never stopped gunning for me. He practically made a sport out of framing me. He threw himself down staircases. He slipped his own allergens into his meals.

The security cameras caught it all. But nobody cared about the footage. Nobody believed me. Two million a month wasn't a salary. It was hazard pay for dealing with lunatics.

Chapter 2 They finally dropped the act. I could finally quit. I stepped right up to them, ignoring the hundreds of eyes burning into my back. "Congratulations.

Truly, I'm happy for you both. Wishing you a lifetime of happiness together. I'm going to head out." Ashton stiffened.

Margot frowned. "Kian, what kind of act is this?" Tears instantly welled in Ashton’s eyes. "Don't do this, Kian. I swear I had no idea she was going to propose to me.

If you're mad, take the ring." "Keep it." "I'm serious. Take it." Ashton shoved his hand toward my chest. "I said I don't want it!" I swatted his wrist away.

The diamond ring slipped from his grip. It hit the marble floor with a sharp clink.

A tear spilled down Ashton's cheek. "Do you really hate me that much, Kian?" "Enough!" Margot yanked Ashton behind her back. "Who the hell do you think you are?

You might share their DNA, but Ashton and I have twenty years of history. If anyone is the outsider here, it's you!" My patience snapped. "Exactly! I am an outsider!

I'm not your precious biological son! I'm not Kian! My name is Declan!" Dead silence swept through the ballroom. My chest heaved as adrenaline spiked.

Ashton gaped at me in shock. "You'd spew this kind of nonsense just to spite me? What am I supposed to do with that?" My jaw dropped. Did they not understand plain English?

I jabbed a finger at my own face. "Look at me! We don't even look exactly alike! Kian’s eyes are wider.

His earlobes sit lower than mine." "Shut up!" Margot shoved me hard in the chest. "I warned you.

Stop making Ashton’s life a living hell." Ashton knelt and retrieved the ring, rubbing his bloodshot eyes.

The guests muttered, shooting me filthy glares. "Why is he gaslighting everyone? He's a dead ringer for Kian." "He's flatout lying just to humiliate Ashton.

It's totally reverse psychology to force Ashton to hand Margot over." Margot glared at me coldly. "My patience is running dry, Kian. Throw one more tantrum.

Cross Ashton one more time. Don't blame me for showing absolutely no mercy!" Was anyone in this room legally sane? I threw my hands up in defeat. "Fine! You think I'm lying?

Let's go get a DNA test. Right now!" Margot and Ashton froze. I aimed a finger right at Ashton's nose. "We drive back to the estate. We swab Reginald and Leonora.

We pay for expedited lab results. Then you can finally see if I share a single drop of blood with your precious family!" Margot’s brow furrowed. Real panic flashed in her eyes.

Harrison, one of the elite guests, muttered, "He's not backing down.

Is he actually going through with a test?" Another guest agreed, "Wait… is he seriously not Kian?" Harrison nodded. "He's dead serious.

Look at him." Margot parted her lips to speak. Ashton suddenly choked back a loud sob. "Enough, Kian. I know I don't belong here.

You don't have to publicly humiliate me just to prove a point!" He violently hurled the diamond ring across the room. He spun around and stormed toward the exit.

Guests tried to grab his arms, but he shoved them away. My brain stalled. "Wait, I'm literally just saying—" Slam. Two hands slammed into my chest, launching me backward.

Margot stood there, shaking with rage. Chapter 3 "When are you going to stop throwing these tantrums?" "I'm not Kian! I swear to God!" "Enough!" Margot spun around.

She chased after Ashton's retreating figure. "Ashton! Ashton, wait!

Where are you going?" Owen bumped his shoulder against mine. "Do all rich people share a collective brain injury?" "Pretty sure they do." I shrugged.

I headed straight back to the estate. I was done. I had wrung enough cash out of this nightmare. Whether they believed me or not, I was packing my bags and quitting.

But the second I stepped through the front doors, Hobson and another security guard seized my arms. "Your parents heard you made Ashton cry," Hobson said, his grip tightening. "They ordered us to lock you in the attic for three days.

To reflect on your behavior." "What? Wait! I'm not Kian! I'm really not! Let go of me!" Slam. The heavy attic door clicked shut, sealing me in the dark.

I hammered my fists against the wood. I screamed until my throat burned. Silence answered.

I slid down the heavy wood until I hit the floorboards, completely drained of the will to fight. Whatever. Leaving in three days works for me too. Then a new reality set in.

Nobody was bringing me food. Time blurred. Hunger gnawed at my stomach until my limbs felt like lead. I didn't even have the energy to shout anymore. Three days.

Not a single drop of water. Was I actually going to die in here? A squished piece of bread slid under the door crack. I lunged for it.

I tore into the plastic wrapper with my teeth and shoved the bread into my mouth. "It's me." The muffled voice froze my chewing. "Ashton?" I frowned.

Ashton lowered his voice to a whisper. "I believe you. I know you're not Kian. I can let you out, but you have to promise me something.

You leave and you never come back." I could have kissed him. "Swear it!" "I swear on my life!

I will never step foot in this house or look at any of your faces ever again!" "Wait here. I'll get the key." I never expected Ashton to be my savior.

He was a manipulative prick, sure. But he actually got me out. He drove me straight to a hotel. He even hauled my duffel bag up to the room.

