Rion didn't realize anything was wrong until his phone started blowing up..Message after message. Missed calls. Notifications stacking so fast his screen could barely keep up.
At first, he ignored it. He was used to random texts, group chats, spam, nothing that ever really mattered. He was halfway through debugging a piece of code, completely locked in, when Adrian's name flashed across his screen. Adrian calling.
Rion smiled and picked up.
"Rion… have you seen the news?" Adrian's voice sounded off...tight, uneasy.
"What news?" Rion asked, already reaching for his laptop.
There was a pause. "Jus...check... something about your dad."
Something in his tone made Rion's chest tighten
He opened a browser, fingers moving quickly.
For a second, nothing.
Then everything. Headlines. Articles. Videos.
A picture of his father.
And right beside it....His.
"Lennox Telecomm Under Investigation for Financial Fraud : CEO Cody Lennox Accused, Son Dragged Into Scandal."
Rion froze. His eyes locked on the screen.
Cody Lennox. His father. Accused of fraud.
And somehow, His name was there too. His face. Like he had something to do with it.
"This doesn't make sense…" Rion muttered.
More headlines loaded. Investors speaking out. People saying they had been deceived into buying shares. Threats of lawsuits.
Anger..Betrayal.
And every single article made sure to mention him, the son.
"Rion?" Adrian said softly. "Say something."
"I'm not even part of the company," Rion said, his voice low, almost to himself. "Why is my name there?"
As if answering him. His phone rang again.
He didn't need to check..He already knew.
Rion picked up slowly.
"Come home," his father's voice said, calm and controlled. "Now."
The line went dead. Rion stared at his screen again..At his father's name. At his own face next to it.
And for the first time, This didn't feel like something he could ignore or run from.
By the time Rion got home, the atmosphere was completely different. Tense. Chaotic.
The house was filled with movement, staff rushing around, phones ringing nonstop, documents scattered everywhere.
It didn't feel like a home...it never felt like home though.
It felt like a crisis.
Rion stepped inside, eyes scanning everything. No one said anything to him.
But they all looked.
And that loo, It wasn't normal. It was the same look he had just seen online.
Recognition. Judgment.
Rion clenched his jaw. He hated that.
He walked further in and saw the TV.
News channels were running nonstop.
"Cody Lennox at the center of major financial fraud allegations"
"Investors preparing lawsuits against Lennox Telecomm"
"Questions arise about internal involvement and family ties"
Family ties. Rion scoffed under his breath.
Of course they would say that.
"This is why I called you." Rion turned.
His father stood there. Calm. Composed. Like nothing was falling apart.
"How bad is it?" Rion asked.
"Bad enough that you're standing here," Cody Lennox replied.
Rion let out a short, dry laugh. "They're putting my face next to yours like I did something."
"You're my son," his father said simply. "That's enough for them."
"I don't even work for the company."
"That doesn't matter."
Rion ran a hand through his hair, frustration building.
"They're saying you defrauded investors," he said. "That people were misled into buying shares."
His father didn't respond immediately.
And that silence said everything.
Rion's chest tightened.
"…Did you know?" he asked quietly.
A pause.
Then
"Yes."
Rion stared at him. "You knew?"
"It's more complicated than you think."
"No," Rion said, shaking his head. "It's really not.
"They trusted this company," he continued. "They put money into it, and now they're trying to sue because they got lied to"
"They took a risk," Cody said calmly.
Rion let out a breath, almost like a laugh but there was no humor in it.
"That's not risk. That's fraud."
His father's expression hardened slightly.
"This is business," he said. "You don't understand it yet."
"I don't want to understand it," Rion shot back. "Not if this is what it looks like."
"You will," his father said. "You're going to take over someday."
Rion didn't hesitate. "No, I'm not.
Silence filled the space between them.
"You don't get to decide that."
"I already did," Rion said. "I have my own life. I build things. I create. I'm not doing this."
He stepped back, shaking his head
"This is your mess," Rion said. "Not mine."
"It became yours the moment they put your name online."
Rion clenched his jaw.
Because that part was true.
People didn't care about the difference.
To them, he was just
Cody Lennox's son.
"I'm not defending you," Rion said.
"I didn't ask you to."
"You don't have to," Rion replied. "That's exactly what this is."
His father looked at him, calm as ever.
"I'm asking you to stand where you belong."
Rion shook his head slowly.
"I belong to myself."Outside, reporters had already started gathering.
Inside, everything was beginning to fall apart.
And Rio stood in the middle of it, realizing something he couldn't escape.
This wasn't just his father's scandal anymore.
Whether he liked it or not, they had dragged him into it too.