The Hidden heir’s revenge

Chapter 69 — The Girl Who Was Buried Alive

Isabella stood frozen in front of Naomi.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Evelyn held her hand, but Isabella seemed unable to feel it. Her eyes remained fixed on the document showing her name beneath the word DECEASED.

“That’s not possible,” she whispered again.

Naomi turned the laptop toward her.

“Look at the date.”

Isabella leaned closer.

The record showed that a baby girl named Isabella Thorne had been declared dead three days after birth. The document contained a hospital stamp, a doctor’s signature and a burial authorization.

But something was wrong.

The burial authorization had been issued before the death certificate was signed.

Naomi pointed at the dates.

“Someone prepared your burial before you were officially declared dead.”

Evelyn shook her head.

“That doesn’t mean it was her.”

Isabella looked at her.

“I remember the woman who buried me.”

Naomi leaned forward.

“Tell us exactly what you remember.”

Isabella closed her eyes.

“I was little. Maybe four or five. I remember a woman taking me into a room. There was a white bed and a small window. She told me to lie down.”

“Who was the woman?” Evelyn asked.

“I don’t know. I couldn’t see her face clearly.”

“What happened afterward?”

Isabella swallowed.

“I woke up inside a wooden box.”

Evelyn’s grip tightened around her hand.

“What?”

“I remember scratching the cover. I remember shouting. Then someone opened it.”

Naomi stared at her.

“Who?”

“A woman called me by another name. She said I should never answer when anyone called me Isabella.”

“What name did she use?”

Isabella looked down.

“Mary.”

Naomi immediately returned to the computer.

She searched the original nursery records for the name.

A result appeared.

MARY — TEMPORARY IDENTITY. SUBJECT NUMBER: 04.

Naomi opened the document.

There was no photograph, only a note.

CHILD RECOVERED AFTER PREMATURE BURIAL. ORIGINAL IDENTITY SEALED.

Evelyn stepped closer.

“Isabella was buried alive?”

Naomi nodded slowly.

“Someone appears to have declared her dead, but the record says she was recovered.”

Isabella began to cry.

“Who would do that to a child?”

Nobody answered.

Then Evelyn looked at her own necklace.

The number 04 was engraved beneath the two connected circles.

She removed it and placed it beside Isabella’s necklace.

“Why do we have matching pendants if we were given different identities?”

Naomi examined them.

“Maybe because you were connected to the same transfer.”

She returned to the computer and opened another file.

This time, the document contained a photograph of two little girls sitting beside each other.

One was Evelyn.

The other was Isabella.

But behind them stood a woman holding a third child.

Naomi zoomed in.

The woman was Grace Cross.

And the third child was a boy.

A name had been written beneath his photograph.

SUBJECT ZERO — ORIGINAL GUARDIAN: ISABELLA THORNE.

Naomi stared at the screen.

“That’s strange.”

Evelyn moved closer.

“What?”

“The document says Isabella was the guardian of Subject Zero.”

Isabella wiped her tears.

“But I was a child.”

“Exactly.”

Naomi checked the date.

The photograph was taken several years after Isabella’s supposed death.

She slowly turned toward the two women.

“Either the photograph is fake, or someone used a dead child’s identity to register another person.”

Evelyn looked at Isabella.

“Then who is the woman who raised you?”

Isabella shook her head.

“I thought it was Mara.”

Naomi’s phone suddenly rang.

The caller’s name was saved as GRACE CROSS.

She answered immediately.

“Grace, where are you?”

“Listen to me carefully. You have opened the wrong file.”

Naomi glanced at the screen.

“What are you talking about?”

“Close the document.”

“Why?”

“Because the original nursery system records everyone who accesses it.”

Naomi stopped moving.

A warning appeared on the laptop.

REMOTE ACCESS DETECTED.

Grace’s voice became urgent.

“Get Evelyn and Isabella away from that room.”

“What is happening?”

“Someone has activated the old system.”

“Who?”

Grace whispered:

“Subject Zero.”

The connection went dead.

⸻

Meanwhile, Varek and the others were moving through the underground passage.

Matthew led the way, while Victor stayed behind him with his weapon raised.

Adrian walked beside Varek.

He was still weak from his captivity, but he refused to slow down.

“You need to tell me what you remember,” Varek said.

Adrian looked at him.

“About what?”

“That night in the nursery.”

Adrian took a breath.

“I remember three children being moved. One was Daniel. One was you. The third was someone I wasn’t allowed to see.”

“Why?”

“Because they said the child was dangerous.”

Varek frowned.

“A child?”

“That’s what they called him.”

Matthew stopped walking.

“Not him.”

Adrian looked at him.

“What?”

“Don’t call Subject Zero him.”

Varek stared at Matthew.

“Why?”

Matthew turned toward them.

“Because Subject Zero was not a child in the same way the others were.”

Victor shook his head.

“Stop speaking in riddles.”

Matthew continued.

