Flames of Trust

Returning from the gala, Ivy burns the investigator's bribe in the study fireplace and confesses the full treacherous offer to betray Sebastian, forging deeper trust between them. As they read Edmund's subsequent letters revealing his own reckless youthful mistakes and regrets, their bond strengthens through raw confessions and explicit passion, until the correspondence leads them to a hidden vault beneath the mansion that only opens with both their fingerprints.