Ethan couldn’t move.

The man standing at the bottom of the stairs looked older than the photograph but unmistakably familiar.

Gray hair.

Sharp eyes.

A thin scar across his left eyebrow.

Ethan whispered one word.

“Uncle Daniel?”

The man smiled.

“No. Daniel was your father.”

He stepped into the moonlight.

“My name is Victor Rose.”

Ethan’s face hardened.

“You’re supposed to be dead.”

Victor laughed softly.

“Everyone seems to think that.”

Livia stepped closer to Ethan.

Victor’s eyes moved toward her.

“And you must be Livia.”

She felt a chill.

“How do you know my name?”

“I’ve known your name for a very long time.”

Ethan moved in front of her.

“Stay away from her.”

Victor smiled.

“Still protecting people. Just like your father.”

Ethan clenched his fists.

“You killed him.”

Victor’s smile disappeared.

“No.”

He looked toward the old cassette recorder.

“Your father killed himself.”

Ethan’s eyes filled with anger.

“That’s a lie.”

“Is it?”

Victor walked toward the table.

“Your father knew the truth would destroy everyone. He chose silence.”

Livia’s mother stepped forward.

“Don’t listen to him.”

Victor looked at her.

“You’re still lying to them.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know exactly what happened.”

He pointed toward Livia.

“Your daughter was never supposed to be part of this.”

Livia swallowed.

“What is this?”

Victor looked at her.

“A promise.”

“What promise?”

He smiled.

“The promise your mother and my brother made seventeen years ago.”

Livia looked at her mother.

“Tell me.”

Her mother closed her eyes.

“Your father and Daniel discovered that Victor was stealing photographs from people.”

Livia frowned.

“Photographs?”

“Not ordinary photographs,” her mother said.

“They showed things that hadn’t happened yet.”

Ethan stared.

“My father could see the future?”

“Sometimes.”

Victor laughed.

“He could see possibilities.”

He picked up the old photograph.

“And I wanted that ability.”

Livia’s mother shook her head.

“You wanted control.”

Victor looked at her.

“What’s the difference?”

Ethan stepped forward.

“You started the fire.”

Victor’s expression became cold.

“Yes.”

Silence filled the cottage.

Livia’s heart sank.

“You killed Ethan’s father.”

“I didn’t intend to.”

“You locked him inside.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because he refused to give me the photographs.”

Ethan’s voice trembled.

“You let me believe it was my fault.”

Victor looked at him.

“You locked the door.”

Ethan’s face went pale.

Victor smiled.

“And I let you carry the guilt.”

Livia immediately took Ethan’s hand.

He looked at her.

His eyes were full of pain.

“I was seventeen,” he whispered.

“I know.”

“I thought I killed him.”

“You didn’t.”

“I heard him calling me.”

“I know.”

“I ran away.”

Livia moved closer.

“And you came back.”

Ethan looked at her.

“Because of you.”

Victor watched them.

“How touching.”

Livia turned toward him.

“Why did you bring us here?”

Victor’s smile returned.

“Because I need something.”

“What?”

He pointed at the metal box.

“The letters.”

Livia shook her head.

“No.”

Victor stepped forward.

“You don’t understand.”

“I understand enough.”

He reached into his coat.

Ethan pulled Livia behind him.

Victor stopped.

Then slowly removed a photograph.

He placed it on the table.

Livia looked at it.

Her heart stopped.

It was a photograph of her and Ethan.

Taken that afternoon.

At the greenhouse.

The moment they kissed.

Livia whispered:

“You’ve been following us.”

Victor smiled.

“For months.”

Ethan stared at him.

“Why?”

“Because you have something I need.”

“What?”

Victor pointed at Livia.

“Her mother’s final photograph.”

Livia’s mother became pale.

“No.”

Victor nodded.

“Yes.”

Livia looked at her mother.

“What photograph?”

Her mother whispered:

“The one that proves who started the fire.”

Victor’s expression changed.

“Give it to me.”

“No.”

He stepped closer.

“Then I will take it.”

Suddenly Ethan grabbed Livia’s hand.

“Run.”

They rushed toward the back door.

Victor shouted behind them.

“Ethan!”

They ran into the forest.

Branches scratched their arms.

The moonlight barely reached the ground.

Livia could hear Ethan breathing beside her.

“Where are we going?”

“The lake.”

“Why?”

“There is a boat.”

They reached the shore.

Ethan pulled a small boat from beneath the trees.

They climbed inside.

He pushed away from the shore.

Victor appeared between the trees.

He didn’t follow.

