My Family Sacrificed My Sister Chapter 03
The ICU lights burned all night.
I sat outside with Camilla’s old phone, recovered from St. Mary’s.
The screen was cracked, but the passcode hadn’t changed It
was my birthday.
I opened her encrypted messaging app, and the first thing I
saw was a thread of messages she’d written to me.
Every single one marked unsent:
Vesper, when are you coming home?]
[Vesper, I moved rooms. The basement’s a little cold, but it’s okay.]
[Vesper, Mom says Sienna isn’t well and I should let her have
whatever she wants.]
[Vesper, Tristan won’t talk to me anymore.]
[Vesper, nobody believes me
The last one was from three days ago:
(Vesper, I’m scared.].
My finger hovered over the screen for a long time.
Maria arrived just before dawn.
She’d worked at Vance Manor for over twenty years. When
Camilla was little and scraped her knee, Maria would fuss over her for hours.
Now she stood before me, her hair streaked with gray. “Miss Vesper.”
I looked up. “How much do you know?”
She dropped to her knees.
“I failed Camilla.”
I didn’t help her up. “Talk.”
Maria was shaking as she cried.
Sienna had been brought home three months ago.
The day the DNA results came back, the Vance family went into chaos.
At first, they all said Camilla would always be part of the family.
That changed fast.
Sienna said she couldn’t sleep in the guest room because
every time she closed her eyes, she thought of the years she’d
spent living off other people’s mercy as a child.
Eleanor had Camilla’s bedroom emptied out for her.
Camilla had stood at the door holding her pillow, asking
softly, “Mom, where do I sleep?”
Eleanor said, “Just make do for now. Sienna just got home
and needs to feel secure.”
So Camilla moved to the small guest room on the second floor.
A few days later, Sienna said that even the sight of Camilla’s
dresses in her closet made her uncomfortable. Dominic
ordered the staff to seal it off.
Julian canceled Camilla’s credit card and said she needed to
learn not to depend on the Vance family.
Leo threw her limited–edition doll collection in the trash,
saying, “This is all a life you stole.”
Then the guest room went too, because Sienna said even the
way the servants treated Camilla made her feel like the outsider.
Camilla was moved to the basement maid’s quarters.
I closed my eyes, and it hurt to breathe. “Why didn’t she tell me?”
Maria sobbed. “They took her phone. I managed to get it back
to her later, but Julian had restricted her communications.
He said she wasn’t allowed to disturb your work in Mexico.”
I let out a cold laugh.
They knew I’d intervene.
So they’d gagged her first.
“What about the evidence?”
Maria wiped her face. “It was all Sienna. She orchestrated
everything.”
The allergy incident, Sienna deliberately ingested something
with nuts and blamed Camilla. The staircase fall, she threw
herself down in a camera blind spot. And the necklace—I saw
the maid Sienna bribed put it under Camilla’s pillow with
my own eyes.”
“And that dark web recording? Julian’s tech people edited it.
Camilla said, ‘I didn’t want you to die,‘ and they cut it into ‘I
want you to die!“”
My fingers went cold.
Do you have proof?”
Maria looked up like she’d found her last lifeline.
The main security system was wiped, but Don Vance
installed a physical backup drive in the utility room safe
years ago to protect against internal coups. I know where it is,
and I know the password. It’s his birthday.”
She paused. “And the encrypted transfer records between
Sienna and the maid–I took photos with my phone.”
I studied her. “Why didn’t you come forward sooner?”
She dropped her head.
“I was scared. Don Vance said anyone who betrayed the
family would end up in the Hudson. But the day they took
Camilla away, she was crying and calling your name…”
She covered her face. “If I stayed quiet any longer, I wouldn’t be human.”
was silent for a long moment.
Then I helped her up.
“Thank you, Maria.”