The Hidden heir’s revenge

Chapter 60 — Subject Four

“Grace!”

Varek’s voice echoed through the dark house.

He raised his weapon and moved toward the hallway.

Victor grabbed his uninjured arm.

“Wait. You don’t know who’s inside.”

“Grace just disappeared.”

“And someone wants us to follow her.”

Varek turned toward the table. Grace’s phone was still there, its screen displaying the message.

SUBJECT FOUR HAS BEEN RECOVERED.

THE FIRSTBORN IS READY TO COME HOME.

He picked it up.

“Naomi, can you trace the message?”

“I’m trying. But the signal is coming from somewhere inside the old Thorne estate.”

Varek frowned.

“The estate has been abandoned for years.”

“Apparently, someone has been using it.”

“Who?”

“I can’t identify the person yet. But I found something else. The message was sent using Grace’s original hospital identification number.”

Varek looked at the empty doorway.

“She planned this.”

“Yes. And Varek, there’s a security camera recording from the moment she left.”

“Send it.”

A few seconds later, the video arrived.

It showed Grace walking through the hallway.

She stopped beside the front door, looked directly at the camera, and raised her phone.

Then she said something.

Naomi enhanced the audio.

Grace’s voice came through clearly.

“Tell the firstborn I have brought him what he asked for.”

The video ended.

Varek looked at Victor.

“She wasn’t running away.”

Victor shook his head.

“She was delivering someone.”

“Who?”

Before Victor could answer, a car horn sounded outside.

Varek moved toward the window.

A black vehicle was parked near the gate.

The driver’s door opened.

A man stepped out.

He was wearing a dark coat and holding a white envelope.

Varek recognized him immediately.

It was the old man Marcus had taken to the private clinic.

The man who had called Marcus Jonathan.

But according to Marcus, that man wasn’t Daniel Thorne.

Varek opened the door slightly.

The old man raised his hand.

“Varek Thorne?”

“Who are you?”

The man smiled faintly.

“Someone who has been waiting for you to discover the truth.”

“Where is Grace?”

“With your brother.”

“Which brother?”

The old man’s smile disappeared.

“The one you should have been protecting.”

He placed the envelope on the ground.

“Read this before you go to the estate.”

Varek picked it up.

The old man returned to his car.

“Wait!”

But the vehicle was already moving.

Varek opened the envelope.

Inside was a photograph of six children standing in front of St. Catherine’s Hospital.

He recognized himself.

Victor was beside him.

Adrian stood behind them.

There was another boy whose face had been scratched out.

And two little girls.

On the back, someone had written:

SIX CHILDREN. FOUR IDENTITIES. TWO FAMILIES. ONE ORIGINAL HEIR.

Beneath the message was a name.

JONATHAN THORNE.

⸻

At Naomi’s secure location, Evelyn received a call from Marcus.

She answered immediately.

“Where are you?”

“That isn’t important.”

“It is if you’re calling me.”

Marcus ignored her.

“Have you seen the photograph?”

“Which photograph?”

“The one with six children.”

Evelyn looked at Naomi.

“How do you know about it?”

“Because I have the original.”

He sent it.

Evelyn opened the image.

Her expression changed.

“Where did you get this?”

“From the man at the clinic.”

“The old man?”

“Yes.”

“Who is he?”

Marcus paused.

“He’s the reason I was given the name Jonathan.”

Evelyn frowned.

“What does that mean?”

“That man is not Daniel Thorne. He’s the person who took Daniel Thorne’s identity after the fire.”

Naomi turned toward the phone.

“Do you know his real name?”

Marcus lowered his voice.

“Jonathan Thorne.”

Evelyn froze.

“That’s impossible. Jonathan died.”

“That’s what they told everyone.”

“Then who is the man in the wheelchair?”

“Someone who was supposed to remain dead.”

Marcus ended the call.

Naomi immediately tried calling him back, but he didn’t answer.

Evelyn looked at the photograph again.

The two girls were standing together.

One wore the necklace with two connected circles.

The other had a small mark beneath her left eye.

Evelyn touched her own face.

She had the same mark.

“Naomi.”

“Yes?”

“Look at the second girl.”

Naomi enlarged the photograph.

Then she compared it with an old childhood picture of Evelyn.

The resemblance was undeniable.

“That’s you,” Naomi whispered.

Evelyn shook her head.

“Who is the other girl?”

Naomi opened the original hospital register.

The girl’s name was recorded beneath the photograph.

ISABELLA THORNE.

Evelyn stared at the screen.

“Then who was the woman who raised me?”

Naomi scrolled further down.

A second name appeared.

GUARDIAN: GRACE CROSS.

Evelyn stepped away from the desk.

“Grace was my guardian.”

Naomi nodded.

“But the original record lists another mother.”

