The Hidden heir’s revenge

Chapter 32 — The Twin in the Photograph

Varek stared at Evelyn’s message.

MARCUS IS NOT SEBASTIAN’S SON.

He read the second message again.

HE IS YOUR TWIN.

For several seconds, he couldn’t move.

The photograph on his phone showed Helena standing beside Marcus. They were outside what looked like a hospital entrance. Helena’s face was turned slightly toward him, while Marcus looked directly at the camera.

The date on the photograph was missing.

Varek zoomed in.

There was something strange about Marcus’s left hand. A small scar crossed the skin between his thumb and index finger.

Varek looked down at his own hand.

The same scar.

He had received it when he was a child. Eleanor had always told him it came from a broken glass.

His throat tightened.

“What’s wrong?” Adrian asked.

Varek turned the phone toward him.

Adrian studied the photograph.

“That’s Marcus.”

“Read the messages.”

Adrian’s eyes moved across the screen. His expression changed.

“Your twin?”

“That’s what Evelyn claims.”

“She wouldn’t send something like this without a reason.”

“That’s exactly what I want to know.”

Varek called Evelyn.

She answered after the second ring.

“Did you receive the photograph?”

“I received it. Now explain.”

“I found it inside an encrypted archive belonging to the old medical centre.”

“Who took it?”

“I don’t know. The file has no photographer’s details. But the hospital entrance is identifiable.”

“Which hospital?”

“St. Catherine’s.”

Adrian stepped closer.

“That’s where the old birth records were kept,” he said.

Varek heard him.

“Evelyn, why do you believe Marcus is my twin?”

“Because I found two birth entries connected to Helena. Both were recorded on the same night. One was later cancelled.”

“Names?”

“One entry carried your original name. The other was deliberately left blank.”

“And Marcus?”

“His name appeared years later in a separate adoption record. But the date of birth matches yours.”

Varek closed his eyes briefly.

“That doesn’t prove we’re twins.”

“No. It proves someone wanted the records to look like two unrelated births.”

“Where is the original record?”

“That’s the problem. It was removed.”

“By whom?”

There was a pause.

“Someone using Eleanor’s authorization.”

Varek’s eyes opened.

Adrian looked at him.

“Eleanor?”

“Yes,” Evelyn replied. “Her signature appears on the release form.”

Varek ended the call without saying goodbye.

For a moment, neither man spoke.

Then Adrian laughed bitterly.

“At this point, I don’t know whether we have mothers, fathers, brothers or strangers. Every person connected to our birth seems to have a different story.”

Varek put the phone away.

“We need Naomi.”

“She’s at Daniel’s house.”

“Then we’re going there.”

Adrian shook his head.

“Before we leave, there’s something I need to ask you.”

“What?”

“If Helena is telling the truth about the child registered as me not being hers, then whose child am I?”

Varek had no answer.

Adrian looked toward the window.

“And if she was told I died, who was the child that died?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out.”

“Varek, my son is still missing from this story. Someone has already used him to control me. I won’t allow them to do it again.”

“We’ll find him.”

“You keep saying that.”

“And I’ll keep looking until I do.”

Adrian nodded, but the fear in his eyes remained.

⸻

They reached Daniel’s hidden house shortly before dawn.

The gate was open.

Varek immediately noticed that the security lights were off.

He pulled out his gun.

“Stay behind me,” he told Adrian.

They entered cautiously.

The sitting room was empty. A glass lay broken near the entrance, and one of the chairs had been pushed against the wall.

“Naomi!” Varek called.

No answer.

They checked the kitchen and the adjoining rooms.

Nothing.

Then Adrian noticed a small movement near the staircase.

He raised his weapon.

“Who’s there?”

A woman stepped out.

Naomi.

She was holding a pistol, and there was a bandage around her upper arm.

“Put that down,” she said.

Varek lowered his weapon.

“What happened here?”

“Your family happened.”

“Where is Eleanor?”

Naomi’s expression hardened.

“She left.”

“When?”

“Not long after you and Adrian disappeared.”

“Did she say where she was going?”

“No. But she left something for you.”

Naomi walked toward the dining table and picked up a small envelope.

Varek opened it.

Inside was a photograph of five newborn babies arranged in a row.

On the back, someone had written:

THE FIRST WAS NEVER THE HEIR.

Varek stared at the words.

“Where did you get this?”

“Eleanor left it beside the memory card.”

“Did she take anything?”

Naomi nodded.

“The original DNA report. She tried to take the memory card too, but I had already made a copy.”

“Why didn’t you stop her?”

Naomi gave him a cold look.

“Because I was bleeding, Varek. And because I wanted to know where she was going.”

She placed a small device on the table.

“I copied the records before she left. There’s something you need to see.”

She connected the device to her laptop.

The screen displayed several DNA profiles.

Varek recognized his own name.

Adrian’s name appeared beneath it.

There was another profile marked UNKNOWN CHILD THREE.

A fourth profile carried a name he had never seen before.

But the fifth profile was different.

It had no name.

Only a code.

SUBJECT FIVE: BIOLOGICAL STATUS CONFIRMED. LOCATION SEALED.

Adrian leaned closer.

“Five children.”

Naomi nodded.

