The Hidden heir’s revenge

CHAPTER 16 THE MAN WHO CALLED HIM SON

“Hello, son.”

Varek froze.

The voice had come from directly behind him.

He knew that voice.

He had heard it in childhood memories, in old family recordings, and in the final messages his grandfather had supposedly left before his death.

But the man speaking now was supposed to have been buried twelve years ago.

Varek slowly turned.

A figure stood in the darkness beyond the vault entrance.

The emergency lights flickered, revealing a tall man with silver hair, a black walking stick, and a face Varek had seen in hundreds of family photographs.

His grandfather.

The patriarch of the Thorne family.

The man whose death had supposedly left Varek with an inheritance worth billions.

Varek’s fingers tightened around the photograph.

“You’re dead.”

His grandfather smiled faintly.

“That’s the first lie they taught you.”

Varek reached for the weapon beneath his jacket.

“Stay where you are.”

The old man looked at the movement without concern.

“If I wanted you dead, you would never have reached this room.”

“Who are you?”

His grandfather’s smile disappeared.

“Your grandfather.”

“No. My grandfather died twelve years ago.”

“The man buried under my name did.”

Varek’s blood ran cold.

“What does that mean?”

The old man stepped into the light.

“My name is Alistair Thorne. I built the empire you inherited, and I made decisions that destroyed the lives of the people you love.”

He stopped a few feet away.

“And I am the reason you survived.”

Varek raised his weapon.

“You expect me to believe you?”

“No. I expect you to ask questions.”

“Fine. Start with my father.”

Alistair’s expression changed.

For the first time, something resembling regret appeared in his eyes.

“Your father was a man who believed love made him weak. He was brilliant, ambitious, and dangerous. He wanted the Thorne fortune so badly that he was willing to sacrifice his own family to obtain it.”

“Who was he?”

“Someone whose name you have already heard.”

“Cassian Vale?”

“No.”

“Sebastian Blackstone?”

“No.”

Varek stepped forward.

“Then stop playing games!”

Alistair struck the floor with his walking stick.

The sound echoed through the vault.

“Your father is the man who ordered your mother’s death.”

Varek remembered the words from the phone call.

The man who ordered your mother’s death.

“Richard Thorne?”

Alistair shook his head.

“Richard was a coward who followed orders. He was never powerful enough to control the entire operation.”

“Then who was?”

Alistair looked directly into Varek’s eyes.

“Your father was Daniel Mercer.”

Varek went still.

Daniel Mercer.

The man who had been found in the SUV.

The man who had looked at Varek in the hospital and told him that his father was standing behind him.

But Daniel had pointed toward Adrian.

Varek’s thoughts raced.

“That’s impossible. Daniel said Adrian was my father.”

“Daniel told you what he wanted you to believe.”

“He was nearly killed!”

“And he has spent years learning how to manipulate people who feel sorry for him.”

Varek shook his head.

“No. You’re lying.”

Alistair studied him.

“You want the truth, but you keep rejecting it whenever it threatens the story you’ve built in your mind.”

Varek’s weapon remained raised.

“Prove it.”

Alistair nodded toward the table.

“Open the second drawer.”

Varek didn’t move.

“Open it,” the old man repeated. “Unless you would rather spend the rest of your life guessing.”

Keeping his weapon trained on Alistair, Varek reached for the drawer.

Inside lay a sealed medical envelope.

He tore it open.

A DNA report slid onto the table.

The first name was Daniel Mercer.

The second was Varek Vale.

At the bottom, beneath the laboratory stamp, was a conclusion.

PROBABILITY OF BIOLOGICAL PATERNITY: 99.99%.

Varek stared at the result.

“No.”

Alistair remained silent.

Varek read the report again, searching for an error.

The sample collection date was six years earlier.

The report had been prepared by a private laboratory that no longer existed.

A signature appeared at the bottom.

Richard Thorne.

Varek’s stomach twisted.

“Richard knew?”

“He arranged the test.”

“Why would he hide it?”

“Because Daniel was the one person capable of destroying everything Richard had built.”

Varek looked up.

“And Adrian?”

“Adrian is not your father.”

“Then why did Daniel point at him?”

Alistair’s expression darkened.

“Because Adrian is the person who can destroy you.”

Varek felt anger rising in his chest.

“Stop speaking in riddles!”

“Your grandfather’s fortune was never meant to belong to one person. The trust was designed to recognize three heirs. Each held a different piece of the inheritance, and none could claim the whole fortune without the others.”

Varek looked at the documents on the table.

“Me, Adrian, and the third heir.”

“Yes.”

“Who is the third heir?”

Alistair didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he walked toward the wall and pressed his hand against a hidden panel.

A section of the wall opened, revealing a screen.

Three photographs appeared.

Varek.

Adrian.

And a third person whose face had been blacked out.

Beneath the images were three statements.

THE FIRST HEIR WAS ERASED.

THE SECOND HEIR WAS RENAMED.

THE THIRD HEIR WAS NEVER BORN.

Varek frowned.

“How can someone who was never born be an heir?”

Alistair looked at him.

“Because the third heir was created on paper before the child was conceived.”

Varek stared at the screen.

“You forged an identity for an unborn child?”

“We created a legal identity that could be assigned to whichever child survived the arrangement.”

“Which child survived?”

Alistair’s expression became unreadable.

“That is the question that has kept everyone alive.”

Varek lowered his weapon slightly.

“What happened twenty-nine years ago?”

Alistair took a deep breath.

“Eleanor gave birth to two boys. Mara Mercer gave birth to one. Three children, three families, and a fortune that could turn them into enemies before they learned to speak.”

