Chapter 3

My sister covered her mouth, laughing at my misfortune. "If she had any shame, she'd do what Grandma did. If you've got no value left, just leave."

I lifted my head slowly and stared at my mother.

"The new intern makes six thousand a month. Why do I only get twenty-eight hundred?"

My mother looked like she'd expected exactly this.

"See? See that? The second money comes up, her whole face changes."

"Even as a little girl, she'd lie through her teeth for the smallest scrap. Hand the company to you and you'd turn around and sell it off."

My father slapped the table, his tone hard, final.

"There's a second condition. From now on, you stay away from Thaddeus Perry. Next month he gets engaged to your sister, and after that he marries into the Dickerson family."

"What? No. I won't agree to that."

I couldn't believe my ears.

The future brother-in-law my father was talking about was the boyfriend I'd been with since college.

My father acted like he hadn't heard my objection at all, just kept going.

"Thaddeus has kept his head down and worked hard here these past few years. Made it all the way to marketing manager. Steady, reliable young man."

"With his help down the line, your sister won't have to carry so much pressure."

I found it absurd, laughable. "Then what does that make me? Have you even asked Thaddeus what he wants?"

Before my father could answer, my sister couldn't wait to cut in.

"Thaddeus got sick of you a long time ago. He says you're slippery, that no one can ever read you. He likes a girl who's warm and honest, like me."

She tapped open a video on her phone.

In it, my boyfriend and my sister were kissing, tangled up in each other.

My sister looked straight into the camera, smiling, taunting me on purpose, me standing just out of frame.

Abandoned by my family and the man I loved in the same breath, my scalp went numb, and for a moment it felt like a knife twisting in me.

My father saw it and burst out laughing.

"Sophie's got such an open heart, loves and hates plainly. Not like some people. Boyfriend walks off and she just sits there, calm as anything. Clearly hasn't got a heart at all."

When I was small, every time I was misunderstood, I cried.

And my parents scolded me for it, said I was so young and already using tears as a weapon, putting on a show to win adult sympathy.

After a while I stopped crying, because I knew perfectly well no one would feel for me.

Now I don't cry and I'm scolded for having no heart.

So it turned out that no matter what I did, the people who didn't love me would always find a reason to look down on me.

My mother seemed to remember something and gave me an order.

"Write that proposal properly. The bid meeting in two weeks is your sister's first real battle taking over the company. It has to go off beautifully."

I pulled at the corner of my mouth and said, dripping with sarcasm,

"So I write the proposal. What does my sister do? Don't tell me she just shows her face and reaps the reward?"

My sister hated more than anything being called a fool, and her face went red with fury.

"I don't play scheming little games like you do. This time I'm going to send our cost quote straight to our competitors."

"I want to compete with them fair and square, and see who ends up taking the biggest project of the year."

I said nothing.

In the middle of the night, I couldn't sleep no matter what I did.

The light in my parents' bedroom was still on. I crept over.

My father's voice was heavy.

"Sophie's still too naive. Cost figures are a core trade secret. The competitors will undercut us to the cent at the bid and snatch the project right out from under us."

"Our situation right now is bad. Lose this project and I don't think we last long."

My mother wasn't worried in the least. "What is there to be afraid of? Sophie's pulled this kind of thing plenty of times. Carissa's always right behind her to clean it up."

"Worst case, we make Carissa put in the overtime, rework a few drafts, bow her head and apologize a couple of times. No harm done."

A pity, Mom, Dad. This time I'm going to let my sister really show what she can do.

I lowered my head and sent a message.

"Ms. Simmons, I accept the position at your company."