“Five recorded births. But the original documents only identified four.”

“Who is the fifth?” Varek asked.

“That’s what I have been trying to find out.”

She opened another file.

“This is the part that matters.”

A list of DNA comparisons appeared.

Varek’s eyes moved across the results.

His relationship with the unknown third child was listed as a close biological match.

Adrian’s profile showed a different relationship.

Then Naomi opened the final comparison.

VAREK VALE — MARCUS BLACKSTONE.

The result was marked:

PARENTAL AND SIBLING RELATIONSHIP: INCONCLUSIVE. ADDITIONAL MATERNAL SAMPLE REQUIRED.

Varek frowned.

“Inconclusive?”

“The samples were damaged,” Naomi explained. “Someone deliberately altered the results before the test was completed.”

“Can we run another test?”

“Yes, but we need Marcus’s sample and a reliable maternal reference.”

“Helena.”

“Exactly.”

Adrian folded his arms.

“Then we find Helena.”

Naomi shook her head.

“There’s another problem. Someone has already requested a new test using your samples.”

“Who?”

Naomi opened the authorization page.

Varek felt his stomach tighten.

The request had been submitted less than an hour earlier.

The name at the bottom was unmistakable.

RICHARD THORNE.

⸻

Across the city, Richard stood inside a private laboratory.

A technician placed a sealed envelope on his desk.

“Everything is ready,” the technician said.

Richard opened it.

Inside was a photograph of a young boy.

Adrian’s son.

Richard stared at the child’s face for a moment before placing the photograph beside another document.

“Has the location been confirmed?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“And the fifth child?”

The technician hesitated.

“We have a possible match.”

Richard’s expression changed.

“Where?”

“The records point to a private residence outside the city. But we cannot confirm the identity yet.”

Richard stood.

“Then don’t confirm it. Bring the child to me.”

The technician looked uncomfortable.

“What about the others?”

Richard picked up his phone.

“Let them chase Marcus. Let them argue about twins and stolen identities. By the time they understand what the fifth child means, everything will already be finished.”

He dialled a number.

When the call connected, he spoke quietly.

“Move the boy tonight.”

⸻

Back at the house, Naomi was still examining the laboratory records when her laptop suddenly went black.

“What’s happening?” Adrian asked.

She pressed a key.

Nothing.

Then a message appeared.

YOU HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT THE WRONG FIVE CHILDREN.

A second line appeared beneath it.

THE FIFTH CHILD IS NOT THE YOUNGEST.

Naomi stood up.

“That’s impossible.”

Varek moved closer.

“What does it mean?”

Before she could answer, another file opened automatically.

It contained a scanned hospital document.

The heading read:

ST. CATHERINE’S MATERNITY WARD — NIGHT OF THE THORNE BIRTHS.

There were five entries.

The first four had names.

The fifth had only a handwritten note.

BABY TRANSFERRED BEFORE REGISTRATION.

Below the note was a signature.

Varek recognized it immediately.

It belonged to Helena.

But beneath her signature was another name.

ELEANOR VALE.

Adrian stepped back.

“Why would Eleanor sign a document transferring a baby from Helena?”

Naomi enlarged the page.

A handwritten sentence had been added at the bottom.

THE CHILD MUST NEVER BE RETURNED TO THE FAMILY.

Varek felt his blood run cold.

Then his phone rang.

Unknown number.

He answered.

A child’s voice came through.

“Hello?”

Varek froze.

“Who is this?”

“Uncle?”

Adrian grabbed his arm.

It was Daniel.

“Daniel!” Adrian shouted. “Where are you?”

The boy began crying.

“Please come and get me.”

“Where are you?”

“I don’t know. They said I mustn’t tell you.”

Varek switched on the speaker.

“Daniel, listen to me. Are you alone?”

“No.”

A door opened somewhere near the boy.

A man’s voice spoke in the background.

“Give me the phone.”

Daniel whispered quickly.

“Uncle Varek, the man said my mummy is not my mummy.”

Then the line went dead.

Adrian stood motionless.

Varek immediately called the number back.

It was unavailable.

Naomi looked at the laptop.

The hospital document was still open.

She pointed at the fifth entry.

“Varek, look at the date.”

He leaned forward.

The fifth child had been transferred three days before the other four were officially registered.

And beside the entry was a final handwritten instruction.

DO NOT LET THE FIRSTBORN MEET THE FIFTH CHILD.

Varek looked at Adrian.

For the first time, he understood that the mystery was bigger than their inheritance.

Someone had spent decades keeping five children apart.

And now Richard was moving Daniel.

His phone vibrated again.

A message from Evelyn appeared.

I FOUND GRACE CROSS.

Another message followed.

SHE IS WITH MARCUS.

Then a final one.

VAREK, DON’T GO THERE. GRACE HAS ALREADY IDENTIFIED THE FIRSTBORN.

A photograph arrived.

It showed Grace sitting beside Marcus.

Between them was a framed hospital photograph of two newborn boys.

On the back of the frame, someone had written two names.

VAREK AND ADRIAN.

Varek stared at the photograph.

Then he noticed something else.

The baby marked Varek had a hospital bracelet.

The name on it was not Varek.

It was DANIEL THORNE.