The Hidden heir’s revenge

CHAPTER 6 THE BOY THEY BURIED WASN’T HIS BROTHER

The gunshot shattered the silence.

Varek dropped to the floor as glass exploded behind him. Eleanor screamed, and the old house plunged into chaos.

“GET DOWN!” Varek shouted.

He grabbed his mother’s arm and dragged her behind the heavy wooden table just as another bullet tore through the wall above them.

Richard Thorne stood near the doorway, holding a smoking pistol.

He looked calm.

That was what frightened Varek most.

The man had spent nearly thirty years pretending to be his father. Now, with a gun in his hand and blood on his sleeve, he looked like a stranger who had finally stopped pretending.

“Give me the case,” Richard ordered.

Varek tightened his grip on the black case Eleanor had given him.

“Come and take it.”

Richard’s expression hardened.

“You still think this is about money? You have no idea what your existence has cost me.”

“No,” Varek replied. “But I’m about to find out.”

Richard fired again.

Varek pushed Eleanor toward the hallway and rolled behind a pillar. The bullet struck the floor where he had been lying a second earlier.

He heard footsteps approaching.

Two men.

Perhaps three.

Richard had brought enough people to ensure that nobody left the house alive.

Varek reached into his jacket and pressed the emergency transmitter Sebastian had given him. A small green light blinked once.

The signal had gone through.

Now he only needed to survive long enough for help to arrive.

“Varek!” Eleanor cried from the hallway.

He turned.

She was standing beside the staircase, one hand pressed against her side. Blood seeped between her fingers.

For one terrible second, the entire world stopped.

“Mother!”

He rushed toward her.

“Don’t!” she screamed.

A gunman appeared at the far end of the corridor.

Varek threw himself sideways as the man fired. He struck the gunman’s wrist against the wall, sending the weapon clattering across the floor. They crashed into a cabinet, scattering broken ornaments everywhere.

The man was bigger, but Varek fought with the desperate strength of someone who had already been buried once.

A sharp elbow to the throat ended the struggle.

Varek snatched the weapon from the floor and turned toward the staircase.

Richard was gone.

So was the second gunman.

“Mother, we need to leave.”

Eleanor shook her head weakly.

“Listen to me. You don’t have much time.”

“We’re leaving together.”

“Varek, look at me.”

He knelt beside her.

Her face had grown pale, but her eyes remained clear.

For nineteen years, he had believed she was dead. He had mourned her in silence, carried the pain of her absence, and wondered why the woman who had once held him close had left him behind.

Now she was here.

And he was watching her bleed.

“Tell me what you meant,” he demanded. “About the boy they buried. Who was he?”

Eleanor swallowed.

“His name was Damian.”

Varek froze.

The name from the photograph.

The name crossed out on the newborn bracelet.

“Damian Mercer?”

She nodded.

“Your grandfather discovered that Cassian Vale had been using the family business to hide money. He planned to expose him. But Cassian had already learned about two newborn boys whose identities could change everything.”

“Adrian and me.”

“No.” Eleanor gripped his wrist. “That is what they wanted you to believe.”

Varek stared at her.

“Explain.”

“Your father, Richard, had a son with another woman before he married me. That boy was Adrian. When Adrian was born, Richard feared he would never be accepted as the rightful heir to the Thorne fortune. Your grandfather had already begun questioning Richard’s loyalty.”

Eleanor paused, struggling for breath.

“Then I gave birth to you.”

Varek felt the ground shift beneath him.

“You were Cassian Vale’s son,” she continued. “But your grandfather believed you were the child most capable of protecting the company from the people trying to destroy it. He arranged for you to be raised as Richard’s legitimate son.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Because Cassian was dangerous. If the world knew you were his son, Cassian would have used you to seize control of the company. Your grandfather thought hiding your parentage would protect you.”

Varek’s jaw tightened.

“So Richard knew I wasn’t his son.”

“He knew.”

“And he still raised me?”

Eleanor looked away.

“Richard agreed because your grandfather promised him control over the family business. He believed that once your grandfather died, he could manipulate you and take everything for himself.”

Varek remembered the coldness in Richard’s eyes whenever he had done something that threatened Adrian’s position.

Every insult.

Every punishment.

Every occasion when Richard had told him he was ungrateful for being given a place in the family.

It had never been about discipline.

Richard had hated him because Varek was the living obstacle between him and absolute power.

“But Damian?” Varek asked. “Where does he fit into this?”

Eleanor closed her eyes briefly.

“Damian was Cassian’s legitimate son. He was born shortly before you. Cassian wanted him to inherit the fortune, but your grandfather refused to let him anywhere near the company.”

“Then why was his name on a bracelet beside mine?”

“Because Cassian arranged to have Damian brought into the same hospital where you were born. He planned to switch your identities and make the world believe that his son was the Thorne heir.”

Varek felt sick.

“Did he succeed?”

“For a short time.”

Eleanor’s voice dropped to a whisper.

“Someone discovered the switch. Before the truth could be exposed, a baby was reported dead. The family was told that Damian had died shortly after birth.”

“Was that a lie?”

“Yes.”

“Then who was buried?”

Eleanor looked directly into his eyes.

“An unidentified child. The body was never properly examined. Cassian needed the world to believe Damian was dead, because he knew your grandfather would never allow him to control the company through his son.”

Varek struggled to process the revelation.

A dead child.

A stolen identity.

A fortune built on secrets.

And a family that had apparently spent his entire life deciding which lies he was allowed to believe.

“Where is Damian now?”

“I don’t know.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“I have spent nineteen years trying to find him.”

Varek stared at her.

“You disappeared for nineteen years.”

“To keep you alive!”

