On the day that’s meant to celebrate her, Anna is asked to step aside — again. But this time, she won’t stay quiet. In a wedding filled with unspoken truths and long-held loyalties, Anna decides to reclaim the one thing she was never given freely: her place.

I already knew my sister was going to wear white to my wedding.

She wouldn’t ask, of course.

She wouldn’t check either. She would just decide — the way she always had — and expect the rest of us to move around her like her personal paparazzi.

I imagined our mother adjusting the veil with theatrical care, and our father offering his arm like it was the most natural thing in the world.

I imagined all three of them walking into my wedding as if it were Emily’s chance at love.

But I promised myself that whatever they threw my way, it definitely wouldn’t go how they planned.

The family dinner had been Bryan’s idea.

“It’s just a dinner, Anna,” he’d said. “Just a few hours, my love.

One meal, no landmines.”

“I know,” I said, fussing in return. “But why do you want to do it?”

“Because I know your family. If they’re planning something stupid, they’ll let it slip at a family dinner.

And that way, we can be ready for whatever they’re planning. Yeah?”

I nodded, but I should’ve known better. Even if we were prepared for any nonsense from my family, nothing would stop them.

We were halfway through dessert when Mom set her fork down and dabbed her mouth with her napkin like she was preparing for a courtroom statement.

“Anna, sweetheart,” she said.

“You do understand that Emily has to walk down the aisle first, right?”

“Anna, she’s older,” Dad added without looking at me. “It doesn’t matter what capacity she’ll be walking down in, but it only makes sense.”

“Sense? There’s no sense here,” I argued.

“Emily doesn’t even have a partner to walk down the aisle with. There’s a theme, and it’s all coordinated, Dad.”

My mother sighed dramatically.

“It wouldn’t be fair for the younger sister to go first and take all the attention, Anna. Emily deserves that moment.

You know it, she knows it… we all know it.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Not at first.

There was a tightening behind my ribs, the kind that comes with years of shrinking yourself down so someone else can shine a little brighter.

I stared at the lemon tart in front of me — Emily’s favorite, of course.