No Longer Craving My Brother’s Love Chapter 1

For my eighteenth birthday, my brother finally decided to throw me a party.

When it was time for pictures, he shoved my face into the cake, completely ignoring the plastic support rods inside.

My adopted sister, Luna, flashed her sweetest smile for the camera while the world through my left eye blurred into darkness.

Later, while I was getting stitched up at the hospital, Luna posted two photos to her Instagram.

One was her early acceptance letter to Northwood University.

The other was a selfie of her and my brother, Ethan, at Disneyland.

The caption read:

【My dream school and my favorite person, all mine on this special day. PS: My brother's surprise was HILARIOUS!!!】

So that was it. My "birthday party" was just a surprise for Luna.

This time, I didn't throw a tantrum. I didn't scream or cry. I simply liked the post and left a comment:

【From now on, every day will be special. Because he's all yours, forever.】

Then I turned and accepted my own early admission offer from MIT.

* * *

"Zoe! What the hell was that comment? Luna’s coughing up blood because of you! Do you have any idea she just got her acceptance letter from Northwood today? You've ruined the best moment of her life! Get your ass back here and apologize, or don't ever call me your brother again!"

He hung up before I could say a word.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

Luna getting into Northwood was the best moment of her life, but my eighteenth birthday meant nothing?

Why… why did he trade my sight for her smile?

I pressed a hand over my bandaged left eye, biting my lip to hold back the tears. The doctor said crying would only make the recovery worse.

But the injustice of it all was a suffocating weight.

Luna’s blood was fake. Mine was real.

After Ethan had shoved my head into the cake, I could feel the warm stickiness of blood mixing with the frosting. But he just smiled, satisfied with the picture-perfect shot of Luna's delighted face. He’d given me a careless glance and said, "Luna wants to go to Disneyland. Wash your face and order yourself some takeout."

Luna had giggled. "Sorry, sis, but that was just too funny!"

I couldn't fathom how someone could find joy in another's pain.

All I knew was that when the doctor told me I might never see out of my left eye again, my heart plummeted into an icy abyss.

"An injury this severe," the doctor asked gently, "where's your family?"

I froze.

And I realized, in that sterile white room, that I didn't have one anymore.

My parents were firefighters. They died in the line of duty, saving Luna from a house fire. With their last breaths, they pushed her into my brother's arms.

From that day on, Ethan treated Luna like a sacred medal of honor, a living testament to our parents' heroism. The fire had damaged her respiratory system, leaving her with a chronic condition. Once, during an argument, she happened to cough up blood, and from then on, I was forbidden from ever "bullying" my little sister.

It was like she’d unlocked a new superpower. Any time I did something she didn’t like, she’d produce a dramatic mouthful of blood. I tried to tell Ethan she was using fake blood capsules. I even managed to steal one and show it to him. My reward was three days locked in the attic.

He hated liars, he said.

That day, the girl who had once craved her brother’s affection more than anything in the world looked at the doctor and shook her head.

"I don't have a family."