The silence following Ethan’s three words was heavier than the winter cold settling outside the windows of the Old Mill estate.

Three months later.

The snow had melted, replaced by the bright green grass and blooming flowers of early spring.

A large yellow excavator sat on the front lawn of the Warren estate on Mill Road.

David, Sarah, and Ethan stood near the edge of the driveway, wrapped in light spring jackets. Beside them stood Sheriff Thomas Miller and Dr. Mitchell, watching as the demolition crew prepared to strike.

The estate had been cleared of all evidence by federal authorities. The underground vault had been dismantled, its steel doors cut away and its equipment seized.

Alistair McGregor—who had assisted the family through his private foundation after reading about the case—had offered to buy the land and build them a new home anywhere in the country. But David and Sarah didn't want a new mansion. They wanted this dark chapter reduced to dust.

"Ready, Mr. Warren?" the demolition foreman called out from his cab.

David looked at Sarah. She was holding Ethan in her arms, looking at the old Victorian house with a quiet, triumphant peace in her eyes.

"Do it," Sarah said softly.

The excavator’s heavy steel bucket swung through the air, crashing directly through the second-floor nursery window, tearing down the walls, the roof, the plaster, and the cold steel plate behind it.

Ethan clapped his hands, laughing as the dry walls collapsed into a cloud of white dust under the blue spring sky.