CHAPTER 50: LYRA

Haunted by the inscription “LYRA, MY LYRA,” Lyra and Grayson continue searching for Alice’s box, retracing old estate layouts and checking Wayback Cottage before returning to Hawthorne House. Oren relays that Zara suggested a specific suite to search, drawing them to a lavish, gold-leafed wing once Alice’s and later Skye’s.

Zara arrives holding a Tobias key inset with a ruby shaped like an apple. She recalls Alice and Tobias’s first meeting—apples, persistence, a wager, and Alice’s archery—hinting at story clues embedded in the key. Zara directs Grayson to find Nash in the North Tower for likely news from Alisa.

After Grayson leaves, Zara privately shows Lyra a tabloid article outing her identity and framing a false rivalry with Avery. Lyra accepts the publicity as strategic cover, while Zara pointedly asks Lyra’s intentions toward Grayson and warns about the family’s fame for scandal over wealth.

Turning back to the search, Lyra questions what lies beneath Skye’s gaudy redecorating and recruits Zara’s help to strip back the gold. Zara raises the ruby-key, implying it could both unlock history and help them do the necessary “damage” to uncover hidden truths in the suite.