“The original Black Ledger was designed around four heirs. But Alistair discovered that the children could not be controlled simply by assigning them positions. They needed someone who could connect all the identities.”

“Someone who knew the truth?” Varek asked.

Matthew nodded.

“Someone who remembered every transfer, every false name and every child who had been removed.”

Adrian’s face changed.

“The memory keeper.”

“Exactly.”

Varek thought about the original arrangement.

The first child would inherit.

The second would protect.

The third would control.

The fourth would remember.

But Subject Zero was different.

“Who was Subject Zero?” he asked.

Matthew looked at him.

“That’s what the original register will tell us.”

They reached a large metal door.

Matthew removed a small card from his pocket and inserted it into the scanner.

The door opened.

Beyond it was a room filled with old medical equipment.

There were six metal beds arranged in two rows.

On the wall were six names.

ADRIAN.

MATTHEW.

DANIEL.

VICTOR.

EVELYN.

VAREK.

Each name had a different number beside it.

Varek approached the wall.

His name was written beside Subject Five.

But underneath it was another name.

ORIGINAL SUBJECT FIVE: SAMUEL.

Victor stepped closer.

“Samuel.”

Adrian looked at the names.

“Where is his file?”

Matthew pointed toward a cabinet at the end of the room.

“That one.”

Varek opened it.

Inside was a thick folder containing medical records, photographs and transfer documents.

The first photograph showed a newborn baby.

The second showed the same child several years later.

The third showed a young boy standing beside Eleanor.

Varek recognized him.

Samuel Cross.

But the fourth photograph made him stop.

It showed Samuel standing beside another boy.

The other boy had Varek’s face.

Victor leaned over his shoulder.

“That’s impossible.”

Varek turned the photograph around.

A note was written on the back.

TWO SUBJECT FIVE IDENTITIES CREATED. ONE CHILD WAS TRANSFERRED. ONE CHILD WAS RETAINED.

Adrian took the photograph.

“That means there were two children.”

Matthew nodded.

“Yes.”

“Which one became Varek?”

Matthew looked at him.

“Neither.”

Varek slowly raised his head.

“What do you mean?”

Matthew removed another document from the folder.

It was a transfer authorization.

The name at the top was Samuel Cross.

Below it was a photograph of a child.

The signature belonged to Eleanor.

But the person who received the child was listed as:

GUARDIAN: ADRIAN THORNE.

Varek stared at the document.

“Adrian?”

Adrian looked equally shocked.

“I never received a child.”

Matthew pointed to the date.

“You were barely old enough to understand what was happening. But someone used your name.”

Varek turned toward Adrian.

“Did you ever hear of Samuel?”

Adrian shook his head.

“No.”

Matthew took another document from the folder.

“This is the original transfer list. It contains the names of everyone who received a child.”

Varek scanned the page.

Then he stopped.

There was another name beneath Adrian’s.

GUARDIAN: VAREK THORNE.

His own name.

Beside it was a date that came before his birth.

He stared at the document.

“How can I be listed as a guardian before I was born?”

Matthew’s face became serious.

“Because the name Varek Thorne existed before you did.”

Victor stepped closer.

“Whose name was it?”

Matthew opened his mouth.

A loud alarm suddenly sounded.

The lights turned red.

A voice came through the speakers.

“Unauthorized access detected.”

Then another message appeared on the wall screen.

ORIGINAL NURSERY LOCKDOWN INITIATED.

Matthew looked toward the entrance.

“We need to leave.”

Varek grabbed the document.

“Not without answers.”

“You won’t get them if you’re trapped here.”

The metal door began closing.

Victor rushed toward it and forced his arm between the panels.

“Move!”

Adrian and Varek hurried through.

Matthew followed, but before he could reach the exit, a second door opened behind them.

A man stepped out.

He was holding a folder.

Varek recognized his face from the photographs.

It was the man who had appeared in the wheelchair.

Jonathan Thorne.

But this time, he was not pretending to be weak.

He looked directly at Varek.

“You have finally found your way home.”

Varek raised the document.

“Who was the original Varek Thorne?”

Jonathan smiled.

“Your grandfather.”

The words stunned everyone.

Jonathan continued.

“Your grandfather gave you his name because he knew one day you would have to take his place.”

Adrian shook his head.

“That’s impossible. Varek was named after—”

“Be quiet,” Jonathan snapped.

He turned back to Varek.

“Now give me the register.”

Varek held it tightly.

“Not until you tell me the truth.”

Jonathan’s smile disappeared.

“Then perhaps you should ask the person who has been lying to you since the day you were born.”

He stepped aside.

Behind him stood a woman Varek had not expected to see.

Grace Cross.

Her hands were tied.

And standing beside her was a little boy.

The boy looked directly at Varek.

Then he spoke.

“You’re the man they said was supposed to be my father.”

Varek stared at him.

“Who are you?”

The boy looked at Jonathan.

Then he answered.

“My name is Samuel.”