The Hidden heir’s revenge

Chapter 73 — The Grandmother Behind the Lies

Varek kept his gun pointed at the woman.

Nobody in the original nursery moved.

The woman stood at the end of the corridor, dressed in white. Her veil covered most of her face, but her voice was steady.

“Put the gun down, Varek.”

“Give me one reason.”

“Because I am not your enemy.”

He laughed bitterly.

“That’s what everyone says before they betray me.”

She slowly lifted the veil.

Varek stared.

Her face was old, but there was something familiar about her. Her eyes were dark, her nose narrow, and a small scar ran from her left cheek towards her ear.

He had seen that scar before.

In the photograph Eleanor kept hidden inside an old wooden box.

“Mary Thorne,” he whispered.

The woman nodded.

“Yes.”

“You’re supposed to be dead.”

“So were you.”

Varek tightened his grip on the gun.

“Who are you to me?”

She took a step forward.

“Your grandmother.”

“Prove it.”

Mary smiled sadly.

“You have a small scar beneath your left knee. You got it when you were four years old, after falling beside the staircase in the house where Eleanor raised you. You refused to let anyone touch it because you thought they would take you to the hospital.”

Varek said nothing.

“At night, you used to wake up crying and ask Eleanor to sing a song about a little bird that had lost its way. She never knew where you learned it.”

Varek’s expression changed.

He remembered that song.

Eleanor had sung it whenever he had nightmares.

“How do you know that?”

“Because I was there.”

“Where?”

“In the house. Watching you grow up.”

Varek felt his stomach turn.

“You watched me?”

“From a distance.”

“Why didn’t you come for me?”

Mary lowered her eyes.

“Because the moment I revealed myself, they would have taken you again.”

Varek shook his head.

“Who are they?”

She looked past him towards Jonathan.

“Your grandfather’s enemies.”

Jonathan struggled to his feet, holding his injured shoulder.

“Don’t listen to her.”

Mary’s expression hardened.

“You have no right to speak.”

Jonathan laughed.

“You disappeared for twenty-nine years and now you want to act like a grandmother?”

“I disappeared because you tried to bury me.”

The room went silent.

Varek turned towards Jonathan.

“Did you try to kill her?”

Jonathan looked away.

Mary continued.

“He was not the only one. Alistair knew I was alive. Richard knew. Even Matthew had a copy of my original death certificate.”

Matthew frowned.

“I never saw it.”

“You saw the replacement.”

Matthew looked at her carefully.

“Then the original is still somewhere?”

Mary nodded.

“Yes.”

“Where?”

She looked towards Varek.

“With the person who signed it.”

Varek lowered his gun slightly.

“Who signed your death certificate?”

Mary took a breath.

“Your mother.”

For a moment, Varek couldn’t speak.

“My mother?”

“Yes.”

“You’re telling me my mother killed you?”

“No. She signed the certificate after I had already been declared dead. It was the only way to protect you.”

Varek stared at her.

“Who is my mother?”

Mary looked towards Helena.

Helena lowered her head.

“Tell him,” Mary said.

Helena’s eyes filled with tears.

“Your mother was called Helena Vale.”

Varek turned towards her.

“You’re my mother?”

Helena shook her head.

“No.”

Mary interrupted.

“She carried you. But she was not the woman who gave birth to you.”

Varek felt the room closing around him.

“Then who did?”

Mary stepped closer.

“Isabella.”

Adrian looked up sharply.

“Isabella?”

“Yes.”

Varek shook his head.

“Isabella is too young to be my mother.”

“Not the Isabella you know.”

Mary paused.

“The original Isabella Thorne. The woman who was declared dead before you were born.”

Varek remembered Naomi’s discovery.

The girl who had been buried alive.

The child who had been called Mary.

The woman who appeared in photographs beside Grace.

“Are you saying the Isabella at Naomi’s location is the original Isabella?”

“She carries the same identity, but you must understand something. The name Isabella was used by more than one person.”

Mary looked at Samuel.

