The Hidden heir’s revenge

Chapter 97 — The Boy Who Controlled the Transfer

Naomi grabbed the pendant before Daniel’s fingers could reach it.

“Don’t touch it!”

Daniel stared at her.

For a moment, he looked like an ordinary frightened child. His lower lip trembled, and tears gathered in his eyes.

Then he smiled.

It was not the smile Naomi knew.

“Why are you afraid, Mummy?”

Naomi pulled him closer.

“Daniel, look at me. You’re my son. Whatever is happening, you’re my son.”

The boy tilted his head.

“Which Daniel?”

Naomi felt her heart drop.

Evelyn moved towards them.

“Naomi, step away from him.”

“No!” Naomi tightened her arms around Daniel. “He’s a child.”

“He’s also connected to that system.”

Matthew approached slowly.

“Daniel, can you hear me?”

The boy turned towards him.

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

Matthew stopped.

“Who told you that?”

“You stole my name.”

Matthew’s face changed.

For the first time since he had arrived, he looked genuinely afraid.

Daniel continued.

“You took the name Matthew Thorne. You took the records. You even took the place they prepared for me.”

Matthew shook his head.

“I didn’t steal anything from you.”

“You were supposed to protect me.”

The boy’s voice suddenly cracked.

“You left me there.”

Naomi looked between them.

“What is he talking about?”

Matthew didn’t answer.

Instead, he stared at Daniel.

“How much do you remember?”

Daniel smiled again.

“Everything.”

The lights went out.

A loud alarm filled the building.

Evelyn rushed to the security panel, but the screen had already changed.

FINAL TRANSFER: 12%

ORIGINAL GUARDIAN: PRESENT

EIGHTH SUBJECT: ACTIVE

Naomi looked at the words.

“How do we stop it?”

Matthew moved towards the control panel.

“We need to disconnect the pendant.”

He reached for Naomi’s neck.

She stepped backwards.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Naomi, listen. If the transfer continues, the system will use your identity as the entry point. Daniel will become the controller, and the others will lose whatever identities they currently have.”

“Then stop it!”

“I can’t. The original Adrian has control.”

Daniel suddenly laughed.

“No, he doesn’t.”

Everyone turned towards him.

The boy looked directly at Matthew.

“He only thinks he does.”

⸻

In the maternity ward, Varek was trying to reach Naomi again.

There was still no signal.

Samuel stood in front of the computer, typing rapidly.

“The transfer is moving faster than before.”

Adrian looked at the screen.

“Can you shut it down?”

“I’ve tried.”

“Try again.”

Samuel turned towards him.

“You think I haven’t?”

Varek stepped between them.

“Fighting won’t help us.”

The original Adrian lay on the bed, breathing heavily.

Varek approached him.

“You said the final transfer would leave one identity. What exactly does that mean?”

The man looked at him.

“It means the system will choose one person to carry the original family identity. Everyone else will become part of the archive.”

Varek frowned.

“Become part of it how?”

“Their memories, records and identities will be absorbed. The outside world will continue to recognize them, but the system will control what they remember and what they can prove about themselves.”

Adrian stared at him.

“You’re talking about erasing people while leaving their bodies alive.”

“That’s what the system was designed to do.”

Varek clenched his fists.

“Who designed it?”

The original Adrian looked away.

“People who believed a family name was more valuable than a human life.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

The man closed his eyes.

“I helped build the first version.”

Silence filled the room.

Samuel stopped typing.

Adrian moved closer to the bed.

“You arranged the first identity transfer?”

“Yes.”

“And you allowed children to be used?”

The original Adrian looked at him.

“I was trying to save one child.”

“Which child?”

His answer came quietly.

“Naomi.”

Varek shook his head.

“You expect us to believe that?”

“I don’t expect you to believe anything. But you need to understand that Naomi was never supposed to be part of the transfer. She was supposed to be the person who stopped it.”

Samuel looked at the screen again.

A new file had appeared.

ORIGINAL GUARDIAN — NAOMI THORNE

SECONDARY GUARDIAN — VAREK THORNE

MEMORY CONTROLLER — DANIEL CROSS

TRANSFER ARCHITECT — ADRIAN THORNE

Samuel read the entries aloud.

