While Chad was still missing, the family had not yet recovered when Marlena Evans — the symbol of stability — shocked Salem with bad news: she was diagnosed with a serious heart condition, due to long-term consequences.

The doctor warned that Marlena might need a pacemaker or surgery if her condition worsened.

But what doubled her anxiety was not the medical record, but the dark hallucinations that haunted her.

Marlena began to hear her name being called in her sleep.

The shadow of Stefano DiMera — who had died — appeared in her nightmares. One night she woke up, gasping for breath, her hands shaking, tears rolling down. Marlena told her family that Stefano’s voice seemed to remind her of “an unrevealed truth”.

No one dared to believe it was just a dream. Because everyone knew that Stefano, even though he was dead, was always the shadow behind all of Salem’s disasters. And Marlena, more than anyone, had faced him many times. If there was some conspiracy coming from the crypt, Marlena would surely be the first to sense it. Her illness—or “illness,” as someone wanted her to believe—could be the first act of a seismic event.

Marlena’s children began to fear she was being manipulated. Some looked at her with suspicion: was this a psychological symptom, or a deliberate mental attack? And more importantly: did Marlena hold the key to unlocking Chad’s secret?

A fragile heart in the midst of a great storm. And a spirit calling Marlena’s name from the dead—or from the darkness within the crypt itself.