His Broken Promise, My New Beginning

His Broken Promise, My New Beginning

Gavin

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I gave my brother my kidney. In return, he promised to finally bring me home. For eight years, I waited on the sidelines of his life, only to overhear him giving my "Welcome Home" party to our adopted sister. He called me a ghost he didn't know where to put, confident I'd show up and smile while she took my place. He was wrong. I didn't cry or scream; I just turned off my phone and walked away forever.

Chapter 1

I gave my brother my kidney. In return, he promised to finally bring me home.

For eight years, I waited on the sidelines of his life, only to overhear him giving my "Welcome Home" party to our adopted sister. He called me a ghost he didn't know where to put, confident I'd show up and smile while she took my place.

He was wrong. I didn't cry or scream; I just turned off my phone and walked away forever.

Chapter 1

Kingston Koch POV:

The party that was supposed to welcome my sister home was never really for her. I knew it, my business partner Finn knew it, and somewhere deep down, under layers of champagne-fueled excitement, even my adopted sister Everly probably knew it.

"You're making a mistake, Kingston," Finn said, his voice tight. He stood across from my mahogany desk, his arms crossed over his chest, looking more like a disapproving father than the COO of my tech empire. The late afternoon sun slanted through the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office, catching the dust motes dancing in the air between us.

I leaned back in my leather chair, steepling my fingers. "It's not a mistake. It's a strategic adjustment."

"A strategic adjustment?" He let out a short, sharp laugh that held no humor. "You promised Hope a 'Welcome Home' party. A formal introduction to the world as a Koch, as your co-heir. Now, three days before the event, you're changing the banners to 'Happy 21st Birthday, Everly'?"

"Everly was feeling insecure," I said, the excuse tasting like ash in my mouth even as I said it. "She felt like Hope's arrival was overshadowing her big milestone. You know how sensitive she is."

"I know she's a master manipulator and you let her get away with it," Finn shot back, his gaze unwavering. "This isn't about Everly's birthday, and you know it. This is about you. You're terrified of what Hope represents."

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it? Hope is your past, Kingston. She's the hurricane, the foster homes, the years you spent trying to forget. Everly is the perfect, polished daughter you and your parents chose to build a new life with. Hope is a ghost you finally caught, and now you don't know where to put her."

His words were too close to the truth, and a muscle in my jaw tightened. "I know exactly where to put her. Beside me."

"Then why are you shoving her into the corner to make room for Everly's five-tier cake and ice sculpture?" Finn stepped closer to the desk, leaning his hands on it. "She's waited eight years for this, Kingston. Eight years since you 'found' her, living in that tiny apartment, working a dead-end job, all while you promised that one day, you'd bring her home. Properly."

"And I will."

"When? When Everly gets married? When she has a baby? When will it ever be Hope's turn?" He shook his head, a look of profound disappointment on his face. "She's your blood, man. Your actual, biological sister."

"Don't you think I know that?" I snapped, the guilt a familiar, coiling serpent in my gut.

"Then act like it! You're going to lose her. You keep treating her like she's endlessly patient, endlessly forgiving, and one day you're going to push her too far, and she'll just... walk away."

A cold certainty settled over me, a confidence born from years of her unwavering devotion. I thought of her, lying in a hospital bed next to mine, pale and weak but smiling because she had saved me. "No, she won't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"She gave me a kidney, Finn," I said, my voice low. The memory was my trump card, the ultimate proof of her loyalty. "When I was dying, she didn't hesitate. She wouldn't leave me. Ever. She needs me."

I saw the flicker of pity in his eyes, and it angered me. He didn't understand the bond we had, the debt she felt she owed me for finding her, for giving her a connection to the family she'd lost.

He sighed, pushing himself off the desk. "So what's the plan? How are you going to tell her you've hijacked her homecoming for a sweet sixteen on steroids?"

"I'll just tell her we're merging the events," I said, affecting a casual tone. "A joint celebration. She's practical. She'll understand it's more efficient."

"Efficient," Finn repeated, the word dripping with sarcasm.

"She won't make a scene. That's not who she is," I continued, more to convince myself than him. "She'll show up, probably with some thoughtful, handmade gift for Everly, and she'll smile and pretend she's happy to share the spotlight." I envisioned it perfectly: Hope, in a simple, off-the-rack dress, standing quietly in the corner while Everly, glittering in couture, held court. The image brought a strange, unsettling mix of relief and shame. "She'll do it for me."

Finn just stared at me for a long moment. "I hope you're right," he said finally, his voice heavy with doubt. "Because if you're wrong, you're not just losing a sister. You're losing the only piece of your soul you have left."

He turned and walked out, the click of the closing door echoing in the cavernous office. I stared out at the city skyline, the setting sun painting the glass towers in hues of gold and blood orange. He was wrong. Hope would never leave me. She couldn't.

After all I'd done for her, she owed me her loyalty. She would stand by and watch Everly blow out the candles on a cake that should have been hers. She would clap, she would smile, and she would understand.

She always did.

"She has to," I whispered to the empty room, the confidence I'd projected for Finn now fraying at the edges, leaving me with a chilling, unfamiliar sense of dread.

---

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