The moment Rowan's words settled into silence, Selina felt the atmosphere in the room shift again.
"I think they believe the Vale family knows where it is."
Lucian's expression turned dangerously unreadable.
Not surprise.
Calculation.
As if pieces of something unfinished had suddenly aligned in his mind.
Selina tightened her grip on the phone slightly.
"What exactly are they looking for?"
Rowan exhaled quietly.
"I don't know everything."
That meant he knew something.
Selina noticed immediately.
"Rowan."
His voice lowered further.
"I overheard part of the conversation."
A pause.
"They mentioned a vault."
Lucian's eyes sharpened instantly.
Selina looked toward him automatically.
"A vault?" she repeated.
"Yes."
Rowan sounded tense now.
"They said your parents hid something before the accident, and the only surviving access point may still exist."
Selina's chest tightened faintly.
Her thoughts immediately spiraled.
A hidden vault.
Protected information.
A murdered family.
And suddenly—
her rebirth no longer felt connected only to survival.
It felt connected to unfinished history.
Rowan continued carefully.
"The men asking questions… they weren't acting like businessmen."
Lucian's expression darkened slightly.
"They wouldn't."
Selina looked at him sharply.
"You know about the vault."
Lucian remained silent for a second too long.
That was enough.
Selina ended the call slowly before turning fully toward him.
"What aren't you telling me now?"
Lucian held her gaze steadily.
"The Blackthorn family maintained an encrypted archive."
The room became still.
Selina folded her arms tightly.
"What kind of archive?"
Lucian walked toward the window again before answering.
"One capable of destroying influential people."
Silence.
Selina stared at him.
"That's impossible."
"No," Lucian replied quietly. "It's exactly why your family was targeted."
Her pulse slowed painfully.
Information.
Evidence.
Secrets powerful enough to eliminate an entire family.
Suddenly everything felt darker than before.
Lucian continued calmly.
"The Blackthorn archive allegedly contained records connected to financial manipulation, political corruption, and illegal corporate operations spanning decades."
Selina's chest tightened faintly again.
"And the Hollow Circle wanted control of it."
"Yes."
A pause.
"When your parents refused to surrender access, the accident happened."
The word accident sounded wrong now.
Artificial.
Cold.
Selina slowly looked away.
Murder disguised as tragedy.
Years of silence built on top of it.
And somehow—
she had survived through the middle of all of it without knowing why.
Lucian watched her carefully.
"The problem now is timing."
Selina frowned slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"In previous outcomes," Lucian said quietly, "they searched for the archive much later."
Her attention sharpened instantly.
"Because I changed things again."
"Yes."
Selina pressed her fingers lightly against her temple.
Every choice she made seemed to accelerate the danger around her.
The realization was exhausting.
Lucian stepped closer slowly.
"But that also means they're making mistakes earlier."
Selina looked at him carefully.
"You think rushing makes them vulnerable."
"It does."
Silence followed again.
Then suddenly—
another memory fragment flashed through her mind without warning.
Dark stairs.
A hidden hallway.
A woman's voice whispering urgently—
"If anything happens, never let them below the east wing."
Selina froze instantly.
Her breathing slowed unevenly.
Lucian noticed immediately.
"What did you remember?"
Selina looked at him slowly.
"…A hallway."
His expression sharpened.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
She closed her eyes briefly, trying to steady the fragment before it disappeared again.
"There were stairs. Underground maybe."
Lucian stepped closer immediately now.
"What else?"
Selina pressed a hand lightly against her chest.
A faint headache pulsed behind her eyes.
"I heard a woman speaking."
A pause.
"She sounded scared."
Lucian's voice lowered.
"What did she say?"
Selina swallowed faintly.
Then whispered—
"'Never let them below the east wing.'"
The silence afterward felt suffocating.
Lucian's jaw tightened visibly this time.
Selina opened her eyes slowly.
"You know what that means."
It wasn't a question anymore.
Lucian exhaled quietly before answering.
"The Vale estate east wing was sealed after you arrived there as a child."
Her pulse stumbled.
"What?"
"No one was permitted access except Damian."
The room suddenly felt colder.
Selina stared at him.
All these years…
there had been an entire section of the mansion permanently closed off.
And she never questioned it because the family normalized its existence.
Lucian continued quietly.
"In previous outcomes, the Hollow Circle eventually searched the east wing after your death."
Selina's chest tightened painfully.
"And?"
"They found nothing."
That answer surprised her.
Selina frowned slightly.
"Then why are they searching again now?"
Lucian's silver eyes held hers steadily.
"Because this time you started remembering before they secured the estate."
Silence.
Selina slowly processed that.
The memories.
The hidden hallway.
The sealed east wing.
And suddenly—
she understood why Damian wanted her back so urgently.
Not for protection.
Not entirely.
Because she might unknowingly hold the only remaining connection to whatever her parents hid.
Lucian's voice became quieter now.
"There's another possibility."
Selina looked up.
"What?"
He hesitated slightly before speaking.
"The archive may require biological authorization."
Her brows tightened immediately.
"What does that even mean?"
Lucian's gaze remained steady.
"It means the Blackthorn family likely designed access systems connected to bloodline verification."
The room went completely still.
Selina stared at him.
"You're saying only I can open it."
"Yes."
The answer landed like ice inside her chest.
And suddenly—
the threats…
the surveillance…
the repeated deaths…
they all made horrifying sense.
She was never only a surviving heir.
She was the key.
Selina slowly sat down again, trying to steady the pressure building in her mind.
Everything had changed too quickly.
Lucian watched her carefully.
"They will become more aggressive now."
Selina laughed softly under her breath.
"More aggressive than threatening to kill me?"
"Yes."
The calm certainty in his voice made her stomach tighten.
Lucian stepped closer.
"In previous outcomes, they manipulated emotional attachment first because you were easier to control emotionally."
A pause.
"This time that failed."
Selina looked up slowly.
"So now they'll stop pretending."
"Yes."
Silence filled the room again.
Then suddenly—
Lucian's phone rang sharply once more.
He answered immediately.
The person speaking on the other side talked quickly.
Selina watched Lucian's expression shift colder with every passing second.
Then finally—
"…Understood," he said quietly before ending the call.
Selina stood immediately.
"What happened?"
Lucian looked directly at her.
"The east wing of the Vale estate was opened thirty minutes ago."
Her heartbeat stumbled painfully.
"What?"
Lucian's gaze darkened.
"Someone inside the family granted them access."
The room became completely still.
Selina's fingers curled tightly at her sides.
Because deep down—
she already knew exactly who would have handed over the key first.