The Family Picture Without Me

During a family trip to a private island, we agreed to leave at four thirty to watch the sunrise. I waited alone for half an hour before discovering that my parents, my brother, and my fiancé, Leon, had already left with my adopted sister, Selena. At the cliffs, they posed for a family photograph. Mom adjusted Selena’s wrap. Dad pinned my family insignia to her coat. Leon stood behind her with his hands on her waist. No one noticed me. Leon posted the picture: [The people I’ll protect for the rest of my life.] His fiancée wasn’t in it. For years, I waited for my family to choose me and for Leon to remember the woman he planned to marry. That morning, I stopped waiting. I took the first ferry to New York, canceled the wedding, and left them on that cliff behind me. Chapter 1 “What time is the next ferry off the island?” The woman behind the ticket window checked her screen. “Six forty. It’s an express ferry, and there are three seats left.” “One ticket, please.” As she processed my passport, my phone vibrated with a message from Damian in the family group chat. [The sunrise was incredible. Viola, get up here before you miss it.] A photograph followed. Selena stood at the cliffside railing with the ocean glowing behind her. The wind lifted her white dress, and Leon’s jacket rested around her shoulders. Mom was fixing her hair while Dad and Damian stood beside her. Five people smiling against the sunrise. Another perfect Moretti family portrait without me. Dad replied: [She’s probably still asleep. You know how difficult she is in the mornings.] No one had called me. No one had returned to the villa to check my room. They had left shortly before four, yet it had taken them more than two hours to realize I wasn’t with them. Even then, they had only noticed after taking photographs and posting them. I slipped the ferry ticket into my pocket without replying. The wind coming off the harbor was cold. As I stepped outside the terminal, a private message from Leon appeared. [Are you sick? Why didn’t you come?] The timestamp read 6:12 a.m. I typed several answers and deleted them all before settling on two words. [At the harbor.] His reply came immediately. [The harbor? What are you doing there?] [Watching the ferries.] [Don’t be ridiculous. Come back. We’re about to have breakfast.] Another message appeared before I could answer. [Bring Selena’s charcoal medication case. She left it at the villa, and her backup pills are inside.] He didn’t ask whether I had eaten or offer to come get me. He remembered me because Selena needed something. I stared at the screen, then gave him the answer I had been giving my family for most of my life. [All right.] I called the villa and asked security to bring my suitcase and Selena’s medication case to the harbor. The guard arrived ten minutes later. “Mr. Falcone said you would bring this to breakfast.” He handed me the charcoal case. “Leave it on the bench and tell him where it is.” His eyes moved from my suitcase to the ferry ticket in my hand, but Moretti guards knew better than to ask questions. My phone rang almost immediately. Damian. “Where are you?” he demanded. “The guard said you left Selena’s medication at the harbor.” “It’s on the bench outside the terminal. Come get it.” “You’re not coming to breakfast?” “No.” “Then what are you doing?” The ferry engines rumbled as it approached the dock. Damian went quiet. “Are you at the harbor? What are you doing there? Come back.” “I’m going back to NYU.” Before he could answer, I heard Selena beside him. “Is Viola angry because we didn’t wake her for the sunrise?” Her voice was soft, almost tearful. Damian lowered the phone, but I could still hear him comforting her. “This isn’t your fault. Viola is just upset.” Mom’s message appeared in the family chat seconds later. [Don’t blame yourself, sweetheart. She’ll calm down.] Dad followed: [Viola, stop this and come back to breakfast.] Leon said nothing in the group chat. Instead, he sent me a private message. [If you’re unhappy, come back and say so. Don’t disappear and make this awkward for everyone.] Awkward for everyone. Not Are you all right? Not I’ll come get you. Only that I had made them uncomfortable. The ferry horn sounded, and the crew began preparing the ramp. One last message from Leon appeared. [Fine. Take some time to calm down. We’ll talk when you come back tonight.] A month ago, Kane Strategic Risk had offered me a position at its Chicago headquarters. I had turned it down because my wedding was six weeks away and I believed my future was in New York with Leon. I opened the email again. [Mr. Kane, if the position is still available, I accept.] His