CHAPTER 5 — The Sister No One Remembered
"She wasn't Juliet's only granddaughter..."
For twenty-four years...
I believed I was the last surviving member of my family.
Henri destroyed that belief in one sentence.
"You had a twin sister."
The words echoed through the room.
"No."
Henri nodded slowly.
"Yes."
I laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because my mind refused to accept it.
"My father never—"
"Didn't know."
"My grandmother would've told me."
"She couldn't."
Adrian stepped forward.
"Explain."
Henri reached into an old leather satchel.
Inside were hospital records.
French birth certificates.
Photographs.
One image showed my grandmother holding two newborn babies.
Identical.
One wore a tiny blue ribbon.
The other...
A white ribbon.
My hands began shaking.
"Which one am I?"
Henri answered almost immediately.
"The blue ribbon."
"And the white?"
His voice broke.
"Taken."
The room fell silent.
Henri explained everything.
Years ago, Juliet had uncovered financial crimes involving some of the wealthiest families in Europe and America.
When she refused to stay silent...
They threatened her children.
She escaped with one granddaughter.
The second disappeared during the chaos.
No ransom.
No body.
Nothing.
Only absence.
I stared at the old photograph until my vision blurred.
Somewhere...
Someone with my face might still be alive.
Adrian quietly poured coffee.
"You searched?"
Henri smiled bitterly.
"Every year."
"Every country."
"I stopped counting after fifteen."
Before anyone could speak again...
Adrian's head of security entered.
His expression was unusually tense.
"Sir."
"We've identified the woman who ordered yesterday's assassination."
Adrian looked up.
"Who?"
The bodyguard hesitated.
Then placed a photograph on the table.
Every drop of blood left my face.
The woman looked exactly like me.
Same eyes.
Same smile.
Same scar above the eyebrow.
Only colder.
Much colder.
Written beneath the picture:
Isabelle Laurent
Age: 24.
Occupation: CEO.
Status:
Unknown.
Henri whispered...
May you like
"My God..."
"They found her first."
