My Brother Said I Was Family But He Never Gave Me a Home Chapter 07
Christopher was lying on a private beach in the Florida Keys with Sophia when he found out Emily had established residency and enrolled in college.
The night before, he had a dream.
He dreamed of Thomas, Catherine, Emily, and
himself.
They were sitting in the old house, before they
moved into the mansion.
His parents were toasting Emily for getting into a
good school, for making the family proud.
“You two, Christopher in business and Emily in
research, need to support each other. Live well.”
“We’re so proud of how accomplished you’ve
become.”
Catherine smiled warmly as she served Emily.
Thomas patted Christopher on the shoulder.
Christopher raised his glass to respond, but then
his alarm went off.
He woke up from the beautiful dream.
He could still feel the phantom warmth on his
shoulder.
He closed his eyes, trying to fall back into it.
But his phone rang again.
His smile faded when he saw “Sophia” on the
screen.
The contrast between the dream and reality stung.
He answered.
“Christopher, I had a nightmare. I’m so scared.”
He automatically walked over and knocked on her
door.
When he saw her red-rimmed eyes, his heart
softened for a moment.
She threw herself into his arms. “I dreamed you
brought Emily back and kicked me out. That you
didn’t want me anymore.”
In the past, when Christopher heard something
like that, he would have felt nothing but sympathy
for her, for still being so insecure.
He would have been twice as good to her.
He would have told her over and over, without ever
getting tired of it, that it wasn’t true, that she
would always be his sister.
But now, all he could see in his mind was that
dream, the one that didn’t have Sophia in it.
It kept reminding him that he shouldn’t be here
with only her. That the girl he should be
vacationing with, or at least the one he shouldn’t
be excluding, was Emily.
He had already found his real sister. So why wasn’t
everything as beautiful as it had been in that
dream?
He gently pushed Sophia away and told her to go
back to sleep.
But he didn’t sleep at all.
He scrolled through his phone late into the night,
looking at their messages. She hadn’t texted him
once since he told her the residency would have to
wait two months ago.
Unease crept in, so he asked his assistant to
check on her.
When the assistant hesitantly told him she had
already established residency and enrolled, he got
angry.
He fired off a text demanding to know why she
had registered under someone else’s address, why
she couldn’t wait a little longer.
Did she know she couldn’t transfer it for three
years?
Why was she so impulsive?
But regret hit him as soon as he sent it.
After he had failed her for three years, after he had put Sophia’s feelings above her future, he had no right to question any choice she made.
Remembering the keys she had returned and the words she said about going home, a hollow feeling opened up in his chest.
He had found her. How could he let her go back to that family that wasn’t even related to her?
He thought for a long time.
Then he decided to throw money at the problem. He would get the college to sponsor her student residency, then transfer it out in a year.
It was simple, moving from a family address to a school one had no restrictions.
Suddenly eager, he had his assistant arrange it
and booked a flight home.
Once everything was set, he messaged Emily with
an apology, an explanation, and the solution.
He thought he had fixed everything.
Then he saw the red exclamation mark and the
message that said he was no longer a friend.
