For Ethan, the lower sleeping chamber on the boat was like a prison. With the hatches battened down, he was all alone, and there was nowhere to go. That alone was bad, but the worst of it was the storm. As the waves hit the boat, and the winds took them whenever it may, he felt it infinitely harder than anyone in the upper deck did. At times, as he was thrown from one wall to the other, he found himself wishing for a seatbelt. Later, in those brief moments when the sea stilled, the minutes seemed to stretch into hours.

During one such lull, a longer one, he found himself thinking about Dora and some of the events that had happened in the first couple of days after Kylie was kidnapped. At first, everyone had assumed that Kylie would be found quickly. No one had anticipated that the situation could ever go on for as long as it was going.

​​

When Ethan closed his eyes, he could easily imagine a regular day at the office and how the loss of Kylie had affected it. In one instance, he remembers how he'd come in on one of his days off, just to make sure that everything was running smoothly, but also to shut everything down.

As soon as Dora had heard his voice, she'd come running. "Lord Ethan," she'd cried. "Why are you here?"

Nina hadn't been anticipating Ethan's arrival either; in fact, at the time, she barely even knew him. When she saw Dora's preferential treatment towards him, though, she followed her lead. Bowing reverentially, she offered him a script. "The director hadn't realized that Kylie knew you when he rejected her," she explained quickly. "I will inform him and see if I can't talk him into changing his mind."

Ethan thanked her and turned back to Dora. "Are your artists going to participate in today's shooting?" he wondered.

"Yes," Dora replied. "I have two promising new artists,"

Ethan slightly nodded. "I don't think that's going to happen," he said. "Cancel today's shooting. We will reschedule everything after Kylie returns."

Hearing this, Nina was furious. "I understand shutting down Kylie's shoot," she said, "but is it wise to shut down the entire studio? Everything is already in place. If we send everyone home, we stand to lose a lot of money!"

"That's your problem," Ethan laughed. "Do what you have to do, but there will be no filming today, not here, and not on my watch!"

Ethan watched Dora as she stomped away. If the situation were different, he would have laughed. Until Kylie was returned to him, though, he knew that laughter would elude him. Lucas walked over to him then. "I'm sorry to bother you," he said, "but do plan on giving them any excuse or reason for Kylie's failure to appear?"

Ethan eyed Lucas, and he shot him a dirty look. "I certainly don't," he replied. "Let them imagine that she is playing the diva. Better that then the truth, at least for now."

Dora glanced at him from time to time. She was trying to guess what he was thinking by the expression on his face, but it bothered him not. Everywhere around him, people were wandering around aimlessly. After thinking about it for a moment, he wandered over to the director's chair, picked up the microphone, and put it to his mouth. "The shooting has been canceled," he yelled. "Clear out. I don't want to see anyone here anymore. You will be notified when you are needed. Until then, you will continue to receive your daily wages."

Dora came over to Ethan and nervously asked him why he was doing this. She imagined the worst. She was worried that he had seen the video that she'd made. If he had, she could easily imagine him having a breakdown and doing things like this. For all she knew, this was just the beginning, and that scared her – seeing the expression on her face, Ethan could practically read her thoughts, and they amused him.

Ethan turned to her, smiled, but said nothing. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a long drag. "What do you think?" he asked her. "Why do you think that I'm doing this?"

Dora's hands began to shake, and her voice quivered when she spoke. "I… I… I don't know," she stuttered.

"Could it be this?" Ethan hissed as he shoved his smartphone in her face and displayed an email that had been sent from Dora to Kylie.

"I don't remember ever sending this," she replied meekly.

Ethan closed the phone and shoved it into his pocket. Then, without warning, he got all up in her face and said, "This conversation is not over. I am busy now but, when I have time, we will certainly unpack this. For now, it is time for you to make haste and exit left!"

As Ethan was getting ready to leave the building, Elliot called to say that he was waiting for him outside and that the two bodyguards were with him. Normally Ethan didn't travel with bodyguards but, ever since Kylie's disappearance, he'd decided that he wanted to be ready for anything. Before he could leave, though, Dora – refusing to leave on his terms – grabbed his attention again. "I really never sent that email," she cried. "I think my email was compromised. "Maybe it was Tom who sent it to her? Not only does he know about the camera in my room, but he also has access to my phone and personal computer. I will look into it and keep you up-to-date on my findings, but if you are shutting the filming schedules down in order to punish me, you are making a big mistake…"

Ethan tossed his cigarette to the floor and ground it out with the toe of his shoe. He reached out and grabbed Dora's left shoulder with his right hand. "Look at me," he commanded. "Let's set aside this game of cat and mouse. Just tell me where Kylie is, and things can go back to normal."

"I don't know," Dora cried. "If I did, I would tell you. I thought Ricky picked her up. When I last saw him, he had the trunk of his car open, and I saw a large suitcase in it. The only reason I remember that is because I could have sworn that it was Kylie's luggage. Forget Kylie for the moment, though. You promised me that you would kill our mutual enemy, Nico, personally. When will that happen?"

Hearing her question, Ethan frowned. Now more than ever, he was convinced that Dora had had something to do with Kylie's disappearance. Dora saw the look on Ethan's face, but she continued speaking anyway. "I just want to know if your promise means anything," she concluded.

"I have never broken my word," Ethan sighed. "Even though Nico is Kylie's father, I will ensure that he gets what is coming to him. Kylie has nothing to do with that, though. In fact, if I wasn't so caught up in trying to find Kylie, I could have already taken care of Nico. I promise that I will still take care of him, but you must let Kylie go first!"

Dora clenched her hands at her side and said, "I already told you that I did not have anything to do with Kylie's disappearance. You are barking up the wrong tree. Don't you see that every second that you waste accusing me could be used actually to find Kylie?"

"When I find her," Ethan threatened, "If she is hurt in any way, and I find out that it was you who took her, you will pay with your life. Think hard about that because this is the last opportunity I will give to you to admit your crimes without fear of repercussions."

Ethan thought about all of this as the ship rocked back and forth. In the end, Dora had spoken the truth. Every second that he'd spent accusing her had been wasted, and he wondered if things would have turned out differently if he'd seen that then…