The Hidden heir’s revenge

Chapter 41 — The Daughter of the Black Ledger

Evelyn stared at the laptop.

WELCOME HOME, SIXTH CHILD.

Her name remained on the screen.

EVELYN CROSS.

She shook her head and took another step backward.

“No. This is wrong.”

Varek looked at Naomi’s image on his phone.

“Can you explain what just happened?”

“I’m trying to understand it,” Naomi replied. “The system has completed a transfer, but I didn’t authorize anything.”

“Can someone else activate it?”

“Apparently. And whoever did it used Evelyn’s identity.”

Evelyn looked at the screen again.

“My mother is Grace Cross. My father is Matthew Cross. I’ve known that my entire life. I have documents, photographs, everything.”

Samuel moved closer.

“Documents can be changed.”

She turned toward him angrily.

“Don’t you dare tell me who I am.”

“I’m not telling you anything. I’m saying someone has spent years making all of us believe things that weren’t true.”

“Then why don’t you tell us the truth about yourself?”

Samuel fell silent.

Adrian stepped between them.

“Enough. We have a child here. We need to get out of this building before whoever sent those men comes back.”

Daniel held tightly to his father’s hand.

“Daddy, are we going home?”

Adrian looked down at him.

“Yes, son.”

“When?”

“Soon.”

Varek looked toward the door.

“Naomi, can you unlock the exits?”

“I’m working on it, but the hospital’s system has entered a security lockdown. There’s something else you need to see.”

The laptop displayed a new message.

BENEFICIARY SIX: VERIFICATION REQUIRED.

BIOLOGICAL SAMPLE: PENDING.

Evelyn stared at the words.

“Biological sample?”

Naomi answered immediately.

“The system wants a DNA confirmation. The transfer isn’t final yet.”

Varek looked at Evelyn.

“Don’t touch anything.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

A small compartment opened beneath the laptop screen.

Inside was a white medical collection kit.

Evelyn stepped away from it.

“Someone wants my DNA.”

“Yes,” Naomi replied.

“Why?”

“Because the system has identified you as the sixth beneficiary, but it needs proof that you’re biologically connected to the original record.”

Samuel shook his head.

“Don’t give it anything.”

Varek turned toward him.

“Why?”

Samuel looked uncomfortable.

“Because the last time someone provided a sample, the system erased their identity.”

“What are you talking about?”

Samuel looked at the screen.

“My original records disappeared after I gave them a sample. My school documents, hospital records, everything. I was told there had been a mistake with my birth registration.”

“Who told you?”

“Matthew.”

Evelyn’s expression changed.

“So he knew.”

Samuel nodded.

“He knew I was connected to the Black Ledger. But he didn’t know what Alistair had planned for me.”

Varek looked at the medical kit.

“Then we’re not using it.”

Naomi suddenly spoke.

“Wait. I found another file.”

The laptop flickered.

A scanned document appeared.

At the top were the words:

ST. CATHERINE’S PRIVATE MATERNITY UNIT — CONFIDENTIAL DELIVERY REPORT.

Below it were two entries.

CHILD ONE: FEMALE.

MOTHER: GRACE CROSS.

CHILD TWO: MALE.

MOTHER: GRACE CROSS.

Evelyn moved closer.

“Twins?”

Naomi continued reading.

“Both children were delivered alive. The first was recorded at 2:14 a.m. The second at 2:19 a.m.”

Varek looked at the screen.

“Where are the names?”

“Removed.”

Evelyn’s voice trembled.

“You’re saying my mother had twins?”

“That’s what this document says.”

Samuel looked at her.

“Then one of us could be the other child.”

Evelyn turned sharply.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not your sister.”

Samuel looked away.

Varek examined the document more closely.

“There’s another signature.”

Naomi zoomed in.

“Matthew Cross.”

Below it was a second signature.

ELEANOR VALE.

Varek felt his stomach tighten.

“Eleanor was there.”

“Yes,” Naomi replied. “And there’s a note attached to the report.”

“Read it.”

Naomi paused.

“It says, ‘The female child is to remain with the mother. The male child is to be transferred under the protection of the Vale family.’”

Varek stared at the screen.

“That means Grace gave birth to two children, and Eleanor took one.”

“Apparently,” Naomi replied.

Evelyn looked as if the floor had disappeared beneath her.

“Then who was the boy?”

Nobody answered.

Varek looked at the bracelet in his hand.

The same date.

The same hospital.

The same symbol.

He remembered Eleanor’s words before she was shot.

She had said she took the fifth child away to protect him.

But what if the fifth child was never the child she had described?