But the moment he pushed the hotel door open, my blood ran cold. Seven heavily tattooed guys stood in the center of the room, arms crossed.

Diesel, the biggest one in the front, locked his dead eyes on us. Before I could even open my mouth, Ashton shoved a solid aluminum baseball bat into my hands.

He ripped his own shirt down the middle. Then, he started screaming. "I'm sorry, Kian! Please stop hitting me! Please, don't do this!" My mind went completely blank.

Diesel and his crew grabbed Ashton by the arms and dragged him deeper into the room. I didn't even have a second to react.

Frantic footsteps pounded down the hallway. "Ashton!" "My baby!" Reginald, Leonora, and Margot burst through the doorway. "Ashton!" Margot's eyes instantly reddened.

She slammed her shoulder into my chest, shoving me aside.

She marched right up to Diesel and slapped him hard across the jaw. "Do you have a death wish?!" Reginald and Leonora stared at the fresh, fake red welts smeared across Ashton’s skin.

Their hands shook uncontrollably. "Kian! He is your brother!" Leonora shrieked. "How can you be so vicious? So purely evil?!" "I—" I dropped the aluminum bat.

It clattered loudly against the floorboards. Ashton slumped weakly against Margot’s chest, his breathing ragged and shallow. "Kian… if you want Margot, I'll step aside.

I know you're the real son. Everything belongs to you anyway. If you just asked, I would have never said no." He let out a broken sob. "But why did you have to destroy me like this?

Why cripple me so I can never live a normal life?Just to make Margot hate me? To make Mom and Dad throw me away?" Ashton choked on his own words, letting out a pitiful gasp.

Chapter 4 I'll admit, I didn't see that one coming. Ashton actually pulled this card. Reginald and Leonora pulled him into a tight embrace.

They screamed at me through their tears. "How did we birth such a sick bastard?! Doing this to Ashton!

Are you even human?!" "You've got it all wrong!" My patience snapped completely. "I don't belong to this family! I just happen to look exactly like your biological son!

I couldn't care less about Margot! He staged this entire thing!" Margot scoffed, a cold, bitter sound. "You think spewing this garbage will make me let you off the hook?

Ashton is the man I'm marrying. He will be my husband, no matter what happens to him! You want to ruin him with these filthy, underhanded tricks? I'll destroy you first! Grab him!

Throw him in the walkin freezer!" My eyes widened. "What?" Her bodyguards hooked my arms and dragged me toward the SUV. I thrashed wildly against their grip. "I'm not Kian!

Run a damn DNA test! Let go of me! Let go!" In that exact moment, it hit me. A twomilliondollar monthly paycheck wasn't nearly enough.

Not for the sheer insanity I faced every single day. The industrial freezer was set to bonechilling subzero temperatures. I wore nothing but a thin shirt.

The second I hit the icy floor, violent shivers wracked my spine. The heavy steel door locked from the outside. I screamed my lungs out. "I'm not Kian!

You have the wrong person!" "Still keeping up the act?" Margot’s voice filtered through the thick metal. "This smart lock is registered to the fingerprints of everyone in this family.

Keep pretending, and you can freeze to death in there!" Her heels clicked away, fading into silence. Panic clamped down on my chest. "Margot?" "Margot!" "Margot, I'm not Kian!

I will literally die in here!" Nothing but the hum of the freezer answered me.

I curled into a tight ball in the pitchblack corner, breathing into my cupped hands just to capture a single shred of warmth. But the biting cold chewed through my thin clothes.

My core temperature plummeted. My teeth chattered so hard my jaw ached. My vision blurred. A sharp beep cut through the hum of the cooling fans. The electronic lock clicked open.

I crawled toward the heavy steel door. I pushed it open. But outside, the hallway was completely empty. I stumbled down the corridor and crashed into the main living room.

Reginald, Leonora, and Margot were all huddled around Ashton, cooing and comforting him.

Margot paced the floor, burning with anxiety. "Is that bastard Kian still acting out in the freezer?! Drag him out here!

Make him get on his knees and apologize to Ashton!" "No need. I'm right here." She froze. Her shock instantly melted into a vicious sneer. "Didn't you say you weren't Kian?

Then how did you unlock the door and walk out?" I scanned the room. Every single member of the family was standing right there.

I had absolutely zero clue who actually opened that door for me. My silence only fueled Reginald and Leonora's fury. "Ashton doesn't share our blood! Of course he feels insecure.

Giving him preferential treatment is the least we can do!" Leonora shrieked. "You are our biological son! Nothing will ever change that! Why do you constantly fight him?

Why do you have to steal his spotlight?

Are you even a part of this family?!" Leonora delivered her final ultimatum. "Get on your knees and apologize right now, or you are dead to us!" "Sure!" I cranked up my volume, my voice echoing off the vaulted ceiling. "I'll get on my knees!

I'll even bow down and kiss the floor! But since you are all so dead set on claiming I'm your biological son, shouldn't I be getting my cut of the family trust payouts?

That finally shut them up, leaving them to stare at me in a stunned, suffocating silence. I let out a dry, bitter laugh. "Don't treat me like an idiot.

I know Ashton pulls in hundreds of millions in dividends every single year.

Since I'm supposedly your flesh and blood, fine!" I shoved my hand out, palm up. "I won't even ask for much. Fifty million.

Wire the money, and I'll drop to my knees right now." Chapter 5