CHAPTER 96 CELESTE:The candle flickered violently, sending our shadows across the wall.For a long moment, neither of us spoke. I couldn’t breathe. My father’s name, the man whose portrait hung in every orphanage hall he funded, the man I had been told was devout and benevolent, was written here like a curse.Esme finally whispered, “Celeste… we have to go.”I stared down at the page, my vision swimming. The air felt too thin, the silence too loud. Everything I’d ever believed about my life, my family, my faith, and my belonging cracked open in that one instant.The candle guttered once, twice, and went out.The darkness swallowed the room whole. For a moment, I couldn’t even hear Esme breathing. Then, in the black silence, the scent of smoke curled up from the extinguished wick, faint and sharp.“Celeste?” Esme’s voice trembled.“I’m here,” I whispered. My fingers brushed the desk until they found hers. “Stay still.”The dark was disorienting, but I could still see the faint outlin
Last Updated : 2025-10-25 Read more