What if the woman who raised him had hidden the truth from him for a different reason?

“Naomi, compare the birth time on my original record with these two entries.”

“Give me a moment.”

The screen went blank.

Then two records appeared side by side.

CHILD ONE — 2:14 A.M.

CHILD TWO — 2:19 A.M.

A third record appeared beneath them.

VAREK VALE — 2:19 A.M.

Varek stepped closer.

“That’s my birth time.”

Naomi’s voice was quiet.

“Yes.”

Evelyn looked at him.

“Then you’re the second child.”

“Or someone wants us to believe that.”

Samuel pointed at the first entry.

“What happened to the girl?”

Naomi began typing.

“The female child’s record was transferred.”

“To whom?”

A new name appeared.

EVELYN CROSS.

Evelyn covered her mouth.

“No.”

Varek looked at her.

“The system says you were the first child.”

She shook her head repeatedly.

“I don’t believe this.”

Naomi continued.

“There’s a problem. Evelyn’s registered birth date is different from the date on this report.”

“How different?” Adrian asked.

“Exactly eleven months.”

The room fell silent.

Adrian frowned.

“Then she can’t be the same child.”

“Not unless someone changed the date of birth,” Naomi replied.

Samuel looked at the screen.

“Or unless the record belongs to someone else.”

Before anyone could respond, a loud alarm sounded.

The laptop displayed another warning.

UNAUTHORIZED BENEFICIARY ACCESS DETECTED.

A countdown appeared.

00:59.

00:58.

Naomi’s voice became urgent.

“Varek, someone is trying to delete the original maternity report.”

“Can you stop it?”

“I’m trying.”

00:51.

Evelyn grabbed the laptop.

“Tell me what to do.”

“Don’t touch the keyboard!” Naomi shouted. “If you interfere, the system may lock permanently.”

00:43.

Varek looked around the room.

There had to be another way.

He noticed a small card attached to the medical kit.

It carried a handwritten message.

He removed it.

Only one sentence was written on it.

THE FIRST DAUGHTER WAS NEVER RAISED BY HER MOTHER.

Varek turned toward Evelyn.

“Your mother raised you, didn’t she?”

Evelyn nodded slowly.

“Yes.”

“From birth?”

She hesitated.

“I don’t remember my first year. But I’ve seen pictures.”

“Pictures can be arranged.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“Are you saying Grace isn’t my mother?”

“I’m saying we need proof.”

00:29.

Naomi suddenly shouted.

“I’ve got something!”

The countdown stopped.

A new file opened.

It was a hospital admission record.

The name at the top was GRACE CROSS.

Beneath it was a photograph of a newborn baby girl.

Naomi enlarged the image.

“Varek, look at the bracelet.”

The baby wore a small bracelet.

The name printed on it was barely visible.

But the first letter was clear.

E.

Evelyn stared at the screen.

“That’s not possible.”

Then the image changed.

A second photograph appeared.

This one showed a woman holding the same baby outside the hospital.

It was Grace.

But Grace wasn’t alone.

Standing beside her was a younger version of Matthew Cross.

And behind them, holding a second newborn baby, was Eleanor.

Varek felt his breath catch.

Eleanor had been there from the beginning.

The woman who raised him had known everything.

Then a final document appeared.

It contained one sentence, signed by Matthew Cross.

THE FEMALE CHILD WAS NOT GIVEN TO GRACE. SHE WAS GIVEN TO THE WRONG FAMILY ON PURPOSE.

Evelyn began to cry.

“Who was I given to?”

The laptop screen went black.

A phone began ringing inside the abandoned equipment case.

Varek picked it up.

The caller’s name appeared.

ELEANOR VALE.

He answered immediately.

“Eleanor?”

Her weak voice came through.

“Varek, you must listen carefully.”

“Where are you?”

“There’s no time. You found the report, didn’t you?”

“Yes. What does it mean?”

Eleanor coughed.

“Grace gave birth to two children. But neither of them was the child Alistair wanted.”

Varek’s grip tightened around the phone.

“Then whose children were they?”

Eleanor was silent for several seconds.

Then she whispered:

“One of those babies was never supposed to leave that hospital alive.”

The call crackled.

“Who?” Varek demanded.

Eleanor’s final words came through clearly.

“Your sister, Varek. The girl they buried twenty-five years ago is still alive.”

The call ended.

And across the room, Evelyn slowly looked at the laptop.

A new message had appeared.

SIXTH BENEFICIARY VERIFIED.

IDENTITY: NOT EVELYN CROSS.

IDENTITY: UNKNOWN FEMALE.