Arthur’s breath caught. “There weren’t any servants with Finley?” For a family as powerful as the Tremo family, how could a child like Finley be out playing without supervision? Solivair gave a helpless nod. “There was. But the servant had a sudden stomach issue and stepped away for just a few minutes. By the time he came back, the Lovaris family’s youngest daughter had already drowned.” Arthur sprang to his feet. “How long was he gone? Why didn’t he help her in time?” Solivair sighed heavily. “He tried. But by the time he found her, she wasn’t breathing. Her body was already floating in the water. It was too late.” “That was when the Lovaris family went from being our close allies to sworn enemies.” Arthur narrowed his eyes. “Then why didn’t you return her body to them?” Everything he had heard indicated the girl had simply disappeared. They had searched endlessly but found nothing. Solivair let out another long sigh and lowered his head. “At the time, I had just acquired a new chemical agent. It was an experimental compound that could instantly turn dead bodies—and even objects—to ash. When I heard she had died, I don’t know what came over me… I used her for the test.” “The trial was a success. The moment I dripped the solution onto her, her body rapidly decomposed and disintegrated. Even the personal items on her were corroded. It was like some ancient corpse-dissolving powder.” He inhaled sharply before continuing. “I had no remains to return, and I couldn’t tell them what I’d done. So I told Ryder… she had vanished.” The servant who had accompanied Finley that day—Solivair had dealt with him too. He had kept Finley close all these years because of that incident. Closer than he would’ve otherwise. He’d warned him over and over, careful never to let the secret slip. Thankfully, Finley had enough sense to understand the gravity of the situation. He’d kept quiet. But today… it was no longer something that could be buried. If Solivair didn’t come clean, Arthur would go straight to Finley.As father and son, maybe he hadn’t loved Finley the way he loved Lynn, but Finley was still his child. Arthur stood frozen in place, stunned. There was actually a chemical like that in the world? He suddenly remembered the first time he’d been kidnapped. Back then, Hugo had arrived with the police. There had clearly been corpses—Dean and Kent—lying in the warehouse. They’d had weapons too. But when the police searched the place, the bodies were gone. The guns had disappeared too. It had haunted Arthur ever since. So this was the answer. That agent. He looked up again. “Where is it now?” Solivair shook his head. “Gone. The man who gave it to me died of cancer not long ago. He was a recluse, had no family, no students, and never revealed the formula to anyone.” Arthur slowly sank back into his chair. He’d gotten what he came for. Now it was time to stop withholding information about Lynn. He abruptly changed the subject. “Do you even realize how much damage you caused Lynn, keeping her locked up in that mansion for years?” Solivair froze. “You’ve seen Lynn?” It wasn’t a question—it was a statement. He had noticed signs of mental strain in Lynn long ago. That had only made him tighten her protection. Now that Arthur had brought her up, Solivair’s whole body seemed to jolt back to life. His eyes lit up with hope and nervous excitement. Arthur nodded. “Yes.” Solivair’s eyes widened in disbelief. His voice trembled. “You… you really saw her?” Before Arthur could respond, Solivair launched into a barrage of questions. “Where is she? Is she okay? Who is she with? Why didn’t you bring her to see me?”Arthur didn’t answer right away. She was his sister. He thought of her innocent eyes, how frightened she’d been at the idea of leaving the island. The more he remembered, the angrier he got at Solivair. He shouted, “You had everything! Why did you imprison her in that place? You pushed her to the brink, to the point where her mental health began to collapse—and you still wouldn’t let her go!” Solivair flinched. He shook his head, voice strained. “You’re saying… her mental illness was caused by me keeping her there?” “‘Protecting’ her?” Arthur snapped. “That’s what you call protecting? Locking her up in a dark, airless mansion with no sunlight or freedom?”