The Hidden heir’s revenge

Chapter 70 — The Father They Chose for Him

Varek stared at the little boy.

The child stood beside Jonathan, his small fingers wrapped around the old man’s hand. He looked no older than six. His clothes were clean, his hair neatly combed, and his face carried an expression that seemed too serious for someone so young.

But it was his eyes that unsettled Varek.

They were familiar.

Not because they looked exactly like his own, but because there was something in them that reminded him of the photographs he had seen in the original nursery.

“You’re supposed to be my father?” Varek repeated.

The boy nodded.

“Who told you that?”

“Grandfather.”

Jonathan smiled faintly.

“Children are usually more honest than adults, Varek. You should listen to him.”

Varek ignored him.

He crouched until he was at the boy’s eye level.

“What’s your name?”

“Samuel.”

“Your full name?”

The boy hesitated.

“Samuel Cross.”

Adrian stepped forward.

“Cross?”

The boy looked at him.

Adrian’s face had changed.

“Who gave you that name?”

“Grandfather.”

Adrian turned towards Jonathan.

“How many children have you given that name?”

Jonathan chuckled.

“Names are not as important as the blood carrying them.”

“They are when you’ve spent years using them to hide children from their families,” Adrian replied.

Jonathan’s smile disappeared.

Varek looked back at Samuel.

“Do you know who your mother is?”

The boy shook his head.

“Do you remember where you lived before coming here?”

Another shake.

“Do you remember anyone else taking care of you?”

Samuel looked down at his shoes.

“A woman used to sing to me.”

Grace suddenly raised her head.

“Samuel.”

The boy turned towards her.

“Don’t answer him,” Jonathan warned.

Grace ignored him.

“Do you remember the song?”

Samuel nodded slowly.

“She said I should never forget it.”

“Can you sing it?” Grace asked.

Jonathan tightened his grip around the boy’s hand.

“Enough.”

Varek noticed the movement.

The boy was frightened.

Not of Varek.

Of Jonathan.

“Let him go,” Varek said.

Jonathan laughed.

“You still think you can give orders here?”

“I said let him go.”

“And I say you should be more interested in the child standing before you. He is the reason your name was entered into the original register before you were born.”

Varek stood.

“Explain that.”

Jonathan pointed towards the file on the table.

“Read the final page.”

Matthew moved towards it, but Jonathan raised his other hand.

“Not you, Matthew. You have already interfered enough.”

Matthew stopped.

Varek opened the file.

There was another sheet attached to the back. Unlike the other pages, it carried no medical information. It looked like a private agreement.

At the top were three names.

ORIGINAL SUBJECT FIVE: SAMUEL CROSS.

ASSIGNED GUARDIAN: VAREK THORNE.

TRANSFER CONDITION: GUARDIAN MUST REMAIN UNBORN UNTIL ACTIVATION.

Varek read the last line twice.

“Guardian must remain unborn?”

“Your identity was created before your birth,” Jonathan explained. “The child was assigned to you long before you existed.”

“That makes no sense.”

“It makes perfect sense when you understand the arrangement.”

Varek slammed the file onto the table.

“I’m not interested in your riddles.”

Jonathan looked at him calmly.

“Samuel was never supposed to grow up with you. You were supposed to become his legal guardian when the time came. But the transfer was interrupted, and someone took you away from the system.”

“Eleanor?”

“She was only the carrier.”

Varek’s jaw tightened.

“Don’t talk about her as if she were an object.”

“Everyone in this room was an object at some point.”

Adrian moved closer to Varek.

“He’s lying about something. I don’t know what, but he is.”

Jonathan glanced at him.

“Of course you would say that. You were supposed to receive Samuel. Instead, you received another child and spent years pretending you didn’t know what happened.”

Adrian shook his head.

“I never received that boy.”

“Your signature says otherwise.”

“My signature was forged.”

“Then explain why your name appears on three separate transfer records.”

Adrian had no answer.

Varek looked at him.

“Did you ever see this child?”

“No.”

“Are you certain?”

Adrian swallowed.

“I remember several children. I remember being told to protect one of them. I remember a woman carrying a baby away. But I don’t remember Samuel.”

Jonathan smiled.

“Because you were never meant to remember him.”

A sudden sound came from behind them.

Grace was struggling against her restraints.

“He’s lying!” she shouted.

Jonathan turned sharply.

“Quiet.”

Grace shook her head.

“Varek, listen to me. That child is not the person you think he is.”