reply came less than a minute later. [Welcome to Chicago, Miss Moretti.] Tonight. He still believed I would return, just as I always had after being forgotten. “I’m not coming back,” I said. The ferry engines swallowed my voice. No one heard me. Chapter 2 Once the ferry was underway, messages began filling my screen. Damian had received confirmation from the guard. [You actually got on the ferry. When you reach New York, stay at the terminal. Dad will send someone to bring you back.] Mom followed: [Selena is crying again. You’ve made your point, Viola. Come home.] Dad’s message was shorter. [Do not test me.] Leon sent the last one. [Get on the return ferry when you reach New York. We’ll discuss this tonight.] They knew I had left, yet none of them believed I was truly leaving. I switched my phone to Do Not Disturb and sat beside the window with one suitcase and a shoulder bag. For now, they were all I needed. Leon, Damian, and my parents were no longer on my favorites list. I had removed them a month ago after asking Leon to have dinner with me. He was helping Selena move paintings into her new gallery. When I offered to join them, he replied: [We have enough people. You don’t need to come.] I had stared at his name and wondered why I kept saving a place for someone who never saved one for me. A draft slipped through the window frame. As I reached into my suitcase for my coat, I thought of the jacket Leon had wrapped around Selena that morning. In fourteen years, he had never once done the same for me. Selena had worn his jackets, sweaters, and suit coats so often that no one noticed anymore. Everyone said her poor circulation made her sensitive to cold. Leon never explained. He simply noticed when she shivered. Two winters ago, we attended a charity auction at the Falcone hotel. A snowstorm began while we were inside, and Dad sent our armored car away when Selena complained of a headache. My coat was still inside it. When the auction ended, I stood outside in a sleeveless gown. I asked Leon if I could borrow his overcoat until another car arrived. “You’ll be inside the car in ten minutes,” he said. “Don’t make a scene.” The car took twenty-three minutes. After that night, I kept an extra coat in every vehicle I used. I had learned that no one else would remember to protect me from the cold. My phone lit up with a message from an unfamiliar number. [Viola, it’s Selena. You blocked my number, so I had to use someone else’s phone. Damian said you really got on the ferry. Please come back. Everyone is upset because of me, and I don’t want this trip ruined.] I deleted the message. Ten minutes later, Damian called from the Moretti security office. “You need to answer Selena. She thinks this is her fault.” “She has all of you there to reassure her.” “Don’t be cruel, Viola. She’s already had another heart episode because you left.” “Then call her cardiologist.” His voice hardened. “When you reach New York, get on the return ferry. Dad is willing to forget this happened if you apologize.” “And if I don’t?” “Don’t force him to send someone after you.” “I’m safe, Damian.” “That isn’t what I meant.” “I know.” I ended the call, but my family continued sending messages. Mom told me to come back before I made things worse, while Dad warned that the island harbor belonged to the Morettis and that he could have the ferry turned around. Leon’s message arrived last. [Enough, Viola. Tell me where you are before I have someone trace your phone.] I switched off location sharing. It had always worked before. Whenever they forgot me, they offered dinner, jewelry chosen by an assistant, or another promise that next time would be different. On my twenty-fifth birthday, I reserved a private room at one of our restaurants and reminded everyone a week in advance. That afternoon, Selena learned that one of her paintings had been accepted into a charity exhibition. By seven, my family was seated in the room I had booked, drinking the champagne I had selected and celebrating Selena. No one mentioned my birthday. Damian proposed a toast to the newest artist in the Moretti family. Dad promised to introduce her to a gallery owner in Milan, while Leon helped her choose a frame for the painting. Halfway through dinner, Selena smiled at me. “Thank you for arranging all this, Viola. You always think of everything.” I lifted my glass. “To Selena.” Leon touched his glass to mine before turning back to her. It was the only time he looked at me all evening. The ferry slowed as the Manhattan skyline emerged through the fog. Mom sent another message, warning that Dad had frozen the family cards and ordering me to stop embarrassing them. I checked my