He simply watched.

Livia looked back.

“Why isn’t he chasing us?”

Ethan’s expression darkened.

“Because he knows where we’re going.”

“Where?”

“The island.”

“What island?”

Ethan pointed toward the darkness.

A tiny island stood in the center of the lake.

“That’s where my father hid the photograph.”

---

They reached the island just before midnight.

An old wooden cabin stood beneath the trees.

Ethan opened the door.

Inside was a single table.

On the wall hung dozens of photographs.

Livia walked closer.

Her mother.

Ethan’s father.

The greenhouse.

The fire.

And finally…

A photograph of Victor.

Standing beside the burning studio.

Livia stared.

“There.”

Ethan walked toward it.

Behind the photograph was a small envelope.

Inside was a letter.

Ethan read it aloud.

If Victor ever returns, show him this.

He believes the photograph contains the future.

It doesn’t.

It contains the truth.

Ethan looked confused.

“What truth?”

Livia turned the photograph over.

There was another image hidden behind it.

A photograph of Victor handing something to someone.

The person beside him was hidden in shadow.

Livia stared.

“Who is that?”

Ethan looked closer.

Then his face changed.

“No.”

“What?”

He pointed to the figure.

“That can’t be.”

“Who?”

“My mother.”

Livia’s heart stopped.

Ethan’s mother was standing beside Victor.

The two of them were holding hands.

Livia stared at the photograph.

“She was working with him.”

“No.”

Ethan shook his head.

“She wouldn’t.”

But another photograph fell from the envelope.

This one showed Ethan’s mother giving Victor the key to the studio.

Ethan sank into a chair.

“My whole life…”

Livia sat beside him.

“Ethan.”

“I trusted her.”

“You didn’t know.”

“She lied to me.”

“She was trying to protect you.”

He looked at Livia.

“How do you know?”

“Because my mother did the same thing.”

Their eyes met.

For a moment, the mystery disappeared.

There were only two broken people sitting in an old cabin.

Two people who had been lied to by the people they loved.

Ethan reached for her hand.

“What if everyone we love keeps secrets from us?”

“Then we’ll stop keeping secrets from each other.”

He smiled.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Outside, rain began falling.

They sat beside the window.

The hours passed.

Neither wanted to leave.

Finally Ethan whispered:

“Stay until morning.”

Livia looked at him.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder.

“I’m staying.”

He wrapped his arm around her.

“You know…”

“What?”

“Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Livia smiled.

“Even better than the chocolate bar?”

He laughed.

“Much better.”

They stayed together through the night.

Talking.

Laughing.

Remembering.

At dawn, sunlight entered the cabin.

Livia woke with her head against Ethan’s shoulder.

He was still asleep.

She smiled.

Then she noticed something.

The photograph on the table had changed.

The picture of Victor and Ethan’s mother was gone.

In its place was a new photograph.

Livia picked it up.

It showed her and Ethan sleeping inside the cabin.

Taken only minutes earlier.

On the back were four words:

LOVE MAKES YOU VULNERABLE.

Livia’s blood ran cold.

She woke Ethan.

He looked at the photograph.

Then toward the window.

A figure stood on the opposite shore.

Victor.

But he wasn’t alone.

Beside him stood Ethan’s mother.

And between them was Livia’s mother.

Ethan slowly stood.

“They’re here.”

Livia looked at the three figures.

Her mother raised her hand.

She wasn’t waving.

She was pointing.

Toward the cabin.

Toward something behind them.

Livia turned.

A small red light blinked beneath the floorboards.

Ethan stared.

“That’s a camera.”

The cabin door suddenly locked.

Then Victor’s voice came through a hidden speaker.

“You wanted the truth.”

A pause.

“Now you can have all of it.”

The floor beneath them began to shake.

Livia grabbed Ethan’s hand.

“What is happening?”

Ethan looked down.

A hidden staircase was opening beneath the cabin.

And from the darkness below came a familiar voice.

His father’s voice.

“Ethan, if you’re hearing this, don’t trust anyone.”

Ethan stared into the darkness.

His father’s recording continued:

“Not even me.”

The staircase opened completely.

And at the bottom was a room filled with hundreds of photographs.

Every photograph showed Livia and Ethan.

Together.

At different ages.

Different places.

Different moments.

Even moments that had not happened yet.

Livia picked up one photograph.

It showed her standing beside Ethan beneath a wedding arch.

She looked at Ethan.

He looked at her.

Neither spoke.

Then Livia noticed the date written on the photograph.

Tomorrow.

To be continued…