His Savior Was Never My Sister
The chatter died.
“Thank you all for coming,” he said, his voice flat, stripped of all warmth. “This gathering celebrates more than a birthday. It celebrates clarity.”
Isabella smiled, stepping forward expectantly.
“For years,” Nicholas continued, his eyes now fixed on a point above the crowd, “I have operated under a fundamental misconception. I built an altar to a ghost. I pledged my loyalty to a reflection.” His gaze swung to Isabella, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop. “The reflection, it turns out, was a lie. The ghost was never there at all.”