"Before you find out what she did."
Christel's words followed me down the stairs.
I couldn't think.
I couldn't breathe properly.
Lily was down there.
My sister.
Alive.
After ten years of believing I had lost her forever, she was only a few steps away.
But Christel's final words kept echoing inside my head.
Before you find out what she did.
What could Lily possibly have done?
Adrian followed closely behind me.
"Don't go too fast."
I ignored him.
My heart was pounding so hard that it hurt.
At the bottom of the stairs, I saw a narrow corridor.
There was a single door at the end.
And behind it—
a sob.
"Lily?"
The crying stopped.
I froze.
Then a weak voice answered.
"Is that you?"
My knees almost gave way.
It was her.
I knew that voice.
Even after ten years.
Even after everything.
I would have recognized it anywhere.
"Lily…"
I ran toward the door.
Adrian caught my arm.
"Wait."
I turned on him.
"That's my sister!"
"I know."
"Then let me go."
He looked at Samuel.
Samuel nodded.
Adrian finally released me.
I pushed the door open.
And there she was.
A young woman sitting on the floor.
Her wrists were bruised.
Her hair was messy.
Her face was thinner than I imagined.
But her eyes—
those eyes were familiar.
She looked at me.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then her lips trembled.
"Bjei?"
I covered my mouth.
A sob escaped me.
"Lily…"
She stood slowly.
I ran to her.
We collided in a hug.
She cried against my shoulder.
I held her as tightly as I could.
For ten years, I had imagined this moment.
I had imagined finding her.
I had imagined telling her how much I missed her.
I had imagined her asking why I had never come for her.
But I had never imagined how painful it would actually feel.
"You're alive," I whispered.
"So are you."
I pulled away and held her face.
"You're really here."
She nodded.
"I've been waiting for you."
My tears wouldn't stop.
"Why didn't you come home?"
Her expression changed.
Fear returned to her eyes.
"I couldn't."
"Why?"
She looked past me.
At Adrian.
At Samuel.
Then back at me.
"Because they told me you were dangerous."
My heart broke.
"Who?"
She whispered,
"Christel."
I froze.
"What?"
"She's been lying to you."
I stepped back.
"What does she want?"
Lily looked down.
"The key."
I touched my pocket.
"She knows about it?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
"Because the key opens the vault."
I shook my head.
"Samuel already told us that."
"No."
She looked at me.
"Not the vault he told you about."
My heart raced.
"Then what vault?"
"The real one."
Silence.
Lily reached into her clothes and pulled out a small piece of paper.
She handed it to me.
I opened it.
There was a series of numbers.
"What is this?"
"The location."
"Of what?"
She whispered,
"Your grandfather's real fortune."
I stared at the numbers.
The fortune everyone had killed for.
The fortune that had destroyed our family.
The fortune that had started this nightmare.
It had never been lost.
It had been hidden.
I looked at Lily.
"How did you know?"
She hesitated.
"Because I was there."
"Where?"
"The night of the fire."
My heart stopped.
"You remember?"
She nodded.
"I remember everything."
I sat beside her.
"Tell me."
Lily looked terrified.
"I saw Uncle standing with Victor."
My blood ran cold.
"What were they doing?"
"They were moving the money."
"The metal container?"
She nodded.
"Then I saw Richard."
"What was he doing?"
"He was looking for someone."
"Who?"
Lily looked at me.
"You."
My heart stopped.
"Me?"
"Yes."
"He came looking for you?"
"He said you had something he needed."
I frowned.
"I was a child."
"I know."
"Then what could I possibly have?"
Lily shook her head.
"I don't know."
She lowered her voice.
"But Mom knew."
My eyes filled with tears.
"Mom?"
Lily nodded.
"She took you away from the warehouse."
I remembered my mother's stories.
The fire.
The chaos.
The fear.
But there was something she had never told me.
"Why was Richard looking for me?"
Lily stared at me.
"Because you were the only one who knew where the key was."
My heart stopped.
"I didn't know anything."
"You were a child."
"I don't remember."
"That's because they made you forget."
I stared at her.
"What?"
Lily grabbed my hand.
"After the fire, they took you somewhere."
"Who?"
"Richard."
My entire body went cold.
"That's impossible."
"He didn't keep you long."
"Then where did he take me?"
Lily began crying.
"I don't know."
I stood.
My head was spinning.
Adrian immediately stepped toward me.
"Bjei."
I looked at him.
"What aren't you telling me?"
He frowned.
"Nothing."
"Lily says Richard took me after the fire."
Adrian's expression changed.
"I didn't know that."
I stared at him.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Lily looked at Adrian.
"He knows more than he's saying."
Adrian looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
Lily's voice became cold.
"You were there too."
Adrian froze.
"What?"
"You were at the warehouse."
I looked at Adrian.
He didn't speak.
My heart began pounding again.
"You were there?"
He slowly nodded.
"Yes."
I felt betrayed all over again.
"When?"
"That night."
"You saw Lily?"
"Yes."
"You saw me?"
He closed his eyes.
"Yes."
I stepped backward.
"And you never told me?"
"I couldn't."
"Why?"
"Because I was trying to find out what happened to you."
My voice cracked.
"You knew me before our marriage?"
He looked at me.
"I knew your name."
I shook my head.
"This is too much."
Adrian stepped toward me.
"I didn't know who you had become."
"But you knew me."
"I knew a little girl who disappeared that night."
I stared at him.
Something inside me broke.
"You watched me all these years?"
"No."
"Then how did you know it was me?"
He reached into his pocket.
He pulled out an old photograph.
It was me.
A little girl.
Standing beside Lily.
I stared at it.
On the back was a date.
The date of the fire.
And beneath it, one sentence.
IF SHE REMEMBERS, THEY ALL DIE.
My hands began shaking.
"Who wrote this?"
Adrian looked at Lily.
"She did."
I turned toward Lily.
"You?"
Lily began crying.
"I didn't have a choice."
I couldn't speak.
Christel's words suddenly came back to me.
Before you find out what she did.
I looked at Lily.
"What did you do?"
She closed her eyes.
"I told them where the key was."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"I thought they would let me go."
She began sobbing.
"But they lied."
I stepped backward.
"So you gave them the key?"
"No."
She looked at me desperately.
"I gave them the location."
"The location of what?"
She whispered,
"Your childhood home."
My heart dropped.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It does."
She looked at me.
"Because the key was never in the warehouse."
I stared at her.
"Where was it?"
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
She pointed at me.
"You had it."
My blood ran cold.
"What?"
"You were wearing it."
I touched my neck instinctively.
A memory flashed through my mind.
A tiny gold chain.
A child's hand.
My mother's voice.
Never take this off.
I gasped.
"I remember…"
Everyone froze.
A memory came rushing back.
The warehouse.
The fire.
My mother screaming.
Lily crying.
Richard running toward me.
And someone—
someone pulling the gold chain from my neck.
I looked at Adrian.
"I remember who took it."
"Who?"
My voice trembled.
"Christel."
Silence.
Then the church lights went out.
A gunshot echoed from above.
Lily screamed.
Adrian pulled me down.
Samuel shouted,
"Everyone stay down!"
Another gunshot.
Then Christel's voice came through the darkness.
"You remembered."
My blood turned cold.
She laughed softly.
"And now…"
A third gunshot rang out.
"…you know too much."