The Ashes of the Hawthorne Name

The night air was thick with the smell of gasoline and expensive perfume as we pulled up to the Hawthorne estate. The grand mansion, once a symbol of Elara’s pride, was now surrounded by black sedans that didn't belong to the Kaelen fleet. Men in dark suits stood guard, their hands resting on the holsters of high-end tactical weapons.





"Master, those aren't Vance’s men," Thomas whispered, his hand hovering over the door handle. "Those are the Blackwood Syndicate—the main rivals to the Kaelen Group. It seems Marcus Vance wasn't lying. The Hawthornes have sold their souls to our enemies."



I didn't wait for him to open the door. I stepped out into the courtyard, my eyes glowing with a cold, predatory light. The rain had stopped, leaving the air damp and heavy. Inside the mansion, the lights were blazing, and the sound of laughter echoed through the open windows.



I walked toward the front doors. The two guards at the entrance stepped forward, crossing their rifles over their chests.



"Private party, kid. Turn around and crawl back to whatever hole you came from," one of them sneered.



I didn't speak. I simply moved. My hands were a blur as I grabbed the barrels of both rifles and twisted. The heavy steel snapped like dry twigs. Before they could even scream, I drove my elbows into their chests, sending them flying through the massive oak doors.



The doors shattered. I walked into the main hall over the splintered wood.



Elara was there, standing next to her father, Arthur Hawthorne. She was holding a glass of champagne, her face flushed with a triumphant glow. Across from them sat a man in a white suit—Silas Blackwood, the heir to the Blackwood Syndicate.



The room went silent as I entered. Elara’s glass hit the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces.



"Ethan?" she gasped, her voice trembling. "How... how are you still alive? Marcus said you were being taken care of!".



"Marcus Vance is currently watching his son's empire burn," I said, my voice carrying a weight that made the chandeliers overhead rattle. "And now, I've come for what's left of yours."



Arthur Hawthorne stepped forward, his face twisted in a mask of arrogant fury. "You think because you have a few SUVs and a butler that you can challenge us? We just signed a merger with the Blackwood Syndicate. We are protected by the most powerful family in the underground!".



"Protected?" I let out a short, dry laugh. I looked at Silas Blackwood. "Silas, did they tell you who I am? Or did they just tell you I was a 'poor student' who was bothering them?".



Silas Blackwood stood up, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the emerald ring on my finger. His face suddenly went pale. He knew that ring. Every major player in the world knew that ring. It was the seal of the Kaelen God.



"You... you’re the Nameless Billionaire?" Silas stammered, his bravado vanishing instantly. "The hidden heir of the Kaelen Group?".



"Ethan is the Kaelen heir?" Elara shrieked, looking between us in horror. "No! That’s impossible! He’s a nobody! He’s trash!".



"Silence!" Silas Blackwood roared, turning and slapping Elara across the face with enough force to send her spinning to the floor. "You brought this man into my house and told me he was a beggar? You tried to use the Blackwood Syndicate to fight a Kaelen God?"



Silas turned back to me and dropped to his knees, his forehead hitting the marble floor. "Master Ethan, please! I didn't know! I would never have signed this merger if I knew it was your family! I will tear up the contract right now!"



"Too late," I said, my voice like a cold wind from the grave. "The Hawthorne name is already dead. And any hand that tried to save them will be cut off."



I looked down at Elara, who was sobbing in the dirt of her own living room, her expensive dress ruined, her status gone. Her father was frozen, his mouth open as he realized he had just handed his entire legacy to the one man he had spent three years humiliating.



"Take them out," I commanded Thomas. "I want the Hawthorne mansion leveled. By tomorrow morning, I want nothing but ashes where this house once stood".



As the Kaelen security teams rushed in to drag the Hawthornes away, my phone buzzed. It was a high-priority alert from the Kingsley Enterprise headquarters.



"Master Ethan," Thomas said, his face turning grim as he read the screen. "Your grandfather has just been taken into emergency surgery. The rival families... they've made their move on the Kaelen headquarters. It wasn't just Marcus Vance or the Blackwoods. It was an inside job."



I felt the power in my ring surge to its limit. The betrayal didn't end with a greedy ex-wife or a jealous playboy. The real war was just beginning—inside my own bloodline.