Samuel looked at her.

“Why are you saying that?”

Grace’s expression softened.

“Because I know what they did to you.”

Jonathan pulled a small device from his pocket.

A red light appeared on the screen.

“One more word, Grace, and the system will erase the remaining records.”

Varek stepped between him and the woman.

“Try it.”

Jonathan studied him.

“You don’t understand what you’re protecting.”

“Then explain it.”

“I have spent twenty-nine years protecting the original arrangement. You were supposed to be the guardian. Samuel was supposed to be the heir. Adrian was supposed to protect the inheritance. Matthew was supposed to control the records. Victor was supposed to replace the missing identity.”

Victor’s face hardened.

“Replace whose identity?”

Jonathan did not answer.

Victor moved closer.

“You keep talking about me as if I’m something you can move around. Who was I supposed to replace?”

Jonathan looked at him for a long moment.

“Your brother.”

Victor went still.

“Which brother?”

For the first time, Jonathan appeared uncomfortable.

Then the lights flickered.

A loud alarm sounded from the corridor.

Matthew looked towards the ceiling.

“Someone has accessed the medical archive.”

Varek immediately turned to him.

“Naomi?”

Matthew checked the small screen attached to the wall.

“No. The access is coming from inside the facility.”

Adrian frowned.

“Richard?”

“Possibly.”

The screen changed.

A new message appeared.

ORIGINAL NURSERY ACCESS GRANTED.

SUBJECT ZERO HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED.

MEMORY TRANSFER INITIATED.

Matthew’s expression changed.

“That’s impossible.”

Varek approached him.

“What is Subject Zero?”

Matthew looked at the screen.

“The one person who was never supposed to be part of the inheritance.”

“Naomi found that already.”

“Then she hasn’t found enough.”

Before Varek could ask another question, Jonathan laughed.

“How unfortunate. The little girls have started remembering.”

At the secure location, Naomi stared at her laptop.

The same message had appeared on her screen.

Evelyn stood behind her, while Isabella sat on the edge of the bed, holding the old necklace marked 04.

“What does memory transfer mean?” Evelyn asked.

Naomi shook her head.

“I don’t know. But someone has activated the original nursery system.”

“Can you stop it?”

“I’m trying.”

A second window opened.

It displayed an old photograph.

Naomi leaned closer.

The photograph showed three children standing in front of a hospital wall. Two girls and a little boy.

She recognized the girls.

One was Evelyn.

The other was Isabella.

But the boy’s face was partially covered by a black mark.

Underneath the photograph was a line of text.

SUBJECT ZERO — ORIGINAL MEMORY KEEPER.

Then another line appeared.

IDENTITY CONFIRMED: MARY.

Isabella stood up.

“No.”

Naomi turned.

“What?”

Isabella was staring at the screen.

“That isn’t my name.”

“Isabella—”

“That is the name the woman called me when she put me in the box.”

Evelyn moved towards her.

“What woman?”

Isabella shook her head.

“I don’t remember her face. But I remember what she said.”

“What did she say?”

Isabella’s voice trembled.

“She said I was not supposed to wake up.”

Naomi looked back at the screen.

A new message appeared.

SUBJECT ZERO IS NOT THE CHILD IN THE PHOTOGRAPH.

Then the screen went black.

At the medical facility, Varek had not moved.

He was still staring at Jonathan.

“Who is Subject Zero?”

Jonathan looked towards Samuel.

“Ask the boy.”

Varek turned.

Samuel was no longer looking at Jonathan.

He was staring at Grace.

“Do you know me?” Varek asked.

The boy nodded.

“Yes.”

“How?”

Samuel slowly raised his left hand.

There was a small dark mark beneath his thumb.

The same mark Varek had carried for as long as he could remember.

Varek stared at it.

Samuel looked directly into his eyes.

“The woman who used to sing to me said you would come back.”

“Who was she?”

The boy’s lips parted.

“She said you were my father, but you weren’t the one who gave me my name.”

Varek felt something tighten in his chest.

“Then who gave you your name?”

Samuel pointed towards the door.

Everyone turned.

A figure stood in the open doorway.

The person had entered without triggering the security alarm.

Matthew stepped back.

Adrian’s face drained of colour.

Even Jonathan stopped smiling.

The figure looked at Varek, then at the little boy.

Finally, he spoke.

“Because I gave him that name.”

Varek recognized the voice.

It belonged to a man everyone had believed was dead.

Alistair Thorne.