Chapter 1

The day my world fell apart was my 21st birthday.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Birthdays were meant for cake, for laughter, for the warmth of family. But the only warmth I felt that day was the stinging heat on my cheek.

My two older brothers, Ethan and Liam, had brought home a surprise. Not for me, but for the entire Miller family. Her name was Lily, a seven-year-old girl with wide, innocent eyes and a story that could break your heart. She was an orphan, the daughter of a student our parents had revered, someone who had died alongside them in the accident that had made us orphans too.

My brothers saw her as a duty, a way to honor our parents' memory. They showered her with the affection that had once been mine.

On my birthday, the day I was supposed to feel special, Lily had a little "accident." A glass of milk spilled on my laptop, the one containing years of my research, my application for a prestigious medical program. Lily cried, her small body shaking, claiming I had pushed her.

"Anna, what is wrong with you?" Ethan's voice was cold, a tone I had never heard directed at me.

"I didn't do it," I said, my voice barely a whisper. My eyes were fixed on the milky liquid seeping into my computer.

Lily sobbed harder, hiding behind Ethan's legs. "She's mad at me. She doesn't want me here."

That was all it took. Ethan' s hand moved so fast I didn' t see it coming. The sound of it cracking across my face echoed in the suddenly silent room. The shock was a physical blow, colder and sharper than the pain.

Liam, my gentle second brother, pointed a shaking finger at the door. His voice, usually so calm, was filled with a fury that terrified me.

"Get out," he seethed. "Don't ever come back."

I didn't say another word. There was nothing left to say. I turned, walked up the stairs to my room, and packed a single bag. They probably thought I was throwing a tantrum, that I' d be back in a few days, begging for forgiveness.

They were wrong.

While they took Lily on a trip to see the Northern Lights in Norway, the trip they had always promised me, I was making other plans. While they enjoyed the rare peace of a house without me, I was signing away the next ten years of my life.

Days later, when they returned to a house still empty of their sister, they would get the news. A formal letter from Dr. Jensen, my mentor. Anna Miller had been accepted into a confidential, ten-year medical research program. She would be in complete isolation. No calls, no letters, no visits.

She could no longer come home.

That night, I was told, they collapsed.

I had tried to say goodbye. It was Christmas Eve, a few weeks before the slap that severed everything. A light snow was falling, dusting the world in a deceptive layer of peace. I called home from a payphone near campus, the cold seeping through my thin coat.

"Hello?" It was Ethan.

"Ethan, it's me."

There was a pause. "Anna? What is it? I'm busy."

His voice was clipped, impatient. The familiar warmth was gone, replaced by a permanent chill.

"I... I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas," I said, my words forming small clouds in the frigid air. "Is Liam there? And Lily?"

I had learned that mentioning Lily was the quickest way to get their attention, a sad, pathetic trick to make them listen for a few more seconds.

"We're decorating the tree," he said, his tone softening slightly at the mention of her name. "Lily loves the silver ornaments."

"That's nice."

"Lily, say hi to Anna," I heard him say, his voice muffled.

A small, sweet voice came on the line. "Hi, Anna! Are you coming home for Christmas?"

Before I could answer, I heard Liam in the background. "Ethan, who is it? Tell her not to bother us, we're busy."

The hope that had flickered in my chest died instantly.

"I have to go, Anna," Ethan said, his voice hurried again. "Merry Christmas."

He hung up before I could say anything else. I stood there, holding the cold receiver, listening to the dial tone buzz in my ear. That was the beginning of the end.