The Hidden heir’s revenge

Chapter 39 — The Man Behind the Gun

Matthew’s gun was pointed directly at Samuel’s back.

For one terrible second, nobody moved.

Samuel stood with the document still in his hand. Daniel was beside him, holding tightly to his father’s jacket. Adrian had one arm around his son, but his eyes were fixed on the weapon behind Samuel.

“Matthew,” Evelyn whispered.

Her voice sounded unfamiliar, even to herself.

The man she had spent years believing was dead was standing in front of her. Now he was pointing a gun at another man who claimed to be the rightful owner of the Black Ledger.

“Put the gun down,” Varek ordered.

Matthew didn’t look at him.

“Step away from him,” he said.

Samuel slowly turned his head.

“You’re making a mistake.”

“Don’t move!”

The gun shook slightly in Matthew’s hand.

Evelyn stepped forward. “You told me you were dead. You let me believe that for twenty-five years. And now you want to shoot someone in front of me?”

Matthew finally looked at her.

“I never wanted you to see this.”

“Then explain what you’re doing!”

“Because he doesn’t understand what he’s holding.”

Samuel lifted the document.

“This paper proves that I’m the original beneficiary.”

“No,” Matthew replied. “It proves that someone used your identity.”

Varek moved closer.

“Then why did the hospital system identify you as the original beneficiary?”

Matthew’s expression changed.

For the first time, he looked afraid.

“Because I was the one who registered him.”

Silence filled the room.

Samuel stared at him.

“You registered me?”

Matthew nodded slowly.

“Twenty-five years ago, a child was brought into this hospital without a name. He had no official birth record, no mother listed, and no father acknowledged. I was ordered to give him an identity.”

“Who ordered you?” Evelyn asked.

Matthew looked at the ceiling.

“Alistair.”

Varek’s jaw tightened.

“Why?”

“Because that child was not supposed to exist.”

Samuel’s face went pale.

Matthew continued.

“Alistair created the Black Ledger before the children were born. He selected the people who would control it, but he never intended to give them ownership. The system needed a final beneficiary. Someone who had no recorded connection to the family. Someone whose identity could not be traced through the usual records.”

Samuel shook his head.

“So you gave me a false name?”

“I gave you a name that would keep you alive.”

“And now you’re pointing a gun at me?”

Matthew lowered the weapon slightly.

“Because Alistair has activated the final protocol. If you enter your biological identity into that system, it will transfer everything to you. But the moment the transfer is complete, every person connected to the original beneficiary becomes a target.”

Samuel looked at the document.

“You’re saying I’m not safe even if I inherit?”

“I’m saying you won’t survive long enough to enjoy it.”

A sharp electronic sound interrupted them.

The hospital screen flickered.

A new message appeared.

ORIGINAL BENEFICIARY CONFIRMED.

IDENTITY: SAMUEL CROSS.

GUARDIAN RECORD: MATTHEW CROSS.

Evelyn looked at the screen.

“Guardian record?”

Matthew’s eyes closed briefly.

Varek stepped toward him.

“Explain.”

Matthew swallowed.

“The system recognizes Samuel as the beneficiary. It recognizes me as the person who legally held his identity when he was a child. I was never the original owner.”

Samuel stared at him.

“Then why did the screen identify you?”

“Because the old system uses the guardian’s identity whenever the beneficiary’s birth record is missing.”

Naomi’s voice came through Varek’s earpiece.

“Varek, I can confirm something. The screen isn’t showing ownership. It’s showing the last authorized custodian. Matthew’s name was attached to the account because he controlled the original registration.”

Varek touched his earpiece.

“Can you verify Samuel’s identity?”

“I’m trying. But there’s another problem.”

“What?”

“The hospital system has two active beneficiary records. One belongs to Samuel Cross. The other belongs to someone whose name has been deleted.”

Varek looked at Matthew.

“Who is the second beneficiary?”

Matthew didn’t answer.

Samuel took a step toward him.

“You know who it is.”

“Samuel, don’t.”

“You know who the other child is.”

Matthew raised the gun again.

“Stop asking questions!”

Adrian pulled Daniel behind him.

“Everyone needs to calm down,” he said. “My son is standing in the middle of this.”

Daniel looked up at him.

“Daddy, why is that man pointing the gun?”

Adrian crouched and held his shoulders.

“Don’t worry. Stay beside me.”

Daniel nodded, but his eyes remained on Matthew.

Then the boy noticed something.

He looked at the document in Samuel’s hand.

“That’s the same picture.”

Samuel glanced down.

“What picture?”

