Fortress or Cage?
The Sahputra Mansion turned into a fortress overnight.
Calvin didn't waste a second. After the threatening letter, he ordered a full lockdown—installing new CCTV cameras in every corner, hiring ex-military security guards, and interrogating every member of the household.
> "No one is above suspicion," Calvin said coldly. "Not even you, Maria."
The long-time maid lowered her eyes, trembling.
"I raised you like my own," she whispered.
But Calvin wasn't swayed by emotion anymore. Not when his family was being hunted from the shadows.
---
The Scandal Returns
While Calvin tightened their defenses, another blow came—this time, from the outside.
A video was leaked online.
It showed Fini laughing and walking along a Tokyo street... with Shiro Yamanaka beside her. He reached to brush her hair, and she didn't stop him.
The media exploded.
> "Who is this Japanese man?"
"Was Fini cheating during her escape to Japan?"
"Does Calvin Sahputra know the truth about his wife's past?"
The timing was suspicious. Fini was already vulnerable after Akihiro's illness, and now her public image was once again dragged into the flames.
Calvin rushed into her study, holding the tablet.
> "What is this, Fini?"
Fini stared at the screen. Her lips trembled.
> "It's an old clip. I didn't know someone filmed us. Shiro helped me when I had nothing... but I never loved him."
Calvin looked at her, torn between belief and doubt.
> "Then why does it look like you did?"
She stood up, pushing the tablet aside.
> "You either trust me… or you don't, Calvin."
---
The Disappearance
That same afternoon, chaos erupted.
Lilith was gone.
Her nanny screamed as she ran through the halls.
> "She was playing in the garden—then she vanished!"
Fini dropped the coffee cup in her hands, her heart slamming against her chest.
> "No—No no no—Lilith!"
Security combed every room, every hall, every corner. They shut the gates, checked every car.
Fini couldn't breathe.
> "Not again. Not another child."
She collapsed near the staircase, sobbing uncontrollably.
After three hours of pure panic… a call came in.
---
The Call
A distorted voice echoed through the speaker.
> "You don't deserve Lilith, Fini."
> "Who are you? What do you want?"
> "Liora may be the villain in your story… but at least she doesn't pretend to be pure."
> "Where is she? Where's Lilith?!"
> "You should be asking your friends, not your enemies."
Click.
The line went dead.
Calvin tracked the call—burner phone. No trace. No clue.
But the final words echoed in his head:
> "Ask your friends…"
---
The Betrayal
Fini sat with Arora that night, trying to calm down.
> "I don't understand, Ro. Who would hurt us like this?"
Arora hesitated.
> "There's something you need to know… It's about Maria."
> "Maria?" Fini blinked.
Arora bit her lip.
> "Before Lilith disappeared… I saw Maria arguing with someone near the front gate. It looked… intense. And I overheard something strange—she said, 'I'm doing this for her.'"
Fini froze.
> "For her…?"
It couldn't be…
Maria—the woman who had watched her grow. Who fed her son. Who bathed Lilith.
> "No," she whispered. "She wouldn't."
But that evening, when Calvin demanded to see the servant logs, Maria had already vanished.
Gone.
Without a trace.