The Hidden heir’s revenge

Chapter 43 — The Other Varek

Varek stared at the security monitor.

The man standing beside Marcus had his face.

The same dark eyes. The same sharp jaw. The same scar near his left eyebrow.

Even the way he tilted his head was familiar.

But Varek knew he was looking at a stranger.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

The man smiled.

“You really don’t recognize your own face?”

Marcus stepped closer to the camera.

“Put your weapon down, Varek. You don’t want to make this worse.”

Varek ignored him.

“Why does he look like me?”

Marcus glanced at the man beside him.

“Because you were never the only one.”

Evelyn moved closer to Varek.

“Is this another trick?”

“I don’t know,” he replied.

Samuel stared at the screen.

“Could he be the missing child?”

The stranger laughed.

“Missing child? That’s what they called me?”

He looked directly into the camera.

“My name is Victor.”

Varek’s expression hardened.

“Victor what?”

“Victor Thorne.”

The name sent a strange chill through the room.

Naomi spoke through the earpiece.

“Varek, I’m checking the old records. Give me a moment.”

Victor stepped away from the camera.

Marcus remained.

“Listen to me,” Marcus said. “We’re not here to fight.”

“Then why did you bring armed men?”

“Because you have something that belongs to us.”

Varek looked at the computer.

“The archive?”

Marcus nodded.

“The original records. Give them to me, and everyone can leave safely.”

Samuel stepped forward.

“Why should we trust you?”

Marcus looked at him.

“Because I know what Matthew did to you.”

Samuel’s face changed.

“What did he do?”

“He gave you a name that wasn’t yours.”

Samuel tightened his fists.

“I already know that.”

“No. You don’t know the worst part.”

Marcus moved closer to the camera.

“Your name wasn’t Samuel Cross when you were born. Matthew gave you that identity because the child he was supposed to protect had already disappeared.”

Samuel shook his head.

“Who was I supposed to be?”

Marcus smiled without warmth.

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

Varek stepped toward the screen.

“Enough. Tell me who Victor is.”

Marcus looked at the stranger.

Victor returned to the camera.

“I was born five minutes before you.”

Varek felt his stomach tighten.

“You’re lying.”

“That’s what they told me too.”

“Who are your parents?”

Victor’s smile disappeared.

“Ask Grace.”

Varek’s eyes narrowed.

“Where is she?”

“With someone who has been waiting for you.”

“Where?”

Victor leaned toward the camera.

“At the place where they buried the wrong child.”

The monitor went black.

A second later, the building’s emergency lights came on.

Naomi’s voice became urgent.

“Varek, you need to get out of there. The security system has detected an unauthorized access attempt. Someone is locking down the archive.”

“We’re not leaving without the records.”

“I understand, but the building is about to seal itself.”

Evelyn rushed toward the computer.

“Can we copy the files?”

“Not all of them. There’s a storage drive connected beneath the terminal. Remove it.”

Samuel reached under the desk and pulled out a small black drive.

The moment he removed it, the monitor flashed.

ARCHIVE COMPROMISED.

PURGE INITIATED.

A loud alarm filled the building.

“Move!” Varek shouted.

They ran toward the corridor.

Before they reached the entrance, a group of armed men appeared.

Marcus stood behind them.

Victor was nowhere to be seen.

“Drop the drive,” Marcus ordered.

Varek raised his weapon.

“Move out of our way.”

Marcus shook his head.

“You still don’t understand. That drive contains information that could destroy everyone in this room.”

“Then perhaps it should.”

Marcus looked at Evelyn.

“Do you know what your mother did?”

Evelyn said nothing.

“She didn’t just hide the sixth child. She helped Alistair create the false identities.”

“You’re lying.”

“Ask her when you see her.”

Varek stepped forward.

“Enough talking.”

Marcus lifted one hand.

The armed men moved.

A struggle broke out.

Varek struck the first man and forced his way toward the exit. Samuel held onto the drive while Evelyn helped him avoid another attacker.

One of the men grabbed Evelyn’s arm.

She twisted free and pushed him into a cabinet.

Marcus watched without intervening.

“Stop!” he shouted.

Everyone froze.

Marcus pointed his weapon at Samuel.

“Give me the drive.”

Samuel looked at Varek.

“Don’t.”

Varek slowly lowered his weapon.

“Marcus, let him go.”

“Give me the drive.”

Samuel tightened his grip.

Marcus’s eyes moved toward the laptop.

“You don’t know what you’re carrying.”

“Then explain it.”

Marcus shook his head.

“I can’t.”

