The Hidden heir’s revenge

Chapter 87 — The Daughter Who Died Twice

The woman stood at the entrance of the medical room.

Her face was almost identical to Naomi’s, but her expression was colder. She looked at the little girl without showing any sign of affection.

“My daughter died twenty-nine years ago,” she repeated.

Varek stepped forward.

“Then who is she?”

The woman looked at him.

“A mistake.”

The little girl began shaking her head.

“No. You’re lying.”

The woman sighed.

“You should have remained asleep.”

The girl moved behind Varek.

“I remember you.”

The woman’s expression changed slightly.

“What do you remember?”

“You sang to me.”

For a moment, the woman said nothing.

Then she looked away.

“That was a long time ago.”

“You said you would come back.”

Varek turned towards her.

“Who is this woman?”

The girl wiped her tears.

“She’s the woman who carried me.”

The woman laughed quietly.

“Carrying a child doesn’t make someone a mother.”

Adrian moved towards the hospital bed.

“What about the boy?”

The woman looked at him.

“He’s the original Daniel.”

“Why was he kept here?”

“Because he was never supposed to leave.”

Adrian stared at the child.

The boy looked at him with frightened eyes.

“Are you my father?”

Adrian couldn’t answer immediately.

The woman stepped closer.

“Don’t confuse him. He has spent his entire life believing that you would come for him.”

Adrian finally spoke.

“I didn’t know you existed.”

The boy lowered his head.

“That’s what they told me too.”

Varek turned towards the woman.

“Enough. Tell us who you are.”

She looked at him for several seconds.

“My name is Naomi Thorne.”

The room went silent.

Varek stared.

“Naomi?”

“Yes.”

“Then who is the Naomi we know?”

The woman smiled.

“That is the question you should have asked before trusting her.”

⸻

At the secure location, the lights returned.

Evelyn immediately pointed her weapon towards the stranger.

But he was no longer standing where he had been.

The entrance door was open.

“He’s gone,” Isabella whispered.

Naomi held Daniel tightly.

“Check the building.”

Evelyn moved towards the hallway.

“Stay with Isabella. Don’t open the door for anyone.”

Naomi nodded.

She looked at the pendant in her hand.

Something about the stranger’s words troubled her.

He had called her the seventh child, but the woman in the medical room had also claimed to be Naomi Thorne.

There were now two women with the same face and the same name.

And both seemed connected to her mother.

Naomi opened the old envelope again.

She examined the letter carefully, looking for anything she might have missed.

At the bottom, beneath her mother’s signature, was a small handwritten sentence.

If you meet the woman who carries my face, ask her what happened on the night of the seventh birth.

Naomi read it twice.

Then she turned towards Isabella.

“Do you know anything about the seventh birth?”

Isabella looked uncomfortable.

“Why are you asking?”

“Because my mother mentioned it in her letter.”

Isabella slowly sat down.

“There was a night when six children were delivered at the Thorne medical centre. Everyone believed that was the end of the arrangement.”

“And?”

“One more baby was discovered in the maternity ward the following morning.”

Naomi’s heart began to race.

“Who gave birth to that child?”

“Nobody knew.”

“How is that possible?”

Isabella looked at her.

“The child had already been registered before the delivery.”

Naomi frowned.

“Registered by whom?”

“Mary Thorne.”

⸻

Inside the medical room, Varek was still studying the woman.

“You’re saying the Naomi we know is not the original Naomi.”

“She is a copy of an identity.”

“Then why does she have the same face as you?”

The woman smiled.

“Because she was created to replace me.”

Adrian frowned.

“Created?”

“Not in a laboratory, if that’s what you’re imagining. She was born naturally. But her identity, records and history were designed before she could understand what they meant.”

Varek shook his head.

“You’re making this more complicated.”

“Then let me simplify it. There were two girls born under the name Naomi Thorne. One was meant to become the guardian. The other was meant to carry the original family records.”

