The Hidden heir’s revenge

Chapter 80 — The Fifth Child

Nobody moved.

The little girl’s finger remained pointed at the photograph.

“She was the fifth child,” she repeated.

Varek looked at the screen, then at the girl.

“You’re saying Naomi was one of the children?”

“Yes.”

“Then why was she standing beside you?”

The girl shook her head.

“She wasn’t standing beside us. She was standing behind us. They made her look like a guardian.”

Matthew Cross moved closer to the computer.

“That doesn’t make sense. The photograph was taken twenty-nine years ago. If Naomi was one of the children, why does the record identify her as the guardian?”

“Because they wanted people to believe she was older,” the girl replied.

Adrian frowned.

“How can a child be made to look older in a photograph?”

“Not in the photograph,” she said. “In the records.”

Varek turned towards Alistair.

“Explain.”

Alistair’s expression had become difficult to read.

“The fifth child was never supposed to have a permanent identity.”

“Why?”

“Because the fifth child was the one who could expose the arrangement.”

The little girl nodded.

“They kept changing her name. Sometimes she was Naomi. Sometimes she was Isabella. Sometimes she was nobody.”

Mary covered her mouth.

“Stop.”

The girl looked at her.

“You know it’s true.”

Mary’s eyes filled with tears.

“I know what they did. I don’t know everything they did to you.”

“Then why did you leave me there?”

Mary had no answer.

Varek stepped between them.

“Enough. We need to understand what happened.”

He turned towards Matthew.

“Can you access the original photograph?”

Matthew began typing.

“The file is protected, but I can retrieve its source information.”

The screen changed.

A list of names appeared.

ORIGINAL CHILD REGISTER

1. VAREK THORNE — FEMALE.

2. VAREK THORNE — MALE.

3. SAMUEL CROSS.

4. DANIEL CROSS.

5. NAOMI THORNE.

Below the names was another line.

FIFTH CHILD: IDENTITY REASSIGNED.

Matthew stared at it.

“That’s not a normal transfer.”

“What does it mean?” Victor asked.

“It means someone took the fifth child’s original identity and assigned it to another person.”

Varek looked at the little girl.

“Who?”

She shook her head.

“I don’t know.”

Alistair laughed quietly.

“Of course she doesn’t.”

Varek turned towards him.

“You seem to know a lot. Start talking.”

Alistair looked at the five names.

“The fifth child was different. The first four children were connected to the inheritance arrangement. They had specific roles. The fifth child was connected to the origin of the entire system.”

“Subject Zero?” Varek asked.

Alistair nodded.

“Subject Zero was not a person in the way you understand it. It was an identity that could be passed from one person to another.”

Mary looked at him in disbelief.

“You’re lying.”

“Am I?”

“Subject Zero was a girl.”

“Yes. But the identity was bigger than the girl.”

Varek’s patience was running out.

“Who was she?”

Alistair looked directly at him.

“Your sister knows more than you do.”

The little girl lowered her eyes.

“I remember a room with mirrors. I remember a woman crying. I remember someone saying the fifth child had to disappear.”

“Who said it?”

She looked at Jonathan.

He looked away.

Varek followed her gaze.

“Jonathan?”

The old man remained silent.

“Did you take the fifth child?”

Jonathan slowly shook his head.

“I took one child. I didn’t take Naomi.”

“Then who did?”

Before he could answer, the communication device crackled.

Naomi’s voice came through.

“Varek, I need you to listen carefully.”

He moved towards it.

“I’m listening.”

“I checked my mother’s documents again. There is a second page attached to the birth certificate. It was folded inside the envelope.”

“What’s on it?”

“A hospital transfer record.”

Naomi paused.

“It says my mother delivered two female children on the same day.”

Evelyn looked at her.

“Twins?”

“I don’t know. The second child’s name was removed.”

Varek looked at his twin sister.

The little girl had gone completely still.

“Read the rest,” he said.

Naomi continued.

“The first child was registered as Isabella Thorne. The second child was registered as Naomi Thorne. But there is something strange about the dates.”

“What?”

“They were recorded as being born twenty-three minutes apart.”

Varek’s eyes moved towards his sister.

Twenty-three minutes.

The same gap between his own birth and hers.

The girl stepped away from the computer.

“No.”

Varek approached her.

“What is it?”

She shook her head repeatedly.

“That’s not possible.”

“What do you remember?”

She pressed both hands against her ears.

“I remember the woman. I remember her holding two babies. But she said there were three.”

Three babies.

Varek turned towards Mary.

“How many children did Eleanor give birth to?”

Eleanor looked confused.

“Two.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes.”

The girl suddenly raised her head.

“She didn’t give birth to me.”

Everyone turned.

Eleanor stared at her.

“What?”

“You said you gave birth to two children. But I wasn’t one of them.”

Eleanor’s face drained of colour.

“That’s not true.”

The girl pointed at the birth record.

“The woman in the photograph was my mother.”

Varek looked at the screen.

“Naomi?”

The girl nodded.

“She gave birth to me and another child.”

Mary stumbled backwards.

Jonathan caught her before she fell.

Alistair’s expression changed.

For the first time, he looked genuinely frightened.

Varek noticed.

“What’s wrong?”

Alistair stared at the photograph.

“That means the original arrangement was never built around four children.”

Matthew looked at him.

“What are you saying?”

Alistair slowly turned towards Varek.

“There were six.”

The computer beeped again.

A new record appeared beneath the original register.

ORIGINAL MATERNITY RECORD — SIX CHILDREN.

The names began appearing one after another.

VAREK THORNE.

VAREK THORNE.

SAMUEL CROSS.

DANIEL CROSS.

NAOMI THORNE.

And the sixth name remained hidden.

A warning flashed across the screen.

IDENTITY SEALED.

RECORD ACCESS REQUIRES THE SIXTH CHILD.

Victor stepped closer.

“Who is the sixth child?”

Nobody answered.

Then Samuel walked towards the computer.

He stared at the hidden name for several seconds.

A strange expression crossed his face.

“I know that name.”

Varek crouched beside him.

“What name?”

Samuel slowly raised his left hand and touched the screen.

The hidden record unlocked.

One name appeared.

ADRIAN THORNE.

Adrian stepped backwards.

“No.”

The room fell silent.

Varek turned towards him.

“Adrian?”

Adrian shook his head.

“That’s impossible. I was born years after those records.”

Samuel looked up at him.

“That’s what they told you.”

Adrian’s face hardened.

“What are you saying?”

The boy’s eyes filled with tears.

“You weren’t supposed to grow up as Adrian.”

He pointed at the screen.

“You were supposed to grow up as Daniel.”

A second line appeared beneath the name.

SIXTH CHILD: ORIGINAL DANIEL THORNE.

CURRENT IDENTITY: ADRIAN THORNE.

Adrian stared at the words.

Then another message appeared.

WARNING: THE SIXTH CHILD HAS A LIVING DESCENDANT.

At the secure location, Naomi looked towards the room where her little boy was sleeping.

Evelyn followed her gaze.

“Naomi?”

Naomi’s hands began to tremble.

The computer displayed one final message.

DESCENDANT IDENTIFIED: DANIEL CROSS.

And somewhere inside the underground facility, a locked door opened.