Chapter 27 - The Ledger of Blood and Silk
The heavy iron bars slammed into the stone floor, spraying sparks into the darkness. Celeste screamed in fury, throwing herself against the gate as the iron shuddered under her weight.
"You bitch!" Celeste shrieked, thrusting the barrel of her gun through the iron bars.
Owen fired first. His bullet caught the stone wall beside her head, forcing her to dive for cover behind the heavy oak pews in the rear of the sanctuary. A volley of gunfire erupted as Celeste returned fire, the muzzle flashes illuminating the stained-glass windows in strobe-like bursts of crimson and gold.
"Lila! The altar!" Mia screamed, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me down behind the granite plinth.
With the counterclockwise turn, the heavy marble slab atop the altar had shifted backward by six inches, revealing a deep, velvet-lined cavity cut directly into the ancient masonry.
Inside lay not gold, nor diamonds, but a thick, leather-bound volume sealed with dried black wax, alongside an envelope marked with the official seal of the Federal Department of Justice.
I tore the envelope open with shaking fingers. Inside were sworn affidavits, DNA profiles, and financial bank routing slips dated twenty-six years ago.
"Look at this," I whispered, holding the papers under the faint moonlight streaming through the shattered clerestory windows.
Mia leaned over my shoulder, her eyes scanning the documents. A choked sob caught in her throat.
"It’s not true," Mia whispered, tears spilling over her lashes. "What she said... it wasn't true at all."
The DNA profile was unequivocal. Saint Jude’s Private Ward, October 14th. Nicholas Sterling and Eleanor Sterling had indeed given birth to triplets. Three biological daughters.
Celeste wasn't Victoria Vance’s child.
She was ours.
"Victoria lied to her too," I said, the horrifying realization settling like lead in my chest. "Victoria stole Celeste from the nursery hours after the delivery. She raised her as her own flesh and blood, feeding her hatred, telling her she was an illegitimate child so she would never seek out her true sisters. She turned our own sister into an assassin to destroy us."
Through the iron bars of the portcullis, the gunfire abruptly ceased.
"Lila?" Celeste’s voice echoed through the dark nave, but the venom was gone. It sounded cracked, hollow, and terribly young. "What are you reading?"
She stepped out from behind the pews, holding her weapon loosely at her side. She looked through the thick iron bars, staring at the aged papers in my hands.
"What did Victoria leave in that vault?" Celeste demanded, taking a slow step toward the gate. "Tell me! It’s my birthright! She promised me everything Nicholas stole from my mother!"
I stood up slowly, stepping to the iron gate. Mia stood beside me, her hand gripping mine so tightly her fingernails bit into my palm.
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"Your mother didn't steal Nicholas, Celeste," I said softly, holding the yellowed birth certificate against the iron bars. "Your mother was Eleanor Sterling. You were the third child. The one they named Hope before you were taken from the cradle."
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