My mom kept shaking her head like she’d just woken up from a dream she didn’t understand.
Carson stood and walked away from the table, phone in hand.
Elise called after him, her voice shrill.
And I, I just sat there, still at the kids table.
Still the invisible brother.
Still the family ghost.
But this time everyone saw me.
The projector was off.
The illusion was broken.
And they had no idea what was coming next.
Elise stumbled after Carson.
Heels clicking too loud on the wooden floor. Voice climbing into a pitch I hadn’t heard since we were teenagers.
“Carson, wait. Just wait. It was a joke. That video was from years ago. You know I didn’t mean it like that.”
Her voice cracked near the end, desperation bleeding through, but he didn’t turn around.
He pushed open the side door and vanished into the courtyard beyond, his best man jogging after him.
The door swung shut with a dull thud.
Inside, the silence cracked open like a fault line.
My mom stood stiffly, arms crossed, eyes scanning the room like she could somehow undo what had just happened through sheer force of will.
My dad sat back down heavily, jaw tight, face pale.
The man who always had something to say, some insult, some sarcastic remark, suddenly looked like he couldn’t even form a sentence.
I noticed his hand was shaking slightly as he lifted his wine glass.
My uncle, Uncle Grant, the one who’d laughed earlier when I was seated at the kids table, leaned across to my dad and whispered something.
I didn’t hear it, but whatever it was, it made my dad’s eyes narrow and his lips purse hard enough to turn white.
I could almost see the gears turning.
Anger, confusion, calculation.
The other guests were stirring now, murmuring like a wave building offshore.
I could hear snippets.
“Was that supposed to be funny?”
“Did Elise really say all that?”
“Who made that video?”
“I thought Ian was the editor.”
And then, “Wait, was that his revenge?”
That last one spread like a match dropped in dry grass.
My cousin Jenna, Elisa’s age from my mom’s side, who always treated me decently, slid into the empty seat beside me.
“You edited that, didn’t you?” she said quietly.
No accusation in her voice.
Just curiosity, maybe a hint of awe.