Rowan finds Hank alive in the hidden room beneath the vault and is stunned by his condition. He is pale, frightened, and desperate, but not starving; the room contains books, notes, and a foul bucket, showing he has been kept there for some time. Hank begs Rowan to free him secretly, says Dominic and the others have been holding him there for weeks, and warns her not to trust Dominic.

Rowan climbs out, locks the door, and runs back through the tunnel, trying to hide what she has learned. When Dominic meets her in the dark and gently asks whether she is all right, Rowan is shaken by the contrast between his tenderness and Hank’s accusation. She forces herself to act normal, then vomits repeatedly once she is outside and on the boat, overwhelmed by shock and fear.

At the lighthouse, Rowan pretends she is ill and withdraws to bed while Dominic cares for her with tea, water, and medicine. Left alone, Rowan cannot make a plan; she is consumed by cold, confusion, and the disturbing fact that she still longs for Dominic physically despite what she now suspects. She also realizes that the children must have known about Hank’s imprisonment and feels horrified by their apparent complicity as well as by her own failure to question Dominic more deeply.

Later, Raff visits Rowan, and she tries to question him about Hank and whether Dominic was ever violent. Raff avoids direct details but tells Rowan that if she loves Dominic, she should understand that everything Dominic does is for his children, which frames Dominic’s actions as protective rather than cruel. During the storm, Orly crawls into Rowan’s bed and asks what will happen to the island’s animals when Shearwater is gone. As Rowan comforts him, she remembers Orly speaking through the air vent to Hank and understands that even the youngest child has known the truth all along, deepening her moral and emotional crisis.