The Way We Once Were

After the tragic death of my best friend, I took her younger brother in and treated him like my own. Everyone knew how much Zach Lawson meant to me, so much so that I vowed not to marry because I could not bear leaving him.

The day he turned eighteen, he got on one knee and asked me to marry him.

With tears of joy streaming down my face, I took the bouquet from him, only to realize they were made of writhing snakes.

Everyone laughed at my misfortune. It was an artfully crafted joke, at my expense. Thalia Lewis laced her arm through Zach's and grinned. "Sorry about that, Sydney. It was just an innocent prank. Zach is willing to do anything to make me smile!"

Zach gave me a look of utter disgust. "Is this what you think of me? You're my sister! How can you even think of marrying me? This is vile! Is this the reason you took me in? Have you been secretly pining for me since the start?"

My whole life had come crashing down around me. I was overcome with shock, misery, and despair, until Connor Grey showed up and asked for my hand in marriage.

"Sydney, I promise that once I'm done with this competition, the first thing I'm going to do is fly home and marry you."

I hung up the call at the exact moment my adopted brother, Zach Lawson, entered the room. When he saw me hastily putting my phone away, he furrowed his brows in annoyance. "Who were you talking to?"

I replied curtly, "Why does it concern you who I'm talking to?"

Zach, knowing that I was still mad at him, tried to change the topic. He set down the bag he had brought on the table and said, "Sydney, I know you're mad at me, but I've already apologized. I know I shouldn't have played that prank on you. It was all my fault that you fell and caused your old injury to flare up, but I swear I didn't mean to hurt you on purpose.

"Thalia thought it would be a fun little prank, and I was just trying to make her happy. I didn't think you'd be so scared of those snakes that I snuck into the bouquet. I didn't think you'd stumble and fall as a result. They weren't even poisonous!

"To be honest, I didn't expect you to say yes to my proposal either, much less in front of all those people. It was quite humiliating for me, to be frank.

"Sydney, I've always thought of you as a sister, and I've never had feelings for you in that way. It was just an accident. Please don't stay mad at me. Look, I made you some of your favorite chicken soup to make up for it."

I could not help but recall all those sweet, tender words he had said to me the night of his 'proposal'. I had not doubted the