The Hidden heir’s revenge

Chapter 59 — The Dead Heir

Varek read the message again.

THE MAN YOU CALL VAREK THORNE WAS REGISTERED AS DEAD BEFORE HE WAS BORN.

He stared at the screen, waiting for the words to make sense.

They didn’t.

“Naomi, what does that mean?”

“I’m trying to understand it myself.”

“Find the original birth certificate.”

“I already searched the hospital database. There are three records under your name, and none of them agree.”

Varek closed his eyes briefly.

“Read them.”

“The first record says Varek Thorne was born twenty-nine years ago to Isabel Thorne. The second says Varek Vale was born to Helena Vale. The third is a death registration.”

“Whose death?”

“Varek Thorne.”

He looked at Isabel.

She had gone completely still.

“When was the death registered?”

“Twenty-eight years ago.”

Varek frowned.

“One year after I was born?”

“Yes.”

“Who signed it?”

Naomi hesitated.

“Dr. Matthew Cross.”

Varek’s jaw tightened.

“That man keeps appearing in every record.”

“There’s more. The death certificate says the child died during a medical transfer. But the hospital register shows that the same child was discharged three days later.”

“Someone declared me dead and then discharged me?”

“That’s what the documents suggest.”

Varek turned toward Isabel.

“Did you know?”

She shook her head.

“I knew they were changing the children’s identities. I didn’t know they had registered you as dead.”

“Then who was buried?”

“I don’t know.”

Grace stepped forward.

“Wait. I remember something.”

Everyone turned toward her.

“When I worked at St. Catherine’s, there was a private funeral arranged for a baby. Nobody was allowed to see the body. The hospital administrator said the child belonged to the Thorne family.”

Varek stared at her.

“Was it my funeral?”

Grace shook her head.

“I don’t know. But I remember the date.”

“Tell Naomi.”

Grace gave her the date.

Naomi searched immediately.

A few seconds later, she spoke.

“I found the burial record.”

“Whose name?”

Naomi read it twice.

“Varek Thorne.”

The room fell silent.

Victor looked at Varek.

“Then someone buried a child using your name.”

“Or someone wanted the world to believe I was dead,” Varek replied.

Isabel nodded slowly.

“That would explain why Alistair couldn’t find you.”

Varek turned toward her.

“Why would he need to find me if he knew where I was?”

“Because he believed the child who survived the transfer was someone else.”

“Who?”

Isabel looked down.

“Matthew.”

⸻

At the abandoned medical building, Eleanor sat with her hands tied.

Matthew stood in front of her, holding a folder.

“You should have kept your mouth shut.”

Eleanor raised her head.

“You have spent your entire life hiding behind other people’s names.”

Matthew smiled.

“And you spent yours pretending to be a good mother.”

“I raised Varek.”

“You stole him.”

“I protected him.”

“You separated him from his brother.”

Eleanor’s eyes filled with tears.

“I did what I had to do.”

Matthew opened the folder.

Inside were photographs of three children.

He placed them on the table.

“Tell me which one you took.”

Eleanor looked at the photographs.

“I took Varek.”

“And what happened to Matthew?”

“I don’t know.”

Matthew leaned closer.

“You know exactly what happened.”

Eleanor shook her head.

“The boy I remember was six years old. He wasn’t the baby in those photographs.”

Matthew’s smile disappeared.

“Careful.”

“Your records are false. The child called Matthew Cross was not the firstborn. You know that.”

He grabbed the folder.

“Do you know why I kept you alive?”

“Because you still need me.”

“Wrong.”

He leaned down.

“Because Varek needs to hear the truth from you.”

Eleanor looked at him.

“What truth?”

Matthew’s expression became cold.

“That he was never supposed to survive.”

⸻

At Naomi’s secure location, Adrian received a call from Varek.

He answered immediately.

“What’s happening?”

“Naomi found a death certificate with my name.”

Adrian frowned.

“Your death certificate?”

“Yes. I was declared dead twenty-eight years ago.”

Adrian looked at Naomi.

She nodded.

“There’s another problem,” Varek continued. “Matthew signed it.”

Adrian rubbed his forehead.

“Why does that man have access to every part of our lives?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

Adrian glanced at Daniel, who was drawing quietly at the table.

“Have you found Eleanor?”

“We have her location. She’s alive.”

“Then go and get her.”

“I’m preparing to.”

Adrian paused.

“Varek, there’s something I haven’t told you.”

“What?”

“When I was younger, I used to dream about a little boy. I couldn’t remember his face, but I always heard someone calling him Matthew.”

Varek said nothing.

“I thought it was a childhood memory. But after seeing those hospital records, I remembered something else.”

“What?”

“I remember being taken to a room where a woman was holding three babies.”

Varek’s grip tightened around the phone.

“Did you recognize her?”

“No. But I remember the name she kept repeating.”

“Which name?”

“Isabel.”

Varek looked at the woman standing across the room.