Her sudden shout echoed through the hallway.

She winced and pressed harder against her wound.

Varek’s anger faltered.

Eleanor took a trembling breath.

“Richard discovered that I had found evidence linking him to Cassian. He knew I was preparing to tell you the truth. That night, he arranged the accident that was supposed to kill me.”

“But you survived.”

“Barely. Someone pulled me from the wreckage before the vehicle exploded. I was taken to a private clinic under another name. When I woke, I learned that Richard had announced my death and buried an empty coffin.”

“Who saved you?”

Eleanor hesitated.

“Someone who has been watching you for years.”

“Who?”

Before she could answer, a heavy crash came from the entrance.

Then a man’s voice thundered through the house.

“SECURITY! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!”

Varek recognized the voice.

Sebastian Blackstone.

The sound of gunfire followed, then shouting and running footsteps.

Within seconds, armed security personnel flooded the hallway. Two men seized the injured gunman Varek had fought, while another team rushed toward the staircase.

Sebastian appeared at the end of the corridor, his expression dark.

“Varek!”

“She’s been shot.”

Sebastian immediately signaled to his medical team.

Two paramedics hurried forward with a stretcher. One examined Eleanor’s wound while the other prepared an injection.

Varek refused to move away from her until the paramedic looked him in the eye.

“She needs surgery. Now.”

He stepped aside, his hands clenched into fists.

As they lifted Eleanor onto the stretcher, she caught his sleeve.

“Varek.”

“I’m here.”

“Don’t trust the records.”

He leaned closer.

“What records?”

“Your birth certificate. Your adoption papers. Everything you have ever been shown.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“Richard changed more than your father’s name. He changed yours.”

Varek went completely still.

“What are you saying?”

She tried to speak, but the paramedics began moving her toward the exit.

“Mother!”

“Find the original registry!” she shouted. “The one beneath the old hospital!”

Then she disappeared through the doorway.

Varek remained frozen until Sebastian placed a hand on his shoulder.

“She’s going to make it,” Sebastian said. “My people are taking her to the best surgeon in the city.”

Varek barely heard him.

Richard had changed his name.

He had stolen his identity.

But why?

Sebastian studied his face.

“What did she tell you?”

Varek opened the black case.

Inside were several documents, a small flash drive, and an envelope sealed with the Thorne family crest.

He pulled out the first document.

It was a birth certificate.

His eyes moved across the page.

NAME: VAREK VALE.

MOTHER: ELEANOR VALE.

FATHER: CASSIAN VALE.

His fingers tightened around the paper.

For twenty-nine years, he had been known as Varek Thorne.

He had inherited the Thorne fortune.

He had been hunted by the Thorne family.

He had nearly died because of the Thorne family.

Yet, according to the original certificate, he had never been a Thorne at all.

Sebastian took the document and examined it.

“Where did she get this?”

“From the case.”

“Then we need to verify it before we act.”

Varek gave a bitter laugh.

“Verify it? My entire life has been a lie, Sebastian.”

“Which is why you must be careful. If this document is genuine, it changes everything. The inheritance, the company, the legal ownership of the estate.”

“Let them keep the company.”

Sebastian looked sharply at him.

“Don’t say that.”

“I don’t care about the fortune anymore.”

“You should. Because whoever is behind this has spent decades protecting that fortune. They won’t let you walk away simply because you no longer want it.”

Before Varek could respond, his phone vibrated.

A message from Naomi.

I found the original transaction records. The $200 million wasn’t stolen from the company. It was transferred into an account created in your name before you were born.

Another message appeared.

Varek, there’s something else. The account was opened by Cassian Vale.

Then a final message.

I found the beneficiary.

A file appeared on the screen.

Varek opened it.

The beneficiary’s name was clearly visible.

DAMIAN MERCER.

Below it was a recent photograph.

A man in a charcoal suit stood outside a luxury hotel, surrounded by security personnel. He had dark hair, sharp cheekbones, and eyes that looked unsettlingly familiar.

Varek stared at the photograph.

The man looked almost exactly like him.

His phone rang.

Naomi.

He answered immediately.

“Tell me this is a mistake.”

“It’s not,” she replied. Her voice sounded strained. “I checked the account through three separate records. The beneficiary has been receiving money for years.”

“Where is he?”

“That’s the problem. The account was accessed two hours ago.”

“From where?”

Naomi hesitated.

“Thorne International headquarters.”

Varek looked toward Sebastian.

The old man had gone pale.

“Who accessed it?” Varek demanded.

Naomi took a shaky breath.

“The security system identified the person through facial recognition.”

“Who?”

“Adrian Thorne.”

Varek’s stomach tightened.

“That account belongs to Damian Mercer.”

“I know.”

“Then why is Adrian accessing it?”

Naomi’s answer came quietly.

“Because the system doesn’t recognize him as Adrian Thorne.”

Varek stopped breathing for a moment.

“What does it recognize him as?”

On the other end of the line, Naomi whispered the name.

“Damian Mercer.”

Before Varek could respond, another notification appeared on his phone.

A live security feed.

Someone had remotely accessed the camera system inside the private hospital where Eleanor was being taken.

The footage showed a man entering her room.

He wore a surgical mask and carried a small black case.

Varek recognized the ring on his right hand.

The same Thorne family crest from the warehouse footage.

The same ring Sebastian had identified as belonging to Jonathan Thorne.

But Jonathan had supposedly been dead for twenty-nine years.

The masked man turned toward the camera.

Then he removed his mask.

Varek’s blood ran cold.

The face staring back at him was his own.

And beneath the footage, a message appeared.

YOU HAVE BEEN CHASING THE WRONG BROTHER, VAREK.