Chapter 9: The Investigation Begins

The Moment They Knew They Had to Dig Deeper

For weeks, their focus had been entirely on survival—learning how to not set the kitchen on fire, figuring out why toddlers were agents of chaos, and attempting to not get fired from their jobs.

But after the cryptic phone call and the suspicious conversation overheard by Zephyr, they finally understood something important.

Their exile wasn't just about punishment.

Something bigger was happening.

And they needed to find out what.

Step 1: Creating a Plan (Which Immediately Falls Apart)

Zephyr, being the self-proclaimed genius, took charge.

"We need a structured plan."

"We need to gather intel."

"We need to infiltrate high-society events."

Caspian blinked. "We're banned from high-society events."

Zephyr paused, horrified, as if he had momentarily forgotten how deeply they had been exiled from their old world.

Solene rolled her eyes. "We can't 'infiltrate' anything. We're living in a tiny apartment, eating budget-brand cereal. Nobody is letting us into elite circles anymore."

Which meant they had to investigate from the ground level.

Among regular people.

Using methods that were available to broke teenagers.

This was a nightmare.

Step 2: Gathering Intel (Which Goes Horribly Wrong)

Since Zephyr had overheard the suspicious conversation at the grocery store, they decided to go back and investigate.

Which, in theory, was a solid plan.

In practice?

It was a disaster from the start.

Mistakes That Immediately Happened:

Zephyr tried to eavesdrop on more conversations—but did so so obviously that he ended up getting reported to management for "acting weird." Solene attempted to charm customers into revealing secrets—except she accidentally talked to a retired school teacher who only wanted to discuss knitting patterns. Caspian tried the "casual approach"—which mostly involved asking strangers suspicious questions while holding a banana for no reason.

After an hour of absolutely no success, they left the store empty-handed and deeply embarrassed.

"We need a better plan," Zephyr muttered, adjusting his ruined dignity.

"We need to stop letting Caspian participate," Solene added.

"We need snacks," Caspian said, completely missing the point.

Step 3: The Accidental Clue

It was later that night, as they sat in their apartment, regrouping, that something unexpected happened.

Solene, scrolling through her old high-society contacts, found a text message thread from weeks ago—one she had completely forgotten about.

t was from a former assistant who had worked at their father's corporate offices.

And the last message, sent before she had been cut off completely, read:

"Something is happening at Sterling Enterprises. Your father isn't telling you everything."

The date?

The exact day Jonathan had exiled them.

Which meant—their punishment had been planned at the exact moment something bigger had been set into motion.

And now, they knew for sure:

Something was very, very wrong.

Their exile had never just been about teaching them responsibility.

Something was happening behind the scenes—something involving their father, his enemies, and his empire.

And whether they liked it or not, they were part of it now.