"Ask your sister."
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.
"My… what?"
Sister Perry didn't repeat herself. She simply watched me, as though she had been waiting years for the opportunity to see my world fall apart.
I turned towards Father Michael.
"Tell her she's lying."
He said nothing.
"Father Michael!"
His silence hurt more than Sister Perry's words.
I looked between them, waiting for one of them to deny it. To tell me this was another cruel game.
Neither did.
"How many secrets can one person have about their own life?" I whispered.
Sister Perry walked towards the altar.
"More than you can imagine, child."
"Stop calling me that!" I snapped. "If you know where my sister is, tell me!"
Her expression hardened.
"You want answers? Fine. But understand something, Taya. The truth doesn't always reunite families. Sometimes, it gives people another reason to destroy each other."
"Where is she?"
"Closer than you think."
My heart hammered against my ribs.
Before I could ask another question, Sister Perry turned and left the chapel.
I started after her, but Father Michael caught my wrist.
"Let her go."
I pulled away.
"Why are you protecting her?"
"I'm trying to prevent you from making a mistake."
"No. You're trying to keep me ignorant!"
I stormed out of the chapel.
I needed air. I needed answers. Most importantly, I needed to find Aria.
I found her in the girls' dormitory, sitting on her bed with her hands clasped tightly together.
She looked up when I entered.
"What happened?"
I shut the door.
"Sister Perry says I have a sister."
Aria went completely still.
I stared at her.
"You knew."
She didn't deny it.
"Aria, tell me you didn't know."
Tears gathered in her eyes.
"I knew there was another girl. I didn't know where she was."
"That's not what I asked!"
She stood up.
"Esther found out that someone had been visiting the orphanage secretly. She followed the person one evening and discovered a woman leaving a package near the old chapel."
"What was in it?"
"A photograph. And a letter."
"What did the letter say?"
Aria swallowed.
"It said the girl had been given a new name and a new life. It also said she must never discover who she really was."
My stomach twisted.
"Who wrote it?"
"We never found out."
I moved closer.
"And Esther?"
Aria's face crumpled.
"The next morning, she was gone."
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Aria reached beneath her mattress and pulled out a small envelope.
"I kept something from Esther. I've been afraid to show you because I didn't know if it was real."
I snatched the envelope from her hand.
Inside was a photograph.
Two little girls stood beside a woman whose face had been partially scratched out.
I recognised the girls immediately.
One was me.
The other was the mysterious child everyone claimed had disappeared.
But it wasn't the photograph that made my hands shake.
It was the writing on the back.
TAYA AND HER SISTER — BEFORE THEY TOOK HER AWAY.
Beneath it was a name.
A name I had heard almost every day for the past three years.
PHOEBE.
I stared at the photograph, then at Aria.
"No," I whispered. "That doesn't make sense."
Aria looked terrified.
"There's something else."
She turned the photograph over and pointed to a tiny message written beneath Phoebe's name.
If anything happens to me, tell Taya that Phoebe remembers everything.
I lifted my head.
"Remembers what?"
A knock sounded at the door.
Neither of us moved.
Then Phoebe's voice came from the other side.
"Taya? I know you're in there."
My fingers tightened around the photograph.
Phoebe knocked again.
"Please open the door. We need to talk."
I approached it slowly.
Before I could turn the handle, Phoebe spoke again.
Her next words made my blood run cold.
"I know you've seen the photograph. And if you want to know why I came here, you need to hear the truth about the night your sister was taken."
I opened the door.
Phoebe stood before me, tears streaming down her face.
For the first time since I had known her, she looked genuinely afraid.
Then she whispered five words that changed everything.
"Taya, I'm your sister."