“Why separate them?”

“Because Daniel wanted the inheritance for himself. He believed that if his son became the recognized heir, he could control the entire Thorne empire.”

“Then why did you let him?”

“Because I made a bargain with him.”

Varek stared.

“What bargain?”

“I promised Daniel that his child would receive the protection of the Thorne family. In return, he agreed to disappear and never challenge the inheritance.”

“And he broke the agreement?”

“He discovered that the fortune was not the only thing I had hidden.”

Alistair’s voice dropped.

“I had discovered a financial network connecting Richard, Cassian, and several foreign investors. They were using the Thorne companies to move money through shell corporations. Daniel wanted the records. Richard wanted them destroyed. Cassian wanted everyone involved silenced.”

“And you?”

“I wanted to keep the empire alive.”

Varek laughed bitterly.

“So you sacrificed children to protect your money.”

Alistair accepted the accusation without protest.

“Yes.”

The answer stunned Varek more than any denial could have.

Alistair continued.

“I told myself that separating you would protect you. I told myself that changing your names would prevent anyone from finding you. I convinced myself that a fortune could compensate for the damage I caused.”

He looked at Varek.

“I was wrong.”

For a moment, the vault was silent.

Then Varek asked the question that mattered most.

“Did you order my mother’s death?”

Alistair’s face changed.

“No.”

“Did Daniel?”

Alistair hesitated.

Varek immediately raised his weapon again.

“You know something.”

“I know Daniel ordered an operation to recover the original birth records. I know the men involved were instructed to retrieve Eleanor and bring her to him.”

“And what happened?”

“The operation became violent. Someone opened fire.”

“Who gave the order to shoot?”

Alistair’s silence was answer enough.

Varek stepped closer.

“You know who did it.”

“Yes.”

“Tell me.”

Before Alistair could answer, the vault lights flickered again.

A sharp electronic alarm sounded.

Alistair looked toward the entrance.

“We have to leave.”

“No.”

“Varek, listen to me. Someone has accessed the estate’s security system.”

“Good. Let them come.”

“You don’t understand. The system is connected to the inheritance trust. If the wrong person reaches the control room, they can erase every record in this vault.”

Varek glanced at the documents.

“Then tell me where the control room is.”

Alistair pointed toward a narrow passage behind the shelves.

“Through there.”

Varek moved toward it, but a gunshot rang out.

The old man staggered.

Blood spread across his shirt.

“Grandfather!”

Varek caught him before he fell.

Alistair’s walking stick hit the floor.

A second shot struck the wall beside them.

Varek dragged him behind the table and fired toward the entrance.

A shadow disappeared into the corridor.

“Stay here,” Varek ordered.

Alistair grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t follow him.”

“He shot you!”

“He wanted you to follow him.”

Varek looked toward the doorway.

Alistair’s grip tightened.

“Listen carefully. The man who shot me has been working for your family for years.”

“Who?”

Alistair struggled to speak.

“He is the only person who knows which child was supposed to inherit the empire.”

Varek pressed a hand against the wound.

“Tell me his name.”

Alistair’s lips moved.

“Your father.”

Then his eyes closed.

Varek checked his pulse.

Alive.

Barely.

He pressed his hand against the wound and called emergency services, giving the estate’s address.

Then he grabbed the black key and ran through the hidden passage.

At the end stood a small control room filled with monitors.

One displayed the entrance.

Another showed the underground vault.

A third showed a live feed from the hospital.

Varek stepped closer.

On the screen, Daniel Mercer lay in his hospital bed.

A nurse stood beside him.

She checked the corridor, then leaned over Daniel and whispered something into his ear.

Daniel opened his eyes.

The nurse removed her mask.

Varek’s blood turned cold.

It was Eleanor.

His mother.

The woman everyone had been searching for.

She was alive, moving freely, and apparently standing beside the man who claimed to be his father.

Varek leaned closer to the monitor.

Eleanor took Daniel’s hand.

“It’s done,” she whispered.

Daniel smiled.

“Did he believe you?”

“He believes whatever I tell him.”

Varek stopped breathing.

Daniel slowly sat up.

“And Alistair?”

Eleanor glanced toward the camera.

“He won’t be a problem for much longer.”

Daniel laughed.

“Good. Then we can finally finish what we started twenty-nine years ago.”

Eleanor leaned closer to him.

“What about Varek?”

Daniel’s smile vanished.

“Bring my son to me.”

He paused.

“Alive.”

Then he added something that made Varek’s blood run cold.

“I want him to watch me take everything that belongs to him.”

The screen went black.

Varek stood motionless.

His mother had not been kidnapped.

She had been working with Daniel.

And the man who claimed to be his father had just ordered him captured.

A notification appeared on the control panel.

INHERITANCE TRANSFER INITIATED.

BENEFICIARY: ADRIAN THORNE.

AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED: VAREK VALE.

Varek stared at the screen.

Someone was using his identity to transfer the fortune to Adrian.

Then his phone vibrated.

A message arrived from Naomi.

VAREK, I’VE CONFIRMED DANIEL MERCER’S DNA. HE IS NOT YOUR BIOLOGICAL FATHER.

A second message followed.

BUT I FOUND YOUR REAL FATHER.

Varek’s fingers trembled as he opened the attached photograph.

It showed a man standing beside Eleanor outside the hospital, holding a newborn baby.

The man was Richard Thorne.

And beneath the photograph, Naomi had written:

YOUR REAL FATHER IS THE MAN YOU HAVE BEEN TRYING TO DESTROY.