“Or you won’t?”

For a moment, Marcus looked genuinely troubled.

Then he lowered his weapon.

“Get out of here.”

The armed men looked at him in confusion.

“Sir?”

“I said let them go.”

Varek didn’t waste the opportunity.

He grabbed Evelyn and Samuel, and they rushed through the entrance.

Behind them, Marcus shouted something.

But the alarm drowned out his words.

⸻

They reached the security office where Adrian and Daniel were waiting.

Adrian immediately stood.

“What happened?”

“Marcus was there,” Varek replied.

Adrian looked at the drive in Samuel’s hand.

“Did you get the records?”

“Some of them.”

Daniel ran toward his father.

Adrian lifted him into his arms.

“Are you okay?”

Daniel nodded.

“Did you find the woman?”

Adrian frowned.

“What woman?”

“The woman from the picture.”

Evelyn turned toward him.

“What woman, Daniel?”

“The one who gave me my name.”

Varek approached the boy.

“Do you remember anything else?”

Daniel nodded.

“She had a necklace.”

“What did it look like?”

Daniel used his fingers to draw a small circle.

“Like this. But it had two circles inside.”

Samuel exchanged a look with Varek.

“That’s not the Black Ledger symbol.”

Naomi interrupted.

“Varek, I’ve managed to access part of the drive remotely. There’s a file here with Victor’s name.”

“Open it.”

A photograph appeared on the phone.

It showed Victor as a child, standing beside another boy.

The second boy was Varek.

Both appeared to be about five years old.

Varek stared at the photograph.

“Where was this taken?”

Naomi read the information attached to it.

“An orphanage in Lagos.”

Evelyn looked at him.

“You were in an orphanage?”

Varek shook his head.

“I was raised by Eleanor.”

“The picture is dated twenty-five years ago,” Naomi said. “It also has a handwritten note.”

Varek leaned closer.

“What note?”

Naomi read it aloud.

“Two boys received. One boy returned. One boy retained.”

Samuel frowned.

“What does that mean?”

Varek looked at the photograph again.

“One of us was returned to the hospital.”

“And the other?” Adrian asked.

Naomi zoomed in on the second boy.

“There’s a name written under his picture.”

Varek’s breath caught.

VICTOR VALE.

Beneath it was another line.

GUARDIAN: MARA MERCER.

Varek stared at the screen.

Mara had once claimed to be his mother.

Now she was listed as Victor’s guardian.

“Find her,” he said.

Naomi began typing.

“I’ve located an address connected to the old orphanage. But there’s a problem.”

“What?”

“The address is registered to a private cemetery.”

Evelyn looked up.

“The place where they buried the wrong child?”

Naomi went quiet.

Then she opened another file.

It contained a burial record.

NAME: VICTOR VALE.

DATE OF DEATH: TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO.

CAUSE: UNDISCLOSED.

Varek stared at the screen.

“How can he be standing outside the archive if he’s dead?”

Samuel examined the record.

“Maybe the person we saw isn’t Victor.”

Adrian shook his head.

“Then who is he?”

Naomi opened the final attachment.

It was a photograph of a grave.

The headstone carried the name Victor Vale.

But someone had recently placed a fresh photograph on it.

The photograph showed the man from the security monitor.

Victor.

And beneath it was a message written in black ink.

THE BOY WHO DIED WAS NOT VICTOR.

Varek’s phone began ringing.

Unknown number.

He answered.

A man’s voice spoke immediately.

“Stop looking for Victor.”

Varek recognized the voice.

It was Marcus.

“Where are you?”

“That doesn’t matter. Listen carefully. The man you saw today is not your twin.”

“Then who is he?”

Marcus took a shaky breath.

“He’s the reason your real twin was buried.”

Varek’s grip tightened around the phone.

“Who was buried?”

Marcus’s answer came quietly.

“Adrian.”

Everyone turned toward Adrian.

He slowly lowered Daniel from his arms.

Marcus continued.

“And before you accuse me of lying, check the original birth records. The name Adrian Thorne was never assigned to the child who grew up answering to it.”

The call ended.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Then Daniel looked at his father.

“Daddy?”

Adrian turned toward him.

“Yes, son?”

Daniel pointed at the photograph on the phone.

“That’s the man who came to see me.”

Varek looked at him sharply.

“Victor?”

Daniel nodded.

“He told me not to call Daddy by his name.”

Adrian’s face went pale.

“What did he tell you to call me?”

Daniel swallowed.

“Uncle.”

And just like that, every identity they thought they understood began to fall apart again.