Ethan stood beneath the streetlight, staring at the photograph in his hand. His heart was beating faster than usual. He turned the photograph over again. The name was still there.Jonathan Blackwood.Ethan whispered it slowly. "Jonathan Blackwood…" The name felt strangely familiar. He closed his eyes, trying to remember where he had heard it before. Nothing. Only a faint memory of his childhood. His father sitting beside him. A man's deep voice coming from somewhere nearby. And his father's warning. "Ethan, if anyone ever asks you about Jonathan Blackwood, tell them you know nothing."Ethan's eyes suddenly opened. He remembered. It was one of the few memories he had from before his father's disappearance. But why had his father been afraid of this man? And why had Thomas refused to tell him the name?Ethan looked back toward the old estate. The lights were still on. The men who had entered the house had not come outside. That worried him. He quickly put the photograph inside his jacke

Ethan barely slept that night. The photograph, the black card, and his father's old notebook were spread across the table in front of him. Too many pieces were beginning to connect. His father's disappearance. Jonathan Blackwood. The missing heir. The golden ring. And now the Ainsworth family. But there was still one question Ethan couldn't answer. Why was his father involved?He picked up the notebook again and carefully went through every page. Most of the writing was ordinary. Names. Dates. Business meetings. Locations. But there were several pages where his father had written only short sentences.Ethan read them one by one. "They are watching." "The child must remain hidden." "Blackwood knows something."Then he reached the final page. There was only one sentence. "The truth is inside the old records."Ethan frowned. "Old records?"He immediately remembered Thomas. The old butler had mentioned that his father had prepared his estate for emergencies. Maybe the records Thomas had h

The sound of footsteps grew louder. Ethan stood in the underground room, his back against the wall. Thomas was beside him, breathing heavily. "They're coming," Thomas whispered. Ethan tightened his grip. "How many?" "At least four." A loud bang came from the door above. Then another. "They know we're here." Ethan looked at Thomas. "Is there another way out?" Thomas pointed toward the far wall. "There is a passage, but it's blocked." "Can it be opened?" "Maybe." Before Thomas could say more, the door above suddenly broke open. Men rushed into the building. "Find them!" Ethan moved quickly. He grabbed a heavy metal object from the floor and waited. The first man entered the underground room. Ethan struck him before he could react. The man fell. A second attacker rushed forward. Ethan blocked his punch and pushed him against the wall. Thomas picked up a wooden chair and hit another attacker from behind. "Move!" Ethan shouted. They fought their way toward the hidden passage.

Sophia couldn't sleep. She sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the message Ethan had received. She had not seen the exact words, but she had seen enough from his expression to know something serious had happened.For months, Ethan had been changing. He was no longer the man who quietly accepted every insult from her family. He had become calmer. More confident. And increasingly distant.Sophia knew she was partly responsible. She remembered every time she had stood silently while her family humiliated him. Every time she had allowed Kyle to mock him. Every time she had treated Ethan as though he were a burden she had been forced to carry. Now Ethan was facing danger, and she couldn't even convince him to tell her what was happening.Sophia picked up her phone. She opened her mother's contact. She almost called. Then she stopped. Her mother's reaction earlier had made one thing clear. Her family knew something. Something about Ethan. Something about his father.Sophia put the phone

Ethan stood inside the storage facility, staring at the empty folder on the dusty table. The words written on it kept running through his mind.A. AINSWORTH — PROTECTED IDENTITY.Someone had taken the file before they arrived.Daniel picked up the folder and examined it carefully. "There is nothing inside," he said.Ethan nodded. "But someone wanted us to find this."Daniel looked at him. "You think it was left here deliberately?""I don't know."Ethan looked around the room. The storage facility was old and abandoned. Broken shelves stood against the walls, covered with dust. Several boxes had been opened, but only one seemed to have been searched recently. The box containing the missing file.Ethan crouched beside it. "There was a struggle here."Daniel moved closer. "How can you tell?"Ethan pointed at the floor. "There are fresh marks."Daniel followed his finger. Someone had dragged something heavy across the floor recently.Ethan stood. "They didn't just steal the file. They wer