“Who?”

Naomi turned the laptop toward her.

MOTHER: HELENA VALE.

Evelyn’s face went pale.

⸻

At the old Thorne estate, Varek and Victor arrived through the rear entrance.

The place looked abandoned from the outside, but the interior told a different story.

Fresh footprints marked the dusty floor.

A security light blinked above the staircase.

Varek checked his phone.

“Naomi, we’re inside.”

“Don’t go downstairs yet.”

“Why?”

“Because I found movement in the basement.”

“How many people?”

“At least four.”

Victor examined the wall.

There was a small metal panel hidden behind an old painting.

He pressed it.

A section of the wall opened.

Beyond it was a narrow staircase.

Varek looked at him.

“How did you know?”

Victor shrugged.

“I remember this place.”

“You’ve been here before?”

“When I was little. I don’t remember everything, but I remember the stairs.”

They descended carefully.

At the bottom was a corridor lined with glass doors.

Each door had a number.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Varek stopped.

“These are the subjects.”

Victor nodded.

The door marked FOUR was open.

Inside was a small room containing a hospital bed, an empty wheelchair, and several photographs.

Varek entered.

On the wall was a picture of Grace holding a newborn baby.

Beside her stood a young woman wearing a nurse’s uniform.

Varek recognized her.

It was Isabel.

But there was something strange about the baby.

A hospital bracelet was wrapped around its wrist.

The name was almost completely erased.

Only one word remained.

EVELYN.

Victor picked up a document from the bed.

“Varek.”

“What?”

“Look at this.”

It was an old transfer authorization.

The child had been registered as Subject Four.

But the guardian’s name was not Grace.

It was MARA MERCER.

Varek looked at the photograph.

“Then why was Grace listed as my mother?”

Victor turned the document over.

A handwritten note appeared.

SUBJECT FOUR MUST BE KEPT AWAY FROM THE FIRSTBORN. HER MEMORY IS THE KEY.

Varek frowned.

“Her memory?”

Before Victor could answer, a speaker crackled above them.

A familiar voice filled the corridor.

“Welcome home, little brother.”

Varek raised his weapon.

Matthew.

“Where are you?” Varek shouted.

A screen came alive at the end of the corridor.

Matthew appeared, sitting behind a desk.

Grace was beside him.

Her hands were free.

She looked directly at Varek.

“Don’t come any closer.”

Varek stared at her.

“What have you done?”

Grace lowered her eyes.

“I brought you here because you deserve to know the truth.”

“Then tell me.”

Matthew leaned toward the camera.

“Your mother has been lying about the children, Varek. But so have I.”

Varek said nothing.

Matthew continued.

“Grace recovered Subject Four. She is the only person who remembers what happened during the first transfer.”

“Who is Subject Four?”

Matthew smiled.

“You already know her.”

Varek looked at the open room.

The photograph.

The bracelet.

The name.

Evelyn.

“You’re talking about Evelyn.”

Matthew nodded.

“She’s the key to identifying the firstborn.”

Grace suddenly raised her head.

“Varek, don’t believe him. He wants you to bring Evelyn here.”

“Why?”

Matthew’s smile widened.

“Because she is not the daughter of the people who raised her.”

Varek’s eyes narrowed.

“Who are her parents?”

Matthew leaned back.

“That is the question everyone has been afraid to ask.”

Then he lifted another photograph.

It showed two newborn girls lying side by side.

One wore a bracelet marked EVELYN.

The other wore a bracelet marked ISABELLA.

Matthew pointed at the first baby.

“One of these girls was supposed to die.”

He pointed at the second.

“The other was supposed to disappear.”

Grace began crying.

Matthew placed the photograph down.

“But the hospital made a mistake.”

Varek tightened his grip on his weapon.

“What mistake?”

Matthew looked directly into the camera.

“They switched the girls before they were born.”

Varek went still.

Matthew smiled.

“And one of those girls is the woman you have been trusting with your life.”

The screen went black.

At that exact moment, Evelyn’s phone rang.

It was Varek.

She answered.

“Varek?”

His voice came through urgently.

“Where are you?”

“At Naomi’s location. Why?”

“Stay there. Don’t let anyone near you.”

Evelyn frowned.

“What happened?”

Varek looked at the empty room marked FOUR.

“Matthew says you and Isabella were switched at birth.”

There was a long silence.

Then Evelyn whispered:

“That’s impossible.”

Naomi suddenly shouted from behind her.

“Evelyn, move!”

The secure location’s main door opened.

A woman stepped inside.

She wore a black coat and held a photograph in her hand.

Evelyn recognized her immediately.

It was the young woman who had called herself Isabella.

But she was not alone.

Standing behind her was Helena Vale.

And Helena was pointing a gun at Naomi.