Charlotte has a beach picnic with her father Noah on what would have been her late mother Geraldine's 54th birthday.

Noah reveals to Charlotte that he was a Special Operations Executive agent during the war, not merely a mechanic.

Josie arrives in France by plane and discovers that her covert mission partner is her old friend Noah.

Charlotte and Noah meet amateur historian Theo Sinclair, who agrees to help track down the mysterious Remy.

A targeting plane accidentally bombs a French village instead of the munitions factory Noah and Josie planned to destroy.

Professor Read tells Charlotte and Noah that the female SOE agent known as Fleur did not survive the war.

Noah and Josie lead resistance teams to plant explosives at a Nazi-controlled factory and successfully destroy it.

Charlotte, Theo, and Noah drive to Leeds to finally meet Remy, the man who brought Noah to hospital.

Remy reveals that Eloise fought off German soldiers alone for thirty minutes at a roadblock to save Noah's life.

Josie and fellow agent Veronique are arrested by the Gestapo at their Paris apartment.

Charlotte finds a bundle of Professor Read's unanswered letters hidden inside her late mother's personal drawer.

Turner visits imprisoned Josie and confesses he sold SOE intelligence to the Gestapo to pay his family's debts.

Josie and Eloise realize they have been taken to a concentration camp, not a work farm, and will be executed.

Eloise dies thinking of her son Hughie; Josie shouts her defiance and is pushed alive into a furnace.

The group gathers, Turner is confirmed as the double agent, and Drusilla absolves Noah of guilt over Josie's death.

Noah Ainsworth's daughter Charlotte discovers her quiet mechanic father was secretly a World War II spy for the Special Operations Executive. Charlotte connects Noah with historian Theo Sinclair to help track down Remy, the agent who saved Noah's life during the war. In the 1940s, SOE agents Josie and Noah fall in love while completing a dangerous mission to destroy a Nazi munitions factory, but are eventually separated and captured. A double agent within the SOE betrays Josie and her fellow operative Eloise, leading to their imprisonment and eventual execution at a concentration camp. Decades later, the truth about the traitor and the fate of both women finally comes to light when Charlotte uncovers letters her mother had deliberately hidden from Noah. The gathering of all involved parties gives Noah the closure he has sought for twenty-five years and reveals the true heroism of the women who did not survive the war.

The headline story of two SOE agents, a dangerous mission, and a long-buried secret.

Four women including Eloise and Josie are handcuffed together and transferred between German prisons on a train.

Eloise rides a Parisian bicycle taxi and is nearly exposed as a non-native speaker by her driver.

Eloise is forced to share a train carriage with German soldiers on her journey to Rouen.

Eloise arrives in Rouen and discovers an unexpected stranger collecting from her secret letter dropbox.

Josie realizes she is falling in love with Noah while the two prepare their factory sabotage mission.

Eloise visits resistance host Madame Delphine Laurent and learns that network contact Jeremie has gone missing.

Eloise is stopped by guards in Rouen for failing to register her required paperwork after arriving.

Noah and Josie's resistance group is disbanded, and the two say a tearful goodbye at a train station.

Eloise tracks down resistance member Nathalie and learns that Basile has been secretly organizing a local resistance group.

Eloise parachutes back into occupied France, injures her ankle on landing, and reunites with Noah and Remy.

Josie discovers that Turner's apartment is located directly next to a German military intelligence officer's residence.

Eloise is transferred by train and helps bring water to American prisoners after Allied planes strafe the train.

Josie is removed from five months of solitary confinement and discovers that Eloise is her new cellmate.

Josie and Eloise are given fresh clothes and told they are being transferred to a work farm.

Charlotte and Theo marry two years after meeting; Noah finds peace volunteering at a local animal shelter.

The novel opens with a chilling image of four female prisoners being transferred between prisons, framing the wartime events with immediate foreboding. Behind the main plot, Eloise navigates the streets of Paris and Rouen, using charm and quick thinking to stay one step ahead of German surveillance while her network crumbles around her. Meanwhile, Josie falls in love with Noah as they prepare their factory sabotage, and their professional separation tears them apart just as their feelings deepen. Eloise returns to France on a second mission and her final act of bravery at a German roadblock saves Noah's life, though it costs Eloise her freedom. As the two operatives are imprisoned separately, their suffering in the camps eventually brings them together one last time before their deaths. Two years after the war's secrets are finally resolved, Charlotte and Theo marry, and Noah finds quiet peace caring for animals.

The field work, close calls, and quiet sacrifices behind the main story.

Noah confesses to Charlotte that his shoulder scar is from a bullet wound and a skull fracture caused his amnesia.

Aunt Kathleen warns Charlotte that Geraldine would have hated Noah's project and that Noah was a different man during the war.

Noah explains to Josie that she must pose as his wife while working as a nanny during their mission.

On a train to Rouen, Eloise steels herself by thinking of her late husband and young son to stay focused.

Noah tells Josie that Geraldine was jealous of her and admits that Geraldine had every right to feel that way.

Noah and Josie share their first kiss and agree to revisit their feelings after the factory mission is complete.

Remy tells Noah that he once suspected Noah of being the double agent on the day Noah was injured.

Turner informs Eloise that her mother has been murdered and pressures her to return to France without knowing where Hughie is hidden.

Eloise finally reads her late husband's last letter and places it in a keepsake box with his rosary and medal.

Josie finds a note proving Turner owes a large gambling debt and begins secretly keeping a file of evidence against him.

Theo reveals his adoption paperwork suggests his mother had surgery linked to the SOE training school nearby.

Charlotte asks Noah about the name Chloe, and Noah emotionally reveals that Chloe's real name was Josie Miller.

Kathleen admits to Charlotte that she knew Geraldine deliberately hid Professor Read's letters from Noah for years.

Theo and Charlotte visit Josie's mother Drusilla, who reveals that Turner falsely blamed Josie for her own capture and death.

Theo stands before the assembled group and reveals that he is the long-lost son of the deceased agent Eloise.

From the outset, small details about Noah's past — a hidden scar, a jealous wife, undelivered letters — suggest that the truth of his wartime years has been carefully suppressed. In the 1940s, Josie and Noah cross professional boundaries and fall in love, each knowing their relationship is forbidden and its future uncertain. Eloise, operating in occupied France, receives devastating news about her mother's murder and is forced to return to the field without knowing where her son has been taken. Meanwhile, Josie grows increasingly suspicious of her handler Turner, quietly gathering evidence of his corruption before she is arrested and imprisoned. Back in 1970, Charlotte and Theo uncover revelation after revelation — hidden letters, a grieving mother's account, and a falsified story of Josie's death — that reframe everything the family believed about the past. The final truth comes when Theo stands before the assembled group and claims his identity as the son of the fallen agent Eloise.

The pivotal revelations and emotional turning points that reshape every character.