I stared at the clock.
8:21 p.m.
Three hours and thirty-nine minutes.
That was all I had.
Three hours and thirty-nine minutes to find Lily.
Three hours and thirty-nine minutes to discover who had been controlling our lives from the shadows.
Three hours and thirty-nine minutes before someone died.
I wiped my tears and looked at Adrian.
He was watching me with an expression I couldn't understand.
Fear.
Pain.
And something else.
Something that looked dangerously close to love.
"I won't let you go alone," he said.
I looked away.
"You don't get to decide that."
"I know."
"Then stop deciding things for me."
He went silent.
My words had hurt him.
But I was hurting too.
I turned toward my mother.
"Mom, you knew Lily was alive."
She nodded through her tears.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
"That they would come back for you."
I laughed bitterly.
"They came anyway."
My mother lowered her head.
"I thought keeping you ignorant would keep you safe."
"It didn't."
"I know."
I looked at the gold key in my hand.
"What does this open?"
Nobody answered.
I looked at my father.
"Dad?"
He sighed.
"We don't know."
I stared at him.
"You're lying."
His eyes met mine.
"I wish I was."
I looked at my uncle.
"What about you?"
He said nothing.
"Tell me!"
My voice echoed through the room.
My uncle finally spoke.
"The key belonged to Richard."
Adrian immediately turned toward him.
"What?"
My uncle swallowed.
"Richard always carried it."
"Then why did my mother have it?"
He looked at my mother.
"She took it from the warehouse."
My mother nodded.
"But why?"
She looked at me.
"Because Richard was carrying it when I found him."
I froze.
"You said Richard ran away."
"He did."
"Then how did you get the key?"
My mother hesitated.
"I found it near the body."
"Whose body?"
Silence.
My stomach dropped.
"Mom…"
She closed her eyes.
"Samuel's."
I stepped back.
"But you said Samuel was alive."
"He was."
"Then how did his key end up there?"
Nobody answered.
Adrian suddenly walked toward the table.
He picked up the photograph.
"There's something wrong."
"What?"
He turned the photograph over.
"Look at the handwriting."
I stared at it.
The words LILY IS ALIVE were written in black ink.
But beneath them was something I hadn't noticed.
A small symbol.
A circle with a line through the center.
Adrian's face changed.
"You know that symbol?"
"Yes."
"What does it mean?"
He looked at my father.
My father immediately looked away.
"Dad?"
Adrian spoke.
"It was my father's symbol."
My heart stopped.
"Richard?"
He nodded.
"That means Richard knew Lily survived."
I stared at the photograph.
"But Richard died."
Adrian didn't answer.
A terrible thought entered my mind.
"What if he didn't?"
Everyone went silent.
My uncle shook his head.
"No."
I looked at him.
"You're afraid."
He stepped backward.
"I said no."
"Why are you afraid?"
He didn't answer.
Adrian moved closer to him.
"Because you know something."
My uncle suddenly reached into his pocket.
Adrian reacted instantly.
He grabbed his wrist.
Something fell to the floor.
A phone.
I stared at it.
My uncle's face went pale.
I picked it up.
The screen was unlocked.
There was one message.
THEY HAVE THE KEY.
I looked at my uncle.
"Who did you send this to?"
He said nothing.
"Who?"
My father stepped forward.
"Give me the phone."
"No."
I held it tighter.
"You're all lying to me."
My mother began crying again.
"Please."
"No!"
I screamed.
"I am done being protected by lies!"
The room went completely silent.
Then the phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
COME TO THE OLD WAREHOUSE.
Below it:
BRING THE KEY.
My heart pounded.
The address was attached.
Adrian looked at me.
"We're not going."
"We have to."
"It could be a trap."
"It is a trap."
He stared at me.
"And you're still going?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
I looked at Lily's photograph.
"Because she's my sister."
My voice broke.
"And if she's there, I'm going."
Adrian stared at me for several seconds.
Then he nodded.
"Then I'm coming."
I didn't argue.
Not this time.
Because somewhere inside me, I knew I needed him.
I hated admitting it.
But I did.
We left the house at 8:43 p.m.
My father wanted to come.
I refused.
My mother begged me not to go.
I hugged her.
For a moment, I felt like a little girl again.
Terrified.
Lost.
Desperate for her mother to tell her everything would be okay.
But she didn't.
Because she knew it wouldn't.
"Come back," she whispered.
I nodded.
"I will."
Adrian opened the car door for me.
Before I entered, I looked back at the house.
Something told me that when I returned, nothing would ever be the same.
I got inside.
Adrian started the engine.
Neither of us spoke for several minutes.
Finally, he said,
"You're angry with me."
I looked out the window.
"Yes."
"Do you hate me?"
I didn't answer immediately.
"No."
He glanced at me.
"Then what do you feel?"
I looked at him.
"I don't know."
That was the truth.
"I want to trust you."
His hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"But every time I get close to trusting you, I discover another secret."
"I know."
"You should have told me."
"I should have."
"Why didn't you?"
He was silent.
Then he whispered,
"Because I fell in love with you."
I turned toward him.
My heart stopped.
"What?"
His eyes remained on the road.
"I thought if you knew the truth, you'd leave."
I couldn't speak.
"You were supposed to be my wife because of a deal," he continued.
"But somewhere along the way, you stopped being part of a deal."
He looked at me.
"You became the only person I couldn't lose."
My eyes filled with tears.
I looked away before he could see them.
"You should have told me."
"I know."
"I might have understood."
"I was afraid you wouldn't."
I wiped my cheek.
"I'm still angry."
"I know."
"But…"
I looked at him.
"I don't want you to die."
His expression softened.
"I don't want you to die either."
The car continued through the dark road.
Then suddenly—
The headlights went out.
Adrian slammed on the brakes.
"What happened?"
He tried turning them back on.
Nothing.
The road ahead disappeared into darkness.
Then my phone vibrated.
I looked down.
A message appeared.
WELCOME.
My blood ran cold.
Then another message.
LOOK BEHIND YOU.
I slowly turned.
A black car was following us.
Its headlights flashed twice.
Adrian immediately started the engine again.
"Hold on."
The black car accelerated.
"So they followed us?" I whispered.
"Yes."
Adrian stepped on the accelerator.
The car behind us followed.
My heart pounded violently.
"Adrian!"
"I see them."
The road became narrower.
The black car came closer.
Then suddenly, it rammed into the back of our car.
I screamed.
Adrian lost control.
The car swerved.
We hit the side of the road.
My head slammed against the window.
Everything went black for a second.
When I opened my eyes, Adrian was already looking at me.
"Are you hurt?"
"I—I don't know."
He unbuckled his seatbelt.
"Stay here."
"No!"
He opened the door.
"Adrian!"
He turned.
"I'll be back."
He stepped outside.
The black car stopped several metres away.
A door opened.
A man stepped out.
He wasn't wearing a mask.
I stared through the windshield.
My blood froze.
I knew that face.
I had seen it before.
In the photograph.
At the warehouse.
Standing beside my uncle.
Standing beside Victor.
My lips trembled.
"Victor…"
Then another person stepped out of the car.
My heart stopped completely.
Because the second person wasn't Victor.
It was someone I had believed was dead.
Someone whose death had started this entire nightmare.
Richard.
Adrian's father.
Alive.
And he was smiling.