Victoria's hand flew to her mouth, a strangled gasp escaping before she could stop it, her entire body trembling as the weight of Lily's words finally settled fully over her. "That's not possible," she whispered, though even as the words left her mouth, some deep, undeniable part of her already understood they were entirely true. She stared at Lily's face, searching desperately past the bruises and tears for the little girl she remembered, the sister she'd spent countless birthdays quietly grieving without ever truly moving past the loss. "Lily?" she said again, her voice cracking entirely this time, disbelief slowly giving way to something far more raw and overwhelming. Lily nodded again, unable to speak through the sobs now shaking her entire body, years of searching, of hardship, of desperately hoping to someday find the family she'd lost finally crashing down in the middle of a glittering ballroom full of strangers. Around them, the gathered guests remained frozen in stunned silence, several beginning to realize they were witnessing something far more significant than a simple servant's mistake unfolding in front of them. Victoria took a hesitant step forward, her earlier fury completely forgotten, replaced entirely by a desperate need to close the distance between herself and the sister she'd genuinely believed was gone forever. Her hands reached out shakily, gently touching Lily's tear-streaked face, tracing the faint bruises there with a horrified, protective tenderness that had nothing at all to do with the slap she'd delivered only minutes before. Whatever had happened to bring Lily to this exact ballroom, dressed in a maid's uniform, working under a name Victoria hadn't even recognized, it was clear now that her sister's life over these past seventeen years had been far harder than anyone in that room could have possibly imagined.