Elissa turned to the servant. “Who made the call? Was it Miss Pearson?” Surely, if it was about Addy, the call had to come from either Eric or Hadley—who else would know to tell her?

“No,” the servant said again with a frown, slowly shaking her head. “It was a man. I didn’t recognize his voice. It wasn’t Hadley.”

That made sense. If it were Hadley, she wouldn’t have just passed along a message. She would have asked the servant to call Elissa to the phone.

Then who was it?

Elissa frowned. She anxiously bit her thumbnail and paced the floor in small, restless steps.

Since arriving on the island, she hadn’t made any contact with the outside world. Her phone had remained off the entire time. She knew that the moment it turned on, Ernest would be able to track her.

The villa only had a landline. She had never used it—hadn’t even thought to.

But now… Elissa hesitated.

If Addy was truly in critical condition, and someone had managed to get that message to her… who could it be? If it wasn’t Hadley, then whoever it was might have had ulterior motives.

Even so, Elissa couldn’t just sit still. Not when it came to her grandfather. He had cared for her. Protected her. He was one of the few people in the world who had ever treated her like family.

“Grandpa…” Her voice broke in a whisper.

After a moment of silent struggle, Elissa picked up the phone.

She dialed Hadley’s number—hesitant but resolute.

The first call didn’t go through. Hadley had a habit of ignoring calls from unknown numbers. Elissa knew this. So she called again. And again.

Your favorite tales live at g?lnσν?s．

“Hello?” Hadley’s voice finally came through. She had noticed the same number calling repeatedly. Curious, she picked up. “Who’s this?”

“Hadley! It’s me. Elissa!”

“Elissa?” Hadley sat up straight. “Wait a second!”

She had been sitting off to the side, watching the director set up the next shot. She quickly slipped away, phone in hand, and stepped into the lounge. Closing the door behind her, she lowered her voice. “Why are you calling? Are you okay?”

Hadley feared something had gone wrong. But that seemed unlikely—Eric would have made sure everything was handled.

“Hadley,” Elissa said without pause. “Is my grandpa seriously ill?”

Hadley froze. Why was Elissa asking this out of the blue? How did she know?

It couldn’t have been Eric. If he were planning to tell Elissa, he would have discussed it with Hadley first.

Elissa heard the silence and her chest tightened. “So it’s true,” she murmured. “My grandpa… how bad is it?”

“Elissa…” Hadley finally spoke, more composed now. She had been torn for days about whether Elissa should know. But now that she did, there was no point in hiding it.

“He’s not doing well,” she said.

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