Chapