The Hidden heir’s revenge

CHAPTER 22 THE MAN WHO SHOT HIS OWN SECRET

The gunshot echoed through the room.

Eleanor lay motionless on the floor.

Varek stared at her, unable to understand what had just happened.

“NO!”

He pulled violently against his restraints.

The chain cut into his ankle, but he barely felt the pain.

“Mother!”

Alistair Thorne stood behind her, holding a smoking gun.

His expression was cold.

“She’s alive,” he said.

Varek turned toward him.

“You shot her!”

“I said she’s alive.”

“Untie me!”

Alistair ignored him and looked at Sebastian.

“Why is he still restrained?”

Sebastian lowered his weapon slightly.

“Because he has become unpredictable.”

Alistair gave a dry laugh.

“He has always been unpredictable. That’s why I kept him away from the family.”

Varek stared at his grandfather.

“You’re supposed to be dead.”

“So I keep hearing.”

“You were shot in the vault.”

“And yet here I am.”

Varek looked at Eleanor again.

Blood was spreading across the side of her clothes.

“Get her medical attention.”

Alistair glanced at her.

“She’ll survive.”

“You don’t know that!”

“I know more about her than you do.”

Varek struggled again.

“Untie me, you bastard!”

Alistair finally approached him.

He crouched until their faces were level.

“You have your mother’s temper.”

“Which mother?”

For a brief moment, Alistair’s expression changed.

Then he smiled.

“That’s the question, isn’t it?”

Varek stared at him.

“Who am I?”

Alistair stood.

“You are the reason three families have spent twenty-nine years destroying one another.”

“That isn’t an answer.”

“It’s the only answer you’re ready to hear.”

A noise came from the corridor.

Someone was approaching.

Then Adrian appeared at the doorway.

His shirt was torn, and there was blood on his forehead.

Behind him stood Cassian Vale.

Varek looked at Adrian.

“Are you all right?”

Adrian nodded.

“They didn’t hurt Daniel. He’s safe.”

Varek exhaled.

“And Naomi?”

“She’s alive. Lucian moved her before we could reach her.”

Varek’s expression hardened.

“Where is he?”

“Gone.”

Adrian looked toward Eleanor.

“What happened?”

“Alistair shot her.”

Adrian’s eyes moved to the old man.

“You shot her?”

“She was about to reveal something that could destroy all of us.”

Adrian stepped forward.

“Then perhaps she should have been allowed to speak.”

Alistair raised his gun.

“Careful, boy.”

Adrian didn’t stop.

“You’ve spent our entire lives treating us like pieces on a chessboard. You made me believe Varek was my enemy. You made me believe my father was dead. You even gave me a name that wasn’t mine.”

Cassian lowered his head.

Adrian turned toward him.

“And you let me believe you were dead.”

Cassian’s face tightened.

“I had reasons.”

“You always have reasons!”

Adrian pointed at him.

“You told me you killed the man who stole my identity. You told me he was my father. You told me Varek was the reason my life was destroyed.”

Cassian stepped closer.

“I never told you Varek was responsible.”

“You didn’t have to. You made sure I believed it.”

Varek watched them.

For the first time, he understood that Adrian’s anger had never been simple jealousy.

Someone had fed it.

Someone had shaped it.

Someone had made two men fight over identities neither had chosen.

Alistair clapped slowly.

“Beautiful. A family reunion.”

Nobody laughed.

He turned toward Sebastian.

“Bring the register.”

Sebastian hesitated.

Alistair’s eyes narrowed.

“Now.”

Sebastian walked toward a metal cabinet.

He entered a code and opened it.

Inside was a small black case.

He carried it to Alistair.

The old man placed it on the table and opened it.

A thick hospital register lay inside.

Varek recognized the faded cover immediately.

The original birth register.

The document everyone had been searching for.

Alistair opened it to a marked page.

Three names appeared.

VAREK VALE — MALE.

DAMIAN MERCER — MALE.

ADRIAN THORNE — MALE.

Beneath them was a fourth entry.

But the name had been scratched out.

Varek leaned forward.

“What is that?”

Alistair looked at him.

“The identity that was never supposed to exist.”

“Whose identity?”

Alistair turned the register around.

A small photograph had been attached to the page.

It showed a newborn baby with a silver bracelet.

Varek’s eyes widened.

It was the same bracelet from the photograph of Helena Vale.

He looked at Sebastian.

“You said Helena’s child was declared dead.”

Sebastian nodded.

“That’s what the records said.”

“Then why is this photograph attached to the register?”

Nobody answered.

Alistair placed a finger on the fourth entry.

“Because Helena’s child did not die.”

Varek felt his heart pounding.

“Who was the child?”

Alistair looked directly at him.

“You.”

Silence swallowed the room.

Varek shook his head.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“You’re saying I was Helena’s son?”

Alistair nodded.

“Helena gave birth to you. Cassian was her husband. Richard was the man who helped me take you away.”

Varek looked at Richard.

