I pulled the phone out and stared at the dark screen.

If I turned it on, the signal might be traced by Salvatore’s security team.

But I had no other choice.

I pressed the power button, and the screen glowed faint blue in the darkness.

There was a single unread message.

It was from an unknown number, but I recognized the coded phrase immediately.

*The birds are in the nest. The ledger is open.*

It was Isabella.

She had the children, and she was already working.

I knew what she was doing.

She and Adrian had been talking in secret before my capture.

They were trying to find the digital key to the Vale family’s encrypted financial files.

Those files contained decades of illegal transactions that would ruin both the Vale and Hart families.

If Adrian could get those files, he would have the leverage to destroy Salvatore.

But he had to do it before midnight.

I typed a quick reply: *I am at the estate. Under the main house.*

I hit send and immediately turned the phone off.

The darkness returned, thicker than before.