Episode 3: The Photographs.

THE LAST NAME I WAS GIVEN

EPISODE 3 – THE PHOTOGRAPHS

📍Blackwood Manor

⏰ 8:15 AM

Sunlight filtered through the large windows of Ava's bedroom.

But for the first time in her life...

She wasn't excited to wake up.

Last night's events kept replaying in her mind.

The mysterious message.

The child's crying.

The muddy footprints.

And Ethan's strange reaction.

Most of all...

That photograph Ethan had been staring at.

Ava didn't know why, but she felt there was something deeply connected between her and Ethan's past.

Something he was desperately trying to hide.

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📍Breakfast Hall

The dining table looked large enough for twenty people.

Yet only two chairs were occupied.

Ava and Ethan.

The silence between them felt uncomfortable.

Ethan calmly drank his coffee while reading emails on his tablet.

Meanwhile, Ava couldn't stop staring at him.

Finally—

Ava: Did you sleep well?

Ethan: Yes.

Ava: That's it?

Ethan: That's usually how people answer that question.

Ava rolled her eyes.

Why was this man so frustrating?

Ava: You're impossible.

For a second, Ethan looked amused.

Just for a second.

Then his expression disappeared again.

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Suddenly his phone rang.

Ethan glanced at the screen.

His face darkened immediately.

Without another word, he stood up.

Ethan: I have an urgent meeting.

Ava: Already?

Ethan: Stay inside the mansion.

Ava: I'm not a prisoner.

Ethan: Good.

His eyes met hers.

Ethan: Then don't behave like one.

And with that, he left.

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The moment his car disappeared through the gates...

Ava made a decision.

She was going to find answers.

Today.

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📍Ethan's Office

The office smelled of leather and old books.

Everything was perfectly organized.

Everything except Ava's thoughts.

She carefully entered the room.

Her heart was racing.

If Ethan caught her here, he would be furious.

But curiosity won.

She started checking drawers.

Files.

Cabinets.

Bookshelves.

Nothing unusual.

Then she noticed something.

A small silver key hidden beneath a picture frame.

Ava: That's suspicious.

She picked it up.

Immediately her eyes landed on a locked wooden box sitting inside a cabinet.

The key fit perfectly.

Click.

The lock opened.

Ava slowly lifted the lid.

And froze.

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Inside were photographs.

Hundreds of them.

Neatly arranged.

Every single photograph showed...

Her.

Ava.

Her hands started trembling.

Ava: What...?

She grabbed the first picture.

It showed a ten-year-old Ava playing on a swing.

The second photograph—

A fifteen-year-old Ava leaving school.

The third—

An eighteen-year-old Ava at a bookstore.

Her breathing became uneven.

These weren't social media pictures.

Someone had physically taken them.

Someone had been watching her.

For years.

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Then she noticed writing on the back.

The same sentence repeated again and again.

"I finally found you."

Ava felt sick.

Who had written this?

Ethan?

Someone else?

Why would anyone secretly collect photographs of her for years?

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Then she found the oldest picture.

It looked different.

Older.

Faded.

The photograph showed a little girl standing beside a lake.

The girl couldn't have been older than eight.

Ava stared at the picture.

Something felt familiar.

Very familiar.

Then she noticed something shocking.

The girl's face.

It was hers.

But she didn't remember this place.

She didn't remember this photograph.

She didn't remember anything about that day.

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Suddenly—

A folded newspaper clipping slipped from inside the box.

Ava unfolded it.

The headline made her blood run cold.

"MISSING CHILD STILL NOT FOUND AFTER 14 YEARS."

Below the headline was a photograph.

A photograph of the same little girl.

The same face.

The same eyes.

Her face.

Ava's hands began shaking uncontrollably.

Ava: This can't be real...

According to the article...

The child disappeared during a family event.

Despite years of investigation...

She was never found.

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Ava's mind was spinning.

How was this possible?

She had parents.

She had a childhood.

She had memories.

Didn't she?

Then why couldn't she remember anything before the age of eight?

Why were there gaps in her memories?

Why did the little girl in the newspaper look exactly like her?

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Before she could think further—

The office door opened.

Ava jumped.

Ethan stood there.

His face was pale.

His eyes immediately landed on the open box.

The photographs.

The newspaper.

The truth.

For the first time since she met him...

Ethan looked afraid.

Not angry.

Afraid.

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Ethan: Ava...

His voice was barely a whisper.

Ava: Tell me the truth.

Silence.

Ava: Who is that girl?

Ethan clenched his fists.

Ava: Why do you have these pictures?

Ava: Why were you searching for me?

His eyes filled with emotions she couldn't understand.

Pain.

Regret.

Relief.

Love.

And something much darker.

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Finally—

He spoke.

Ethan: Because fourteen years ago...

Everyone believed she was dead.

Ava's heart stopped.

Ava: What?

Ethan looked directly into her eyes.

And said the words that changed everything.

Ethan: Ava...

You were never supposed to survive.

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🔥 END OF EPISODE 3

📌 Episode 4 Preview:

Ethan finally reveals how Ava disappeared fourteen years ago. But before he can tell the whole truth, a mysterious masked intruder breaks into Blackwood Manor searching for the same newspaper article.

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