"My people came to you for information, and you told them she died in the fire five years ago."


    Juniper swallowed hard, the tremble in her voicepletely betraying her calm facade. "Please, tell me the truth. Is it true?"


    The Director stared at Juniper in deafening silence. He seemed to be agonizing over whether she was telling the truth.


    What if she was just a ruthless journalist posing as a rtive? If he spoke, he could destroy Coralie''s life all over again.


    "Why should I believe you?" the Director demanded sternly, his guard instantly snapping back into ce.


    He was a dying man. Once he was gone, Coralie would be the only one left tethered to that horrific fire.


    If the wrong people found out she survived, God knew what they would do to her. "Because I know every single detail."


    Juniper didn''t take offense, keeping her tone remarkably patient. "She has three older brothers, two older sisters, and one little sister. Isn''t that right?"


    The Director''s face paled. It was true.


    He had been the only one helping Coralie search for her family; there was no possible way a stranger could know the exact family dynamic.


    Could it be... was she actually Coralie''s baby sister?


    "Director, please tell me. Is she still alive?" Juniper pleaded, her hands clenched into fists. Her face remained stoic, but her eyes were bloodshot and desperate.


    The Director studied her intensely. He saw nothing but raw sorrow, paralyzing fear, and absolute sincerity in the young girl''s eyes.


    "If you really are her sister, tell me... what did she call you?"


    What did she call her?


    Juniper racked her brain. It was a memory from over fifteen years ago; it should have been entirely wiped from her mind.


    But for some inexplicable reason, the moment he asked, the memory surfaced with crystal rity.


    "Little Glutton."


    Juniper choked out, letting out a tearful, incredulousugh as she exined.


    "Because I loved eating so much. One time I stole her cookies, and she got so mad she gave me that nickname."


    Yes.


    She remembered.


    Little Glutton?


    Shanley nced down at her, his dark eyes softening, the rigid tension in his jaw rxing slightly.


    Pretty urate, he thought.


    "I never would have believed it... you really are her sister."


    Having confirmed the impossible detail, the Director burst into tears, entirely ovee with emotion. "That poor child spent years searching for her family, but was a single


    useless. couldnt find Was


    trace."


    "I thought you were all dead. Cough, cough, cough!"


    "Please, don''t agitate yourself," Shanley said, immediately signaling the doctors,


    who rushed forward to stabilize the old man.


    It took a long time for the Director to


    catch his breath. When he finally calmed down, he looked at Juniper through tear-blurred eyes and spoke, with absolute certainty. "Your sister... she didn''t die."


    "She was the one who escaped the fire."


    "Why did you lie to me?" Juniper asked, her knuckles white, her voice shaking uncontrobly.


    If he had just told her the truth from the beginning, she wouldn''t have spent thest few weeks in agonizing despair, believing her sixth sister was dead.


    "Please don''t me me."


    The Director gasped, leaning heavily against the pillows, the oxygen tube whistling as he struggled to speak. "When the orphanage burned down, She was the sole survivor. It made headlines across all of Caelus."


    "Bloodthirsty reporters swarmed like vultures, desperate to get the front-page scoop. They wanted to force your sister to recount every agonizing detail of the fire."


    "She wasn''t even an adult yet, and every single friend she had ever grown up with was dead..."


    The Director choked on a sob, two streams of tears tracking down his weathered cheeks.


    "She was terrified that if people found out who she was, they would never stop hunting her down for the story. So, we buried her identity. We hid her from the world."


    Juniper listened in stunned silence, a painful, burning lump forming in her throat.


    She understood.


    The Director hadn''t been maliciously hiding the truth; he had been protecting her sister with everything he had.


    "So..."


    Juniper took a deep breath, fighting back her tears as she looked at him with bright, hopeful eyes. "Where is my sister now?"


    "Caelus."


    The Director answered, finally relinquishing the secret he had guarded for years. "She''s the boss of the Westshore Casino. Coralie Quill."


    Coralie Quill?


    Shanley''s breath caught in his throat.