banking app and found my private account untouched. They had forgotten that not everything I owned belonged to them. Leon called from an unknown number. I declined it, and his message appeared seconds later. [You have ten minutes to answer me. If you reach New York without turning around, I’ll assume you’re deliberately humiliating both families.] The ferry entered the terminal, and passengers began collecting their luggage. One final message from Leon appeared. [Go ahead and calm down. But you will be back tonight, Viola. Don’t make me come get you.] I turned off my phone, took my suitcase, and walked onto the Manhattan pier. They didn’t know I was on my way back to NYU to pack the rest of my life. Chapter 3 Rain followed me into New York. When I reached Manhattan, the first message waiting for me was a voice recording from Damian. “You missed one sunrise, Viola. Was it really worth ruining the entire trip? Leon has been trying to reach you for hours.” I deleted it and took a cab to New York University. My roommate, Nora, stared when I wheeled my suitcase into our graduate residence. “Aren’t you supposed to be on the island until Sunday?” “I came back early.” “Did you fight with Leon?” “No. I’m moving out.” She lowered the book in her hand. “You decided?” I accepted the position at Kane Strategic Risk’s Chicago headquarters. I start Monday. Nora knew Ronan Kane had offered me the job one month ago. She also knew I had declined because I planned to marry Leon and work for the Falcone family. “I thought you were staying for the wedding.” “So did I.” “What changed?” I began taking books from the shelf. “For years, I kept waiting for my family to see what I could do. I thought if I worked harder, complained less, and helped Selena whenever they asked, eventually they would choose me too.” “And now?” “Now I’d rather build a life that belongs to me.” Nora was quiet for a moment. Then she pulled an empty box from beneath my desk. “You should have done this years ago. Your family has always treated Selena like their only daughter.” My phone rang while Nora helped me pack. Leon. I hesitated, then answered. “Where are you?” he demanded. “Back at NYU.” “You came back to New York without telling anyone?” “I had something to do.” “The trip doesn’t end until Sunday. Selena barely spoke through lunch because she thinks you left because of her. Are you satisfied now?” “I’m sorry.” Leon exhaled impatiently. “That’s all you ever say. You apologize, shut down, and expect everyone to guess what you want.” “You don’t need to guess. Stay on the island and enjoy the trip.” “What does that mean?” “It means you don’t have to worry about me.” After a pause, his voice softened. “Fine. We’ll talk tonight after you’ve calmed down.” “All right.” “One more thing. Go to Selena’s apartment and pick up my spare encrypted phone. I left it charging in her bedroom before the trip.” I looked at the half-packed boxes around me. His phone was in my adopted sister’s bedroom, yet he found nothing strange about asking his fiancée to retrieve it. “You know the building,” he continued. “Her housekeeper will let you in if you give her my name.” “All right.” “Good. I’ll call you later.” I ended the call. Nora looked up from the box she was packing. “You’re not going, are you?” “No.” “Then why did you agree?” “Habit.” At the back of my drawer, I found the velvet box containing the bracelet Leon had given me on our first anniversary. A small violet-shaped charm hung from the silver chain. He told me he had chosen it because violets reminded him of my name. A month later, Selena smiled when she saw me wearing it. “Isn’t it beautiful? Leon and I visited three jewelers before I found the right one for you.” He had spent an afternoon shopping with Selena for my anniversary gift. He had never spent an afternoon shopping with me. I put the bracelet back in its box and left it on the desk. Nora picked up the framed photograph from my engagement party. “Taking this?” “No.” She placed it beside the bracelet. “What about the ring?” I looked down at the gray-blue diamond on my finger. I removed the ring and placed it beside the bracelet. “When are you going to tell him?” Nora asked. “After I start at Kane.” “Why wait?” “If I tell him now, he’ll think I’m threatening to leave so he’ll come after me. He’ll apologize, promise to change, and expect me to stay.” “And will you?” I closed my suitcase. “No. I’ve spent enough of my life waiting for them to choose me. From now on, I choose myself.” Nora smiled faintly. “You should have done that a long time ago.” My phone rang again. Leon. I silenced it, zipped the suitcase, and left the engagement ring on the desk. Chapter 4 