00:00Maya stared at the photograph on Adrian's phone, Isabel alive, and a little girl no older than two, clutching her
00:07hand outside a small cottage by the sea.
00:10Adrian said nothing. His hands were shaking too hard to hold the phone steady.
00:16A daughter, Maya whispered.
00:18Adrian, you have a daughter.
00:20Marcus leaned in, scanning the message and the blocked number it came from.
00:25Whoever sent this wants you to panic. They want you racing to that cottage without a plan, which means they'll
00:33be watching the road, waiting to see exactly what you do next.
00:37Then we don't give them what they're watching for, Christina said sharply.
00:41We move now, and we move smart.
00:44They split into two vehicles to avoid drawing attention.
00:48Marcus driving the unmarked palace car with Christina, while Adrian and Maya followed 20 minutes behind in a rented sedan.
00:57Marcus had arranged specifically to avoid any palace tracking systems.
01:02The three-hour drive to the coast passed intense silence, broken only by Adrian's occasional glance at the photograph, still
01:11open on his phone.
01:12I don't know how to feel, Adrian finally admitted, eyes fixed on the dark highway ahead.
01:20Three years of grief, and now I find out she survived, hit a pregnancy, raised a daughter alone, and never
01:27once tried to reach me.
01:29Maybe she couldn't, Maya said gently.
01:32If she was hiding from the same people who tried to kill her, reaching out might have meant leading them
01:39straight to her daughter.
01:40Our daughter, Adrian corrected quietly, testing the words for the first time.
01:46Maya felt something tighten in her chest.
01:49Not resentment, but the sharp, sudden understanding that whatever she and Adrian had been building together
01:56now had to make room for a family that existed long before she'd ever climbed into that crashed car on
02:03Route 9.
02:04Marcus called Adrian's phone as they crossed into the coastal county.
02:08His voice tight with urgency.
02:11I did some digging during the drive.
02:13The number that texted you traces back to a burner phone purchased two days ago in this exact county.
02:19Two days ago, Adrian repeated, before we even found the archive file.
02:24Which means someone already knew Isabel was alive before tonight.
02:28Marcus said grimly.
02:30Someone's been watching that cottage for a while.
02:33Tonight might just be the night they decided to make their move.
02:36Who? Adrian demanded.
02:39I have a guess, Marcus said.
02:41But I need you to hear me say this clearly.
02:43If I'm right, this goes well beyond a rogue security operation.
02:48This goes straight to the top of the Ashworth family's business interests.
02:51In the passenger seat, Christina's face went pale.
02:57My father.
02:57They arrived at the small, weathered cottage just after 2 a.m.
03:02Moonlight glinting off the ocean, beyond a narrow strip of dune grass.
03:07The porch light was on.
03:09The front door stood slightly ajar.
03:11Bedrian was out of the car before Maya could stop him, sprinting up the gravel path with his heart pounding.
03:17Isabel, he called, pushing the door open completely.
03:22Isabel, it's Adrian.
03:23The cottage was empty.
03:25A child's small shoe lay abandoned near an overturned chair.
03:29A shattered teacup lay in pieces on the kitchen floor.
03:34Still slightly warm to the touch.
03:36Someone was here, Maya said, kneeling beside the wreckage.
03:40Recently, very recently, Adrian searched the small cottage frantically, room by room,
03:47until he found a folded piece of paper tucked beneath the child's overturned shoe.
03:53Clearly left in haste, clearly meant to be found, he unfolded it with trembling hands.
03:59The handwriting was Isabel's.
04:01He recognized it instantly from the old letters in Helene's wooden box.
04:06If you're reading this, Adrian, know that I never stopped loving you.
04:10I only stopped trusting the people around you.
04:13Our daughter's name is Lucia.
04:15She has your eyes.
04:17Please, if you find this before they do, don't come after us alone.
04:21You have no idea how deep this actually goes.
04:24Maya read over his shoulder, her hand finding his without thinking.
04:28Adrian, we need to call this in.
04:31Real authorities, not palace security.
04:34If we do that, Marcus said, appearing in the doorway with Christina close behind,
04:40and this truly does trace back to the Ashworth family's business dealings.
04:44We risk exposing everything before we understand who else might be involved,
04:49including people inside my own operation who might still be loyal to whoever's really behind this.
04:55Christina stood frozen in the cottage doorway, staring at the overturned teacup,
05:01like it might answer the question she was clearly afraid to ask out loud.
05:06There's something I should have told you back at the palace, she said quietly.
05:11My father didn't just want access to the East Wing archive to protect our trade leverage.
05:16Two years ago, he mentioned just once, almost in passing,
05:20that he'd learned Adrian's late wife might not be as late as the official story claimed.
05:27And you never said anything, Adrian said, anger flashing through his exhaustion.
05:33I didn't believe him, Christina said.
05:35I thought it was just another one of his manipulation games,
05:38something to keep leverage over your family in his back pocket.
05:42I swear to you, I never thought he'd actually act on it.
05:45Well, he did, Maya said sharply.
05:48And now a woman and a two-year-old girl are missing because of it.
05:52Marcus's phone buzzed sharply in his pocket.
05:55He answered, listened for only a few seconds,
05:58and his expression shifted instantly from tense to alarmed.
06:02That was one of my remaining contacts inside the postal patrol, he said, lowering the phone slowly.
06:09A black car matching the description of an Ashworth family vehicle
06:13was reported leaving a private airstrip 12 miles from here, roughly 40 minutes ago.
06:20An airstrip, Adrian said.
06:22They're taking her out of the country.
06:24Not just her, Marcus said grimly.
06:27The flight plan filed lists two adult passengers and one minor child.
06:33Destination undisclosed.
06:35Adrian's phone buzzed again, the same unknown number as before.
06:40He opened the message with shaking hands.
06:43This time it wasn't a photograph.
06:45It was a live video thumbnail, paused on a single frame.
06:49Isabel, seated, visibly frightened, holding Lucia tightly against her chest,
06:55inside what looked like the cabin.
06:57Of a small private plane.
06:59A message appeared beneath it, as the video began to load.
07:04Come alone to the number below, or the next video won't have a pause button.
07:08Maya looked up at Adrian, watching the color drain completely from his face.
07:13Adrian, she said carefully.
07:15What does it say?
07:17Coming up in episode 8, no pause button.
07:20Adrian faces an impossible choice,
07:23as the countdown to Isabel and Lucia's flight begins.
07:26And the truth about Christina's father comes fully into the light.
07:31What the hell is coming up in episode 8?
07:31All right.
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