Chapter 10 - THE PRICE OF SILENCECamille stopped moving.
The hallway was silent except for the distant evacuation alarm.
Juliette stood ten feet away.
Her face was identical to Camille's, but her expression carried a kind of exhaustion Camille had never seen in her own reflection.
“Is that a detonator?” Camille whispered.
Juliette shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Who gave it to you?”
“One of Étienne's men.”
“Where is he?”
“Behind the security door.”
Camille glanced toward the far end of the corridor.
A heavy metal door stood closed.
A camera watched from the ceiling.
Juliette's hand trembled.
“He told me the device is connected to something inside the building.”
Camille looked at the blinking light.
“Did you see explosives?”
“No.”
“Then we don't know whether he's telling the truth.”
Juliette's eyes filled with tears.
“He said the same thing about our father.”
Camille felt a sharp ache.
“You met him.”
Juliette nodded.
“Yes.”
“Was he kind?”
The question escaped before Camille could stop it.
Juliette's expression softened.
“He couldn't speak much. But he smiled when I told him my name.”
Camille swallowed.
“Did he know who you were?”
“Yes.”
Juliette's voice broke.
“He held my hand and cried.”
Camille pressed her lips together.
For a moment, the danger around them disappeared.
There were only two sisters standing in a hallway where their lives had been separated.
One had grown up with their mother.
The other had spent thirty years without her.
Both had lost their father.
Both had been robbed of something they could never fully recover.
Camille took a careful step forward.
“Juliette, listen to me.”
“No.”
“We're going to get out of here.”
“They'll hurt you.”
“Then we'll find another way.”
Juliette shook her head.
“You don't understand. Étienne wants the ledger.”
Camille froze.
“Do you have it?”
Juliette nodded.
“Not here.”
“Where?”
“I gave it to someone.”
“Who?”
Juliette looked toward the camera.
“I can't say.”
A speaker crackled above them.
Then Étienne's voice filled the corridor.
“Camille.”
Both women froze.
“I'm disappointed.”
Camille looked toward the camera.
“Let her go.”
Étienne sighed.
“Your mother said the same thing thirty years ago.”
Camille felt anger rise.
“You killed her.”
Silence.
Then Étienne replied.
“Your mother made choices.”
“You pushed her down those stairs.”
“You have no proof.”
Camille thought of the cassette.
The footage.
The medical records.
The witnesses.
“We have enough to make people listen.”
Étienne laughed softly.
“People hear what they are permitted to hear.”
Juliette gripped the device.
“Stop talking to him.”
Camille looked at her sister.
“Why?”
“Because he's trying to make you angry.”
Étienne's voice returned.
“Juliette, give me the ledger, and your sister walks away.”
Camille stared at the camera.
“You don't have it?”
“No.”
“Then you're afraid.”
A pause.
“Careful, Camille.”
“You spent thirty years hiding the truth. And now two women you thought you could control are standing together.”
Étienne's voice hardened.
“You have no idea what you're dealing with.”
Camille took another step toward Juliette.
“Maybe not.”
She looked at her sister.
“But I'm not leaving her.”
The speaker went silent.
Then a door opened behind Juliette.
A man stepped into the corridor.
He wore dark clothing and held a handgun pointed downward.
“Enough,” he said.
Juliette flinched.
Camille froze.
The man approached slowly.
“Put the device on the floor.”
Juliette obeyed.
The man picked it up.
Camille watched carefully.
He turned it over.
Then pressed a button.
The red light stopped blinking.
He slipped it into his pocket.
Camille realized the truth.
It had been a bluff.
There had never been a bomb.
The threat had been designed to keep Juliette obedient.
The man looked at Camille.
“Come with me.”
Camille didn't move.
“Where?”
“Mr. Delacroix wants to speak with you.”
Juliette stepped closer to Camille.
“Don't.”
The man raised the gun.
“Both of you.”
Camille's heart pounded.
Then a loud crash sounded behind them.
The corridor door burst open.
Daniel entered with two police officers.
“Police! Drop the weapon!”
The man spun.
One officer shouted again.
“Drop it!”
For one terrifying second, nobody moved.
Then the man lowered the gun.
It clattered against the floor.
Daniel rushed forward.
Thomas appeared behind him.
Camille barely noticed.
She was staring at Juliette.
Her sister stood motionless.
Then slowly, she began walking toward her.
Camille did the same.
They met in the center of the hallway.
For a moment, neither knew what to say.
Then Juliette whispered.
“You look like me.”
Camille laughed through tears.
“You look like me.”
Juliette reached out.
Camille took her hand.
Thirty years of separation ended in a single touch.
Then Juliette began crying.
Camille pulled her into an embrace.
They held each other tightly.
Not because they knew each other.
But because somewhere beneath the years of lies, something familiar had survived.
Thomas approached quietly.
“We need to get you both somewhere safe.”
Juliette nodded.
But before they left, she looked at Camille.
“There's something you need to know.”
Camille wiped her eyes.
“What?”
“The ledger isn't the only evidence.”
“What else?”
Juliette reached inside her coat.
She removed a folded letter.
Lucien's final message.
Camille recognized it from the photograph.
Her hands trembled.
“Dad wrote this?”
Juliette nodded.
“He wanted us both to have it.”
Camille unfolded the paper.
The handwriting was uneven.
Only a few words.
My girls.
I looked for you in every dream.
You were never forgotten.
Camille began crying.
Below the message was another sentence.
The truth is in the blue room.
Camille frowned.
“The blue room?”
Juliette's expression changed.
“He told me something else.”
“What?”
“He said the ledger only tells half the story.”
Camille stared.
“What does that mean?”
Juliette looked toward the old maternity wing.
Then whispered.
“There weren't twenty-three stolen children.”
May you like
A pause.
“There were forty-seven.”
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