Ethan Young had always believed that when something didn't make sense, it meant someone was hiding the truth. And Roselyn's disappearance… nothing about it had ever made sense.
The official story had changed too many times—first an overseas youth programme, then unreachable contact due to "technical issues," then administrative delays that somehow stretched into months. Eventually, the explanations quieted into a single uncomfortable conclusion:Roselyn had vanished, and no one knew why.
But Ethan never accepted any of it.
Not when the timeline didn't match.Not when the school records turned vague.Not when the authorities kept urging the family to "move on."
No. Something had happened. Something bad.And someone had buried it so deep his family no longer questioned it.
But Ethan did.
He questioned it every day.
And after returning home from his studies abroad—seeing a girl at his campus who looked almost exactly like Roselyn, only with a different name, different life, and different everything—his unease transformed into a cold, slicing certainty.
His sister didn't disappear.
She was hidden.
He needed help.Real help.Not from the authorities who fed him lies, not from the family who had given up hope.
Only one person had the skill—and the loyalty—to uncover whatever truth was being buried.
Rowan Hale.
Former military captain.A man whose file was redacted more than readable.Someone Ethan owed his life to—someone he trusted more than his own blood.
Ethan arrived at Rowan's secured private office late at night. The hallway was silent, heavy with the hum of security systems. Inside, only the glow of encrypted monitors lit the space, reflecting off Rowan's unreadable eyes.
"Rowan," Ethan said, shutting the door behind him. His voice was tight, shaky in a way he hated. "I need your help finding someone."
Rowan leaned back, expression calm but alert. "You rarely come to me with something personal. Who is it?"
"My sister."
The silence sharpened.
"You… have a sister?" Rowan asked, though the question came too slowly—too carefully.
"She went missing years ago. Everyone acted like she just… slipped through the cracks. But that's impossible. Roselyn wouldn't leave us. And now—" Ethan swallowed hard. "I think she's alive. And someone changed her identity."
Rowan's gaze shifted just slightly.
Not enough for a stranger to notice.But Ethan noticed everything about him.
"Name?" Rowan asked.
"Roselyn Young."
The moment the name left Ethan's lips, Rowan froze.
It was only a fraction of a second—but for a man who never broke composure, it was enough to expose the truth. His posture stiffened. The faintest strain tightened his jaw. His eyes—the ones always calm—darkened with something Ethan couldn't decipher.
But Rowan forced himself back to stillness.
Ethan, meanwhile, reached into his bag, pulling out an old photo—a picture of Roselyn at sixteen, bright-eyed, smiling, alive in a way that made Ethan's chest ache.
He slid the photo across the desk.
Rowan stared at it too long. Far, far too long.His fingers curled slightly against the desk.
"Rowan," Ethan said quietly, suspicion sharpening. "Do you… know her?"
Rowan tore his eyes away from the picture.
"No," he lied smoothly. "But the name… I think it crossed my desk before. An old case file. I'll run a check."
He turned to his encrypted computer, fingers typing with trained precision. But the screen was only a distraction—his mind was already spiralling.
Because he didn't need to search.
Elena Vaughn—No, Roselyn Young—was a name he had seen in classified layers far above Ethan's clearance.
He remembered the incident file—the underground facility, the victims, the nearly dead girl the agency recovered. He remembered the orders to erase her existence, to move her into witness protection, to ensure she could never be found again.
He remembered the day she vanished from the safehouse without a trace.
He remembered the guilt.
The anger.
The helpless, buried frustration that had never left him.
When Ethan stepped out to take an unexpected phone call, Rowan finally let the mask crack.
Roselyn Young.Elena Vaughn.The girl who suffered in silence while the world forgot her existed.
The girl his agency protected.The girl he had been explicitly forbidden to approach.
The girl currently being stalked by her own brother without knowing she had one.
His pulse hammered.
Was she safe?Did she still blame him for that night?Did she remember anything at all?
When Ethan returned, Rowan had already buried every emotion beneath his usual calm.
"I'll take the case," Rowan said. His voice was low—too steady for what he felt inside. "I'll do everything I can to find your sister."
Ethan sagged with relief. "Thank you, Rowan. I… I knew you'd help."
Rowan nodded.
But his next words weren't for Ethan.They were for himself.
"And Ethan," he added quietly, eyes dropping to Roselyn's old photo, "if she's alive… I will bring her home."
Even if it meant breaking orders.Even if it meant going against his own agency.Even if it meant facing her again—after all the ways the world had failed her.
Because now that Rowan Hale knew the truth—that Elena Vaughn was Roselyn Young—
The hunt didn't just begin.
It became personal.