On the other end of the line, Rowan was startled, but hearing the dangerous edge in his boss' tone, he didn't dare ask questions. He immediately agreed, "Understood. I'm on it." Cindy frowned. "The Cross family is involved in this too?" Jethro's voice was icy. "Ines has been secretly colluding with certain forces." Cindy's heart skipped a beat, her fingers unconsciously tightening. "Are you saying that yacht could be—" All three of them felt a heavy, suffocating dread as they stared blankly out the window. The night outside was pitch-black. No silhouettes, no sense of direction. At four in the morning, Rowan delivered some crucial news. "I found it. The yacht is indeed connected to the Cross family's son. He's a surface-level shareholder. The actual controlling interest behind it, however, is an Aethelburg gang." Jethro let out a short, humorless laugh. "Good work." He then immediately called Rhett. "Officer Foster, your chance for a major career breakthrough just arrived." As for the Cross family, the first thing the next morning, Jethro drove over and intercepted Ines' father at his own doorstep. Tommy Cross looked utterly bewildered. Jethro wasted no time on pleasantries. "Where is Ines?" Tommy glanced back at his wife, teeth gritted in fury. "Look at your precious son. Stirring up trouble again." Wendy trembled, her voice small. "He didn't! He went abroad yesterday." Jethro's face darkened further. "Where?" Wendy wrung her hands. "I don't know. Yesterday afternoon, he was like a man possessed. He ran upstairs, threw some things in a suitcase, and came back down a few minutes later, saying he was going abroad for a few days." Jethro's smile was cold. "Running off to escape punishment." Wendy's heart quivered. Had her son done something terrible again? The next moment, Jethro gave the order. "Mr. Cross. You have twenty-four hours. If Ines is not standing before me by this time tomorrow, I see no further need for the Cross family's business to exist." He finished, adjusted his cuff, got back in his car, and drove away. He left Tommy and Wendy standing in their doorway, staring at each other in stunned silence. ... Exhausted after a sleepless night, Jethro returned to the Blackwood Villa. As he pushed the front door open, he found Clara, Cindy, and Zephyr all sitting in the living room, clearly waiting for him. "Jethro, any news?" Clara started forward, the question on her lips, but then she saw the dark circles under his eyes and the network of red veins within them. She realized he hadn't slept at all. "Go get some real sleep first. Cindy, Zephyr, and I will keep watch. We'll wake you the moment we hear anything," Clara urged gently. Jethro's lips were pale. He couldn't speak. Clara patted his shoulder, pressing again, "If you collapse, what will happen to Darcy? She's counting on you to save her." Finally, something shifted in Jethro's numb gaze. He turned mechanically and climbed the stairs, closing the bedroom door behind him before collapsing onto the bed. Sleep wouldn't come. Every time he closed his eyes, all he saw was Darcy—every smile, every frown. But his body was utterly spent. Without realizing it, he sank into a heavy fog. ... Darcy's eyes fluttered open. She took in the unfamiliar surroundings and shot up in bed, a jolt of pain shooting through her shoulder from the sudden movement. The memory hit her like a tidal wave. She remembered, just before losing consciousness, Zane injecting something into her back. Anesthetic, probably. To knock me out. Her whole body felt weak. Fighting the lingering grogginess, she pushed back the covers and got out of bed, quickly checking herself over. Finding nothing amiss, she let out a shaky breath of relief. Looks like Zane still had a shred of conscience. He hadn't touched her. She looked around the room. Where was this? The decor didn't look like anything she'd seen back home. She moved to pull the door open, but it swung inward before she could touch it. Darcy's eyes widened. She stumbled back two steps, her eyes darting around for something, anything, to use as a weapon.The room was bare—nothing. She retreated to the corner, pressing herself against the wall, her gaze fixed warily on the man in the doorway. "You're awake? You must be starving. Here, eat something." Zane placed a plate with a sandwich on the small table by the bed. Darcy's voice was tight. "Where is this?" A faint smile touched Zane's lips. "Somewhere no one can disturb us." He took a step forward. "Darcy, from now on, no one will ever separate us again." His words, spoken with growing fervor, only made Darcy's heart sink like a stone. She pressed herself further into the corner. "Stay away from me! "Zane, we broke up a long time ago. I don't love you. You don't love me. You're just not able to let go. Please, let me go. I swear, if you just let me leave, I won't go to the police. I'm begging you, let me go!" Zane stopped. His eyes narrowed slightly. "Darcy, you're right. I am full of regret. But it's not that I don't love you. It's that I love you too much. "I realized it too late. You had already taken root deep in my heart, but by the time I understood, you belonged to someone else. Fate has pitied me and given me another chance. I'll never let you go again. Darcy, we'll be back to how we were, very soon." Darcy felt a surge of pure hatred. "I stopped loving you a long time ago. Unless you can turn back time, we can never go back to how we were." A strange, unsettling smile spread across Zane's face. "Darcy, do you believe in magic?"