Evelyn locked Noah outside in the snow with no coat while Daniel watched.

We left the hotel twenty minutes later, just after midnight. Thomas led us through a rear exit, down a narrow alleyway, and into a waiting car with tinted windows.

"Do not speak," Thomas told us as we climbed into the backseat. "Do not look at anyone. Keep your heads down."

I pressed my face against Emily’s side. She held me tight, staring straight ahead, her expression hard and determined.

The car drove through quiet streets. I watched the city lights pass by, wondering if I would ever see any of it again. Wondering if I would ever know what home really meant.

At the airport, Thomas walked with us to a private boarding gate, away from the main terminal. He handed Emily the tickets and a thick envelope.

"Inside is identification," he said quietly. "New names. New passports. Everything you need to begin again. And enough money to live comfortably for a very long time."

Emily stared at the envelope as if it burned her hands.

"New names?"

"For both of you," Thomas said. "Until this is over. Daniel is watching every port, every border crossing, every public record. If you travel as Emily and Noah Hayes… he will find you before morning."

Emily looked at me. She brushed hair from my face, her eyes filled with tears.

"Noah… we have to change our names for a little while. Just until we are safe. Is that alright?"

I didn’t understand why we had to change who we were. But I nodded anyway. If it meant staying with her… I would do anything.

Thomas looked at his watch.

"You must go. The plane is waiting." He turned back to Emily. "When you land, someone will meet you. They will take you to a safe house. There you will stay until I contact you."

"And Daniel?" Emily asked. "What happens while we are gone?"

Thomas’s face hardened.

"I will handle Daniel. I will present this evidence to the authorities. I will freeze the accounts. I will strip him of every asset he tried to steal. And when it is all done… I will call you. And you will come home. And you will decide what happens next."

Emily looked at the folder in her hand—the one filled with proof. Then she looked at Thomas.

"Be careful," she said.

"More careful than you can imagine," he replied. "Now go. Quickly."

We boarded the plane. It was small, with only a few seats. No one checked our bags. No one asked questions.

Emily sat by the window, holding me close. As the plane taxied down the runway and lifted into the sky, she looked back at the city receding beneath us.

"Goodbye," she whispered.

I didn’t know if she was talking to the city… or to the life we were leaving behind.

As the plane climbed higher, disappearing into the clouds, I pulled the blanket tighter around me. The same blanket Emily had wrapped around me back at the mansion. The one that still smelled like home.

I looked down at the lights far below. Somewhere out there was Daniel. And Evelyn. And the man who had chased me through the snow.