Goodbye, Brother, Forever

My whole life, I believed in a quiet promise: that the boy my parents took in, Daniel, the brother I never had, would one day be my husband.

I spent years capturing his every moment through my camera lens, building a portfolio that was less art and more a diary of a love I thought was undeniably mutual.

That belief shattered the moment he walked in with Sarah, a woman who radiated polished beauty that instantly made me feel clumsy and plain.

"Ellie, meet Sarah," he beamed, a joy I'd never seen directed at me, "my fiancée. Your future sister-in-law."