Matthew Cross, who had followed them into the room, stepped forward.

“Which one are you?”

The woman looked at him.

“I’m the original guardian.”

“And the other Naomi?”

“She was the seventh child.”

Varek stared.

“Then who raised her?”

The woman’s eyes moved towards the little girl.

“Mary.”

The girl immediately shook her head.

“No. Mary told me she was my grandmother.”

“She lied.”

The woman approached her.

“Mary was your guardian, not your grandmother.”

The girl stepped back.

Varek blocked her path.

“Don’t come closer.”

The woman stopped.

“You still don’t understand. That child is the reason the entire system was created.”

“Why?”

“Because she was born with the original memory pattern.”

Samuel’s words suddenly returned to Varek.

The memory source.

The receiver.

The transfer.

He looked at the little girl.

“Is that why they kept you in the chamber?”

She nodded.

“They wanted to take everything I remembered.”

The woman corrected him.

“They wanted to preserve it.”

Varek’s eyes narrowed.

“By keeping her in a chamber for twenty-nine years?”

“Her body was damaged during the fire. The medical system kept her alive.”

“Who started the fire?”

The woman looked towards Jonathan’s empty place in the corridor.

“Richard.”

Adrian stepped forward.

“Why?”

“Because the original memory transfer failed. He wanted to destroy the evidence before the children could be separated permanently.”

The original Daniel suddenly spoke from the bed.

“That’s not true.”

Everyone turned.

The woman looked at him.

“Be quiet.”

The boy sat up.

“Richard didn’t start the fire.”

Adrian moved closer.

“Who did?”

The boy looked directly at the woman.

“She did.”

The woman froze.

Varek slowly turned towards her.

“Is that true?”

She didn’t answer.

The boy continued.

“She locked the door. She said nobody was supposed to leave with the memories.”

The woman raised her voice.

“Enough!”

The boy flinched.

Adrian moved between them.

“Don’t speak to him like that.”

The woman looked furious.

“You have no idea what I sacrificed to keep this family alive.”

Adrian shook his head.

“You sacrificed children.”

“And what would you have done? Watched the entire family collapse?”

Varek stepped closer.

“Tell us what happened to the sixth child.”

The woman’s eyes moved towards the computer.

“The sixth child was never supposed to survive.”

Adrian’s expression hardened.

“Why?”

“Because the sixth child was not part of the original plan.”

She looked at the boy.

“Richard added him after the first transfer failed.”

Matthew Cross frowned.

“Then who was the seventh?”

The woman looked at Varek.

“That is why I came back.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small photograph.

It showed seven newborn babies.

Not six.

Seven.

She placed it on the medical table.

“One of these children was never registered.”

Varek looked at the photograph.

The first six babies had names written beneath them.

The seventh had no name.

Instead, there was a symbol.

A black circle with a line through it.

The little girl gasped.

“I know that mark.”

Varek turned towards her.

“Where have you seen it?”

She slowly raised her left hand.

The same symbol was beneath her thumb.

The woman smiled.

“Now you understand.”

Varek looked at her.

“Understand what?”

She leaned closer.

“The child you believe is my daughter is actually the seventh child.”

Then she pointed towards Varek.

“And the child standing beside her is the one who was supposed to die.”

Suddenly, the computer activated.

A new message appeared.

ORIGINAL SUBJECT FIVE — STATUS REVISED.

MEMORY SOURCE: TRANSFERRED.

MEMORY RECEIVER: NOT VAREK THORNE.

Varek stared at the screen.

A second line appeared.

CURRENT RECEIVER IDENTIFIED: ADRIAN THORNE.

Adrian stepped backwards.

“No.”

The woman smiled.

“Welcome to the truth, Daniel.”

Then the original Daniel on the hospital bed began screaming.

“Don’t let her touch him!”

The woman turned towards the boy.

And for the first time, her face showed genuine fear.

Because the boy was no longer looking at Adrian.

He was looking at her.

And he remembered everything.