The Hidden heir’s revenge

Chapter 83 — The Man Who Was Already Dead

The computer continued flashing.

MATTHEW THORNE — DEATH CONFIRMED.

DATE OF DEATH: TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO.

CURRENT OCCUPANT: UNKNOWN.

Varek stared at the screen, then turned towards the stranger.

“Who are you?”

Matthew gave a tired smile.

“I’ve already told you.”

“No. You told us your name. You haven’t told us who you are.”

Adrian stepped forward.

“You said you were my brother.”

“I am.”

“Then why does the system say you’re dead?”

Matthew looked at the screen.

“Because the person who died twenty-eight years ago was given my name.”

Jonathan shook his head.

“That’s impossible.”

Matthew turned towards him.

“You should know better than anyone that names can be transferred.”

“Who was buried?”

“A child.”

“Which child?”

Matthew looked directly at Varek.

“The first Daniel.”

Adrian’s face tightened.

“You’re saying someone died in my place?”

Matthew nodded.

“Richard needed a dead heir. He needed a body that could be identified as his first son, while the real child disappeared.”

“And you?”

“I was taken away.”

“By whom?”

Matthew hesitated.

“Your mother.”

Mary suddenly stepped forward.

“Isabella?”

Matthew looked at her.

“Yes.”

Mary’s eyes filled with tears.

“She was alive?”

“She was alive when she took me. I don’t know what happened to her afterwards.”

Jonathan moved towards the wall.

“You’re lying.”

Matthew laughed without humour.

“You were there, Jonathan. You helped prepare the burial records.”

“I buried a child.”

“You buried a child whose identity you never checked.”

Jonathan’s expression changed.

Varek noticed.

“Was the child really Daniel?”

Jonathan said nothing.

“Answer me!”

Jonathan slowly looked at Adrian.

“I was told it was you.”

Adrian took a step backwards.

“What?”

“I was told the child had been identified by the hospital. I never saw his face.”

Matthew shook his head.

“That’s how Richard wanted it.”

Alistair suddenly spoke.

“Enough. The dead should remain dead.”

Varek turned towards him.

“Why are you afraid of the truth?”

“I’m not afraid.”

“Then tell us where Isabella went.”

Alistair’s silence was answer enough.

⸻

At the secure location, Naomi read the message again.

THE REAL MATTHEW THORNE IS ALREADY DEAD.

She looked towards Daniel.

“Baby, I need you to stay with Auntie Evelyn.”

Daniel held her hand.

“Are you going somewhere?”

“No. I just need to talk to someone.”

Evelyn approached.

“Naomi, we need to leave now.”

Naomi showed her the message.

Evelyn read it twice.

“Who sent this?”

“I don’t know.”

“Could it be Richard?”

“Maybe. Or someone trying to make us distrust Matthew.”

Isabella came out of the adjoining room.

“I found something.”

She held a small envelope.

It had been hidden inside the lining of the old photograph Naomi had examined earlier.

Naomi opened it.

Inside was a folded piece of paper and a small metal key.

The handwriting on the paper was familiar.

It belonged to Naomi’s mother.

My daughter,

If you ever discover the name Naomi Thorne, do not believe everything you are told. You were not the first person to carry that name, and you may not be the last.

Find the woman who was buried beneath the old family chapel. She knows what happened to the first Daniel.

Do not let Richard find the key.

And whatever you do, never allow them to bring the six children together.

Naomi read the final line again.

“Six children.”

Evelyn looked at the key.

“Does it have a number?”

Naomi turned it over.

There was a small engraving.

06.

Isabella covered her mouth.

“The sixth key.”

Naomi looked at her.

“Do you know what it opens?”

Isabella nodded slowly.

“The original maternity archive.”

⸻

Back inside the underground facility, Matthew had moved towards the computer.

“There’s another record you need to see.”

Varek stepped beside him.

“What record?”

“The burial register.”

Matthew entered a sequence of numbers.

A list of names appeared.

The first entry was Daniel Thorne.

The second was Samuel Cross.

The third was Isabella Thorne.

The fourth was Naomi Thorne.

Adrian leaned closer.

“Why are there two entries for Daniel?”

Matthew opened the first one.

DANIEL THORNE — DECEASED.

Then he opened the second.

DANIEL THORNE — LOCATION UNKNOWN.

Adrian stared at the screen.

“Which one am I?”

Matthew shook his head.

“Neither record is complete.”

“Then what am I?”

“You’re the child they raised under the name Adrian.”

Adrian looked away.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Varek noticed something.

“Go back.”

Matthew turned towards him.

“To what?”

“The third entry.”

Matthew opened Isabella’s record.

A photograph appeared.

It showed a woman lying on a hospital bed, holding a newborn baby.

Mary approached the screen.

“That’s Isabella.”

The little girl stood beside her.

“No.”

Mary turned.

“What do you mean?”

“That’s not the woman who held me.”

Varek looked at the photograph.

“Then who is it?”

The girl pointed at the woman’s wrist.

“She had a mark.”

Matthew enlarged the image.

A small symbol was visible beneath the woman’s left wrist.

The same symbol appeared on the little girl’s bracelet.

And on Varek’s wrist.

Matthew went pale.

“That’s not possible.”

Alistair moved towards the screen.

“Close the file.”

Varek blocked him.

“Why?”

“Because you don’t understand what that mark means.”

“Then explain it.”

Alistair looked at the girl.

“It means the woman in that photograph wasn’t Isabella.”

Mary’s voice trembled.

“Who was she?”

Alistair looked at the screen.

“Subject Zero.”

The little girl stepped backwards.

“That’s not true.”

Alistair continued.

“She was the first woman used to create the memory system. Every child was connected to her.”

Varek looked at Mary.

“Is that why you said Subject Zero was a girl?”

Mary nodded slowly.

“But I never knew her real name.”

The computer beeped.

A new image appeared.

It showed the same woman standing beside the six children.

This time, her face was clear.

Varek stared.

The woman looked exactly like Naomi.

But there was something else.

The woman was holding a newborn baby, and beside her stood a younger version of Richard Thorne.

At the bottom of the photograph was a handwritten note.

THE SIXTH CHILD WAS NEVER BORN INTO THE FAMILY.

THE SIXTH CHILD WAS CREATED FROM THE FIRST.

Adrian stepped closer.

“What does that mean?”

Before anyone could answer, the facility lights went out.

A gunshot echoed from the lower passage.

Then a voice came through the emergency speakers.

“Varek, get away from the computer.”

It was Naomi.

“Richard is here. And he has the key.”

Varek grabbed the communication device.

“Where are you?”

Naomi’s voice broke.

“At the chapel.”

“Why did you go there?”

“Because my mother’s letter told me to find the woman buried beneath it.”

Varek looked towards Jonathan.

“Who is buried beneath the chapel?”

Jonathan’s face turned white.

He whispered one name.

“Isabella.”

Then Naomi screamed through the device.

“Varek! She’s alive!”

A second voice came onto the line.

An old woman’s voice.

“Not for much longer.”