“Just as the name Samuel was used by more than one child.”

Samuel moved closer to Varek.

“Are you going to leave me?”

Varek looked down at him.

“No.”

Mary watched the boy carefully.

“Good. Because he needs you.”

Varek turned towards her.

“Stop speaking in riddles. Why was I assigned to receive his memories?”

“Because you were the only child who could survive the transfer.”

“What transfer?”

Mary looked towards the table.

“The original Black Ledger was not just an inheritance system. It was a way to preserve the truth when the people responsible for creating it wanted to erase their actions.”

Matthew stepped forward.

“You’re saying the memories inside Samuel contain evidence?”

“Evidence, names, conversations, instructions. Everything that happened during the first transfers.”

“Then why not simply retrieve it?”

Mary looked at Samuel.

“Because the process could destroy him.”

Varek immediately moved in front of the boy.

“Nobody is touching him.”

Mary nodded.

“That is why you were chosen. The system was designed to move the memories from Samuel into you without killing him.”

“And Adrian?”

“He was assigned to protect both children.”

Adrian shook his head.

“I don’t remember agreeing to that.”

“You were too young to understand what they were doing. But you remembered enough to resist.”

Mary looked at him.

“You tried to stop them from taking Daniel.”

Adrian’s face changed.

“Where is he?”

Mary hesitated.

“The original Daniel is alive.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know his current location.”

Adrian stepped forward.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not.”

“Grace said she knew where he was.”

Mary glanced at Grace.

“Grace knows the name he was given after the transfer. But she doesn’t know where he is now.”

Varek looked towards Grace.

“Is that true?”

Grace nodded slowly.

“I was told to keep quiet until the original register was recovered.”

“What’s his name?”

She swallowed.

“His name is—”

The corridor lights went out again.

A loud alarm sounded.

Matthew looked at his device.

“Someone is accessing the original archive.”

Mary’s expression changed.

“That’s impossible.”

“What is it?” Varek asked.

She turned towards the corridor.

“Someone has activated the second transfer.”

Samuel began shaking.

His small hands moved towards his head.

“Make it stop.”

Varek crouched beside him.

“Samuel, look at me.”

“It hurts.”

“Stay with me.”

The boy squeezed his eyes shut.

Then he began speaking.

“Two doors. Three beds. One woman crying.”

Varek froze.

Samuel continued.

“Someone said the first child was dead. Someone said the second child must never know.”

Matthew stared.

“He’s remembering.”

Samuel suddenly grabbed Varek’s wrist.

“Don’t let them open the white room.”

“What white room?”

“The room where they kept the other me.”

Jonathan looked terrified.

Mary stepped forward.

“Samuel, listen to me. Don’t go any further.”

But the boy continued.

“I saw a woman. She was holding a baby. She said his name was Varek.”

Varek felt his chest tighten.

“What did she look like?”

Samuel opened his eyes.

He stared at Varek.

Then he whispered:

“She looked exactly like you.”

Nobody spoke.

Mary slowly covered her mouth.

Varek turned towards her.

“What does that mean?”

Mary’s eyes filled with tears.

“It means the child you were looking for may not have been your brother.”

“Then who was he?”

Before Mary could answer, the door behind her slammed shut.

A message appeared on the wall screen.

SECOND TRANSFER COMPLETE.

RECEIVING SUBJECT: VAREK THORNE.

MEMORY SOURCE: SUBJECT ZERO.

Mary stared at the message.

“No…”

Varek looked at Samuel.

The boy had stopped crying.

He was staring at the wall with an expression Varek had never seen on his face before.

Recognition.

Then Samuel spoke in a voice that sounded nothing like a child’s.

“Grandmother.”

Mary slowly turned.

Samuel smiled.

“Why did you leave me in the fire?”

Mary stumbled backwards.

Varek looked between them.

“Samuel?”

The boy turned towards him.

His expression was calm.

Too calm.

Then he said something that made Mary collapse against the wall.

“You’re not my father, Varek.”

He paused.

“You’re my son.”