Chapter Forty

At 3:57, outside VX3’s bungalow 17, Holland debates whether to wait or act. When Chance finishes meeting with Vic VanVleet, Holland stops him, desperate for help but unwilling to let Adam rewrite his memories. She decides to tell the truth.

Holland reveals her real name—Holland Tierney—and her parents, Isla Saint and Benjamin J. Tierney. She explains that her father left her something likely hidden in his old bungalow. Chance, angry and suspicious of Adam, presses for answers about the previous night; Holland admits the other man was a mistake and that Adam is only keeping her alive.

Holland asks Chance to draw Vic away so she and Adam can search. Chance agrees to a brief distraction and quickly lures Vic out, leaving the door unlocked. Inside, Adam ransacks the desk while Holland searches the shelves, finding an old photo of Ben kissing a young Vic—revealing they’d been a couple. Holland connects Vic to Victoria Monroe, Jericho Monroe’s great-granddaughter, and infers the frame likely belonged to Ben.

Holland opens the frame and discovers a hidden props hold slip: JME Property Department, show name Alchemy of Secrets, dated 2/2011, with a note about “someone who needs it but doesn’t want it” who will use it only once. She and Adam conclude it’s the next clue and decide they must go to the props department.

As they prepare to leave, a high, melodious voice interrupts, signaling Vic’s sudden return and threatening to end their covert search.