The next morning, three black SUVs stopped outside my residence hall. My family had taken the private jet back from the island. Leon sent one message. [Come downstairs.] My parents, Damian, and Leon were waiting beneath the awning. Selena stood between them, wrapped in Leon’s jacket. Mom approached me first. “What were you thinking?” “I wanted to leave.” “You disappeared without telling anyone,” she said. “Do you know how humiliating that was?” Dad’s expression hardened. “Get your things. You’re coming home.” “No.” Everyone fell silent. Damian stared at me. “We flew through the night to find you, and you’re still acting as if no one cares.” “We came because you were behaving irrationally,” Mom said. Selena clutched Leon’s jacket around herself. “Please don’t fight because of me. I told them to stay on the island, but they were too worried about you.” Her voice trembled, and Damian immediately touched her shoulder. “This isn’t your fault.” “I should have woken Viola myself,” she continued. “I didn’t know she would be so hurt.” “You did nothing wrong,” Leon said. He comforted her before looking at me. I met his eyes. “Why was your encrypted phone in Selena’s bedroom?” “I helped her repair the gallery’s security system and left it there.” “I asked you to help with the security for my graduate exhibition. You said you were busy.” “That was different. Selena’s gallery needed professional protection.” “You always have time when she needs you.” His expression tightened. “Is that what this is about? You’re jealous of your sister?” “I’m tired of being forgotten.” “You missed one sunrise, Viola.” “It wasn’t only the sunrise.” I looked at my family. “You left me alone at my engagement party when her monitor came loose. Yesterday, all five of you left the villa without noticing I wasn’t with you.” Selena’s eyes filled with tears. “I never asked them to choose me.” “No. You only make sure they feel guilty if they don’t.” Mom pulled her close. “That was cruel.” “Was it?” “She lost her father protecting this family,” Dad said. “We promised she would never feel unwanted in our home.” “So you made sure I did instead.” Mom flinched. Damian shook his head. “You’ve resented her since the day she joined our family.” “I gave her half my room. I shared everything I had because you told me she needed it more. But no matter how much I gave, it was never enough.” Selena began to cry. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Maybe I should leave the Moretti family. Then Viola can have everyone back.” Damian immediately drew her against him. “Stop that. You’re our sister, and no one is sending you anywhere.” Leon turned to me. “Are you happy now?” That was how Selena always won. She offered to disappear, knowing everyone would rush to prove how desperately they wanted her to stay. I simply stopped competing. “You should go back to the island,” I said. “We came here for you,” Leon replied. “You found me. I’m fine.” “You’re obviously not fine. Come home, and we’ll discuss this privately.” “I’m not going home.” His patience finally broke. “We have a wedding in six weeks. Both families already know you walked out on the trip. How much more damage are you planning to do?” “I’m not going back today.” “If you walk away now, I’ll postpone the wedding.” “Do what you think is best.” His expression changed. “What does that mean?” “Exactly what I said.” Dad stepped forward. “You have until six tonight to return to the Moretti estate and apologize to your sister. If you refuse, I’ll remove your access to every family account and property.” “I understand.” “You think you can survive without this family?” “I’m going to find out.” He stared at me before turning toward the SUVs. Leon lingered after the others climbed inside. “Take a few hours to calm down. Be at the Moretti estate by six if you still want this wedding.” Then he left. They believed I would return because I always had. That afternoon, Nora helped me carry my luggage downstairs. “When will you tell them?” she asked. “After the plane takes off.” She hugged me tightly. “At Kane, let people see what you can do. Build something that belongs to you.” I handed her the velvet box containing my engagement ring. “Have this delivered to Leon after I leave.” Nora accepted it. “You’re sure?” “Yes.” She smiled. “Then go choose yourself for once.” At the airport, messages filled my phone. Leon’s arrived last. [This is your final chance. Be at the Moretti estate by six, and we can forget this happened.] The gate agent announced boarding for Chicago. I turned off my phone and handed her my passport. At six, they would finally understand that I wasn’t coming back. By then, I would already be gone.