Daniel pointed at a small symbol printed at the bottom of the document.

A black circle with six short lines around it.

“I saw it before,” Daniel said.

Adrian looked at him.

“Where?”

“In the room where they kept me.”

Everyone turned toward him.

Daniel hesitated.

“There was a box. The man who brought me there said I should remember the picture. He said it would help me find the person who took my place.”

Adrian’s face hardened.

“Who said that?”

Daniel shook his head.

“I don’t know his name. He had a ring with the same picture.”

Varek looked at Matthew.

“Did you give that ring to someone?”

Matthew’s silence was answer enough.

Evelyn stepped closer.

“Who?”

Matthew looked at her.

“Your mother.”

Evelyn froze.

“My mother?”

“Grace.”

The name landed like a blow.

Varek immediately reached for his phone.

“Where is Grace?”

Matthew shook his head.

“She knows more than I do.”

“Then why didn’t she tell us?”

“Because she was the one who removed the second beneficiary’s name.”

Naomi’s voice came through the earpiece again.

“Wait. I’m seeing something.”

Varek turned away slightly.

“What?”

“Someone has accessed the original maternity records. The access code is registered to Grace Cross.”

Evelyn looked at Matthew.

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

Matthew’s face tightened.

“Your mother disappeared because she was trying to protect the child Alistair wanted erased. She believed that if the child’s identity remained hidden, the Black Ledger could never be completed.”

Samuel looked down at his document.

“Then why did she leave me with you?”

Matthew’s expression softened.

“Because I was the only person she trusted.”

“Did you raise me?”

“I protected you.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Matthew said nothing.

Samuel’s eyes filled with anger.

“You knew my name. You knew who I was. You watched me grow up without telling me anything.”

“I was following instructions.”

“Whose instructions?”

Matthew looked toward the ceiling again.

“Alistair’s.”

A loud metallic crash came from the corridor.

Varek immediately turned.

“Everyone, move away from the entrance.”

The lights began to flicker.

Naomi’s voice became urgent.

“Varek, listen carefully. The hospital’s security system has been taken over. I’m losing access to the cameras.”

“By Alistair?”

“I don’t know. But someone has locked every exit.”

The screen changed again.

FINAL BENEFICIARY VERIFICATION REQUIRED.

PRESENT ALL SIX IDENTITIES.

Beneath the message, six empty spaces appeared.

Five of them began filling with names.

VAREK THORNE.

ADRIAN THORNE.

MARCUS BLACKSTONE.

DANIEL THORNE.

SAMUEL CROSS.

The sixth space remained blank.

Evelyn stared at it.

“Who is missing?”

Matthew slowly lowered his gun.

“The child who was never registered.”

Varek looked at the empty space.

“That child is still alive?”

Matthew nodded.

“Yes.”

“Who is it?”

Before Matthew could answer, the hospital speaker crackled.

Alistair’s voice filled the room.

“Well done, Matthew. You have finally told them enough to make this interesting.”

Matthew’s face drained of colour.

“Alistair, you promised.”

“I promised you that your daughter would live. I never promised that she would remain ignorant.”

Evelyn stepped backward.

“What did you do to my mother?”

Alistair laughed softly.

“Ask your father.”

Matthew closed his eyes.

Varek pointed his gun toward the speaker.

“Stop hiding behind machines. Show yourself.”

A second screen came alive.

This time, it displayed a live video.

A woman sat in a dark room, her hands tied behind her back.

Her face was bruised, but she was alive.

Evelyn stopped breathing.

“Mother?”

The woman lifted her head.

It was Grace.

Beside her stood a man wearing a black suit. His face was hidden by the shadows, but the ring on his hand was clearly visible.

The same black circle with six lines.

Grace struggled against her restraints.

“Evelyn, listen to me!”

The man placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Tell them,” Alistair ordered through the speaker.

Grace shook her head.

“No.”

The man pressed something against her neck.

Varek stepped closer to the screen.

“Don’t touch her!”

Grace began crying.

“The sixth child isn’t Samuel.”

Samuel looked up sharply.

“Then who is it?”

Grace stared directly into the camera.

“The sixth child is—”

The screen went black.

A gunshot exploded somewhere inside the hospital.

Evelyn screamed.

And when the emergency lights came on, Matthew was no longer standing behind Samuel.

He was gone.

Only his gun remained on the floor.

Beside it was a small hospital identification bracelet.

Varek picked it up.

The faded name was barely visible.

But the date of birth was clear.

It was the same date as his own.

And beneath the date, someone had written four words.

MOTHER: GRACE CROSS.