12. Ophelia

Ophelia returns to competitive swimming and reconnects with Colette, who invites her to a movie night. While waiting for the event, Ophelia makes a crucial phone call to Nicholas Papadopoulos about her parents' helicopter crash, discovering that someone has pressured him into silence. When Alex unexpectedly leaves for New York, the movie night proceeds in his bedroom, and Ophelia and Alex exchange playful, flirtatious emails while she grows increasingly drunk.

Ophelia endures a grueling swim practice under Belladonna's harsh coaching, learning she must maintain peak performance for an upcoming tournament. Colette invites her to a movie night, lifting Ophelia's spirits, though the guest list includes Alex, with whom she has tension. After her final lecture, Ophelia ventures away from the castle to find phone signal and calls Nicholas Papadopoulos, an aircraft maintenance official connected to her parents' helicopter crash. Though Nicholas refuses direct answers, he confirms the crash was not accidental—the helicopter was scrapped due to age—and hints that someone has threatened him into silence. He provides the contact information for Laura, the daughter of Mike, the mechanic involved. Emboldened by this confirmation, Ophelia resolves to stay at Sorrowsong to pursue the truth. She encounters Vincenzo and learns Alex has abruptly left for New York on "business." With Alex gone, she attends the movie night in his bedroom, where she and Alex exchange increasingly flirtatious emails. Colette drunkenly sends a casual message on Ophelia's behalf, and Alex responds with witty wordplay and playful jabs about her blocking his number. Ophelia finds Jelly Babies he has left in his bedside table and falls asleep contentedly surrounded by friends in his bed.