The older man stood near the wall, unable to meet his eyes.

“Why?”

“Because Helena discovered what I was planning,” Alistair replied. “She intended to take you away and expose the arrangement.”

“So you stole me.”

“I protected the family.”

Varek laughed.

“You destroyed a woman’s life and called it protection.”

Alistair’s expression hardened.

“Your mother was going to hand the company to outsiders. She had no understanding of what the inheritance meant.”

“She was my mother!”

“And she was weak.”

Varek’s face twisted with anger.

“You don’t get to speak about her.”

Alistair closed the register.

“Helena died because she refused to cooperate. I had no choice.”

Cassian suddenly moved.

He struck Alistair across the face.

The old man stumbled, dropping the register.

“Don’t you dare!” Cassian shouted.

Sebastian raised his gun.

Adrian immediately drew his own weapon.

“Put it down!”

The room erupted into confusion.

Richard moved toward the register.

Varek watched him.

“Don’t touch it!”

But Richard was already reaching for the book.

He picked it up and stepped backward.

Alistair wiped blood from his mouth.

“Richard, give me that.”

Richard shook his head.

“No.”

Everyone turned toward him.

Alistair’s expression changed.

“What did you say?”

Richard held the register tightly.

“I’ve spent twenty-nine years obeying you. I helped you steal children, erase records, and bury innocent people under false names.”

He looked at Varek.

“I told myself I was protecting my son.”

Varek stared at him.

“Which son?”

Richard’s eyes filled with tears.

“You.”

Alistair laughed.

“Don’t pretend to be a good father now.”

Richard ignored him.

“I have something to tell you, Varek.”

“Speak.”

“The reason I kept you close wasn’t because I wanted the inheritance.”

Varek said nothing.

Richard continued.

“I knew what Alistair had done to Helena. I knew you were her child. And I knew that if he discovered you were still alive, he would finish what he started.”

Alistair raised his gun.

“Enough.”

Richard stepped away.

“You told me to give you the register. You said it would protect the family. But the truth is that you wanted to destroy the last proof that Helena ever existed.”

Alistair pointed the gun at him.

“Put it down.”

Richard looked at Varek.

“There’s another page.”

Varek frowned.

“What page?”

“The page that names your biological father.”

Alistair’s face went pale.

Richard opened the register.

He turned several pages.

Then he stopped.

His finger rested on a line written in faded ink.

FATHER: JONATHAN THORNE.

Varek stared at the name.

Jonathan.

The man who had been dead for twenty-nine years.

The man whose ring had appeared in the hospital footage.

The man whose identity had been connected to Adrian.

Varek looked at Richard.

“You told me you were my biological father.”

Richard shook his head.

“I lied.”

“Why?”

“Because Jonathan was supposed to be dead.”

Varek felt his throat tighten.

“Then who is Jonathan?”

Alistair slowly raised his gun again.

“Don’t listen to him.”

Richard continued.

“Jonathan wasn’t your uncle. He wasn’t your grandfather’s enemy. He was—”

A gunshot interrupted him.

Richard staggered.

The register fell from his hands.

Varek shouted.

“RICHARD!”

Adrian fired at Alistair.

The old man ducked behind the table as Sebastian returned fire.

Cassian rushed toward Richard and caught him before he hit the floor.

Varek pulled desperately at his chain.

“Get me out of here!”

Adrian rushed to him and pulled a small key from his pocket.

He unlocked the chain.

Varek immediately dropped beside Richard.

“Stay with me.”

Richard struggled to breathe.

His hand reached for Varek’s.

“Listen…”

“Don’t talk. We’ll get you help.”

Richard shook his head.

“Jonathan…”

Varek leaned closer.

“Where is he?”

Richard’s eyes shifted toward the ceiling.

Then he whispered:

“Jonathan is not dead.”

Varek froze.

Richard tightened his grip.

“He has been watching you.”

“Where is he?”

Richard’s lips moved again.

“Look at…”

His voice faded.

Varek shook him.

“Richard!”

But the man was no longer responding.

Adrian checked his pulse.

“He’s alive.”

Varek released a breath.

Then he noticed something beneath Richard’s bloodied hand.

A small photograph.

He picked it up.

It showed Jonathan Thorne standing outside a hospital.

Beside him was a young woman holding a baby.

Varek recognized the woman.

Helena Vale.

But the baby wasn’t the only thing that made him stare.

Jonathan was holding another child’s hand.

A little boy, perhaps four years old.

The boy had Varek’s face.

On the back of the photograph were five handwritten words.

YOUR FATHER NEVER LEFT YOU.

Varek slowly looked toward the corridor.

A security monitor had switched on.

A man’s face appeared on the screen.

Older.

Calm.

Smiling.

Varek recognized him from the hospital footage.

Jonathan Thorne.

The man supposedly dead for twenty-nine years.

He leaned toward the camera.

“Hello, my son.”

Then he smiled.

“It’s time you met your real family.”