In the morning, everything seemed normal. Breakfast, the usual conversations, even Marcus greeted her with a kiss on the forehead. But Celine was not herself. She was a sitting body with a mind running after answers she didn't have. She looked at Lilia, who was laughing and spreading strawberry jam on her bread, saying,
"Look! My face is on the toast!"
An overwhelming desire to cry struck Celine. But she smiled, just to hide the storm.
Over the following days, Celine began to see everything differently. She no longer moved around the house as usual. She watched, noticed, and recorded in her mind everything that seemed unusual. She started remembering moments she hadn't paid attention to before: how Marcus never carried Lilia much when she was a baby, how Marlene never mentioned anything about her birthday, how there was only one photo of little Lilia hanging in the hallway, while there were dozens of pictures of Celine. She began to doubt everything.
One evening, when Marcus came home late as usual, and she heard the creak of the office door closing behind him, a dangerous idea crossed her mind. She couldn't wait any longer. She didn't know what she would look for, but she felt that her father's office held the answers. She wanted to know the truth herself, not remain stuck in endless suspicions. She waited until everyone was asleep. Until the footsteps upstairs grew faint, and she was sure her father had entered his room. She sneaked in slowly, sweat gathering in her palms. She opened the office door and stepped inside.
When her feet touched the room, she felt a strange atmosphere; the smell of old wood, suffocating silence, and shelves filled with files and papers. The light wasn't strong, just a small desk lamp lighting the corner. She carefully walked to the big desk and opened one of the drawers. Ordinary papers, bills, work letters... then another drawer... she found a brown envelope labelled: "For emergency use only." Her heart jumped in her chest. She opened it slowly and began to read...
To be continued...