“Was she alone?”

“No. There was another woman beside her.”

“Who?”

Adrian hesitated.

“Grace.”

Varek turned toward Grace.

She looked away.

Adrian continued.

“I also remember a man standing near the door. He had a scar across his right cheek.”

Varek’s expression changed.

“Did you recognize him?”

“No. But I saw him again years later.”

“Where?”

“In the medical facility beneath the old chapel.”

Varek remembered the old wheelchair man.

“Was it Daniel Thorne?”

Adrian shook his head.

“No. It was the man who claimed to be Daniel.”

⸻

Naomi suddenly interrupted.

“Varek, I found something.”

He ended the call with Adrian.

“What is it?”

“The death certificate wasn’t created after your birth.”

Varek frowned.

“Naomi, I read the date.”

“Listen. The certificate was prepared before your birth, but it was officially registered one year later.”

“Why would someone prepare a death certificate for an unborn child?”

“Because the identity was already assigned to another baby.”

She opened a scanned page.

A handwritten note appeared at the bottom.

SUBJECT V — DEATH TO BE CONFIRMED AFTER SUCCESSFUL TRANSFER.

Varek stared at it.

“Subject Five?”

Naomi nodded.

“The Black Ledger didn’t originally identify children by their names. It used subject numbers.”

“Which subject was I?”

“Subject Five.”

“And Matthew?”

“Subject One.”

“Adrian?”

“Subject Three.”

Varek looked at Grace.

“Who were Subjects Two and Four?”

Naomi opened another page.

“Subject Two was registered as Victor. Subject Four was listed as deceased.”

Victor, who had been sitting quietly, lifted his head.

“Who was Subject Four?”

Naomi enlarged the page.

The name was covered by a black mark.

But the line beneath it was still readable.

FEMALE CHILD — GUARDIAN: MARA MERCER.

Grace gasped.

“The girl.”

Varek looked at her.

“Which girl?”

“Isabella.”

⸻

At the old house, Isabel suddenly reached for Varek’s arm.

“Don’t go to that medical building.”

He looked at her.

“Why?”

“Because Matthew wants you there.”

“He’s holding Eleanor.”

“He knows you will come for her.”

“Then I have no choice.”

“You do.”

Varek pulled his arm away.

“She’s the woman who raised me. I’m not leaving her with him.”

Isabel looked at Victor.

“Your brother is not the only person Matthew has been keeping.”

Victor frowned.

“What do you mean?”

Isabel reached into her handbag and removed a small key.

“This opens the private archive beneath the Thorne estate.”

Varek took it.

“What’s inside?”

“The original transfer register. It contains the names of every child who was moved, every identity that was changed, and the name of the person who ordered the exchanges.”

“Alistair?”

“No.”

“Richard?”

She shook her head.

“Someone else.”

Varek examined the key.

“Who?”

Isabel looked at Grace.

Grace immediately stepped backward.

“No.”

Varek turned.

“What?”

Grace shook her head repeatedly.

“Don’t listen to her.”

Isabel’s voice was quiet.

“Tell him, Grace.”

“Shut up.”

“Tell him who signed the first transfer.”

Grace’s eyes filled with tears.

Varek stepped toward her.

“Grace.”

She covered her face.

“I was trying to save them.”

“Save who?”

“The children.”

“Who signed the transfer?”

Grace slowly lowered her hands.

Then she looked directly at Varek.

“I did.”

The room went silent.

“I signed the first transfer,” she repeated. “But I didn’t know what they were planning. They told me I was moving the children to safety.”

Varek stared at her.

“How many?”

Grace swallowed.

“All six.”

Victor struggled to stand.

“You transferred all six children?”

“I didn’t know what would happen to them!”

Varek’s voice became dangerously quiet.

“Where did you take them?”

Grace looked at the key in his hand.

“To the private nursery beneath the Thorne estate.”

“Who was waiting?”

She looked toward the door.

“Your father.”

Varek’s expression hardened.

“Which father?”

Grace began crying.

“Jonathan Thorne.”

Before anyone could speak, the house lights went out.

A loud crash came from the hallway.

Victor grabbed Varek’s arm.

“Someone is inside!”

Varek pulled out his weapon.

“Stay behind me.”

A phone screen lit up on the table.

Naomi’s name appeared.

Varek answered.

“Naomi?”

Her voice was trembling.

“Varek, get out of that house.”

“Why?”

“I just accessed the private archive.”

“And?”

Naomi swallowed.

“The original transfer register is still active. Someone has been accessing it for the last twenty minutes.”

“Who?”

Naomi went silent.

Then she whispered:

“Grace.”

Varek slowly turned toward the darkness where Grace had been standing.

But she was gone.

On the floor lay her phone.

Its screen displayed a message.

SUBJECT FOUR HAS BEEN RECOVERED.

And beneath it was another line.

THE FIRSTBORN IS READY TO COME HOME.