She stood up to close the window she had left slightly open. As she returned, she noticed light seeping from beneath her parents' door. It wasn't fully closed-just a thin sliver of light escaping through the gap. But the voices inside had begun to rise.
"Marx... I can't accept this decision." It was Marlene speaking, her voice trembling.
"Marlene, we've discussed this over and over. We can't take any more. It's hard enough as it is, and this time I'm not asking for your opinion."
Footsteps... then Marlene again, softer: "But she doesn't know. She's just a child, and she loves us..."
He cut her off sharply: "Lilia is not our daughter, Marlene! Finish your sentence with that in mind."
Céline's breath caught. She couldn't move. Her heart pounded violently, like someone was beating a drum inside her chest. She crept closer to the door, pressing her ear against the cold wood.
"We'll take her to the orphanage before winter. Someone else will care for her. We've done all we could. Our part is over. I can't afford her expenses anymore-her schooling, her clothes, her toys... I'm already in debt. Things will be tight for us, and I won't be able to provide anything extra beyond food and water."
Marlene whispered, "But Céline... what will she say?"
Marx replied coldly, "She won't know anything... and it's none of her business to know. We'll take Lilia to the orphanage and make up some excuse-say she's visiting her grandmother or something..."
Céline held her breath. Her hands were trembling as if a sudden chill had gripped her bones. She hadn't expected this. What she'd just heard was a silent shattering inside her, like a piece of her inner world had collapsed without warning. She turned quietly, her eyes wide with an unfamiliar fear, as if the house she had lived in for years was now unrecognizable. She crept back to her room, barely feeling her limbs. She didn't even notice that the door was still ajar or that she had stepped on one of Lilia's toys left in the hallway.
When she closed her bedroom door, she didn't cry. She didn't scream. She sat on her bed and stared into nothingness. Thoughts spun in her mind, colliding, clashing, intertwining-like being in a dark room filled with hundreds of strangers wearing masks.
Lilia... wasn't her sister? What did that even mean? How? Why? Since when did her parents know? And why didn't Marlene tell her? Had she been lying all this time? Had they only pretended to love? Was she the only one who truly loved?
She tilted her head upward, as if trying to force the questions out of her mind. But she couldn't. That night, she fell asleep without knowing how or when.
And she dreamed of nothing but overlapping voices-as though someone were calling her from far away, yet no one could reach her.
To be Continued...