Then he noticed something strange.

There were two names under Adrian’s entry.

ORIGINAL ADRIAN: TRANSFER ARCHITECT

CURRENT ADRIAN: REPLACEMENT

Current Adrian stared at the screen.

“So my entire life was built around replacing him?”

The original Adrian said nothing.

Adrian turned towards him.

“Did you know I existed?”

“Yes.”

“Did you know I would grow up believing I was you?”

The original Adrian’s silence was enough.

Adrian stepped back.

Varek placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Not now. We deal with this after we save Naomi and the children.”

Samuel suddenly shouted.

“Wait!”

The screen flashed.

A new video file had opened.

It showed a woman holding two newborn babies.

Varek moved closer.

The woman looked like Eleanor.

One baby was wrapped in a white blanket. The other was wrapped in a yellow one.

A man stood beside her, his face hidden by the camera angle.

Then a voice spoke.

“One child will carry the name. The other will carry the memory.”

The woman began crying.

“I won’t let you separate them.”

The man answered.

“You already have.”

The video ended.

Varek stared at the blank screen.

“Who was that man?”

The original Adrian whispered:

“Matthew.”

Samuel turned.

“Which Matthew?”

Before anyone could answer, the original Adrian’s heart monitor began beeping rapidly.

He grabbed Varek’s arm.

“Find the second birth certificate.”

“Where?”

“Under the original guardian’s file.”

Varek rushed towards the computer.

Samuel opened the folder.

There were two birth certificates.

The first listed a female child named Naomi Thorne.

The second listed another female child.

But the name section had been erased.

Instead, someone had written:

IDENTITY RESERVED FOR SUBJECT FIVE.

Varek stared at the paper.

“Subject Five?”

Samuel nodded.

“That’s the designation connected to your current identity.”

Varek looked at the original Adrian.

“Was I born a girl?”

The man struggled to breathe.

“You were born as the child they called Subject Five.”

“That isn’t an answer.”

“Because the answer is worse than you think.”

The monitor began beeping faster.

The original Adrian looked at Varek.

“Your body was never the first thing they transferred.”

Then his eyes closed.

The machine sounded a continuous alarm.

Samuel rushed to his side.

“He’s losing consciousness!”

Adrian looked at the monitor.

“Can you save him?”

Samuel began working on the equipment.

“I can try.”

Varek returned to the screen.

The second birth certificate was still open.

He enlarged the bottom section.

There was a handwritten note beneath the erased name.

THE CHILD WAS NEVER MISSING. THE CHILD WAS RENAMED.

A second line appeared beneath it.

CURRENT IDENTITY: VAREK THORNE.

Varek stepped away from the computer.

His hands began to shake.

⸻

At the secure location, Naomi was struggling to keep Daniel away from the pendant.

The boy had stopped crying.

He was standing quietly, staring at her.

“Please give it to me.”

Naomi shook her head.

“No.”

“Mummy, I need it.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to remember.”

Naomi knelt in front of him.

“Remember what?”

Daniel looked at her.

“The first time you held me.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“I held you when you were born.”

“No.”

He shook his head.

“You held me before they changed my name.”

Matthew suddenly moved towards them.

“Don’t listen to him.”

Daniel turned.

“You should be quiet, Matthew.”

Matthew’s expression hardened.

“You’re not the boy I remember.”

Daniel smiled sadly.

“That’s because you buried the boy you remember.”

A loud bang came from the main entrance.

Evelyn rushed towards the security monitor.

“Someone is outside.”

The screen showed a man standing in the corridor.

He was wearing a dark coat.

His face was hidden beneath a hood.

Naomi stepped closer.

“Who is that?”

Matthew stared at the screen.

Then he whispered:

“No.”

The man raised his head.

It was the same face as the original Adrian.

But this man was standing outside the facility.

And he was holding a little girl’s photograph.

Naomi’s mother grabbed her arm.

“Don’t open that door.”

The man looked directly into the security camera.

Then he spoke.

“Naomi, I’m here to take my daughter home.”

Daniel slowly turned towards the screen.

His smile disappeared.

For the first time, he looked terrified.

Then he whispered:

“That’s not Adrian.”

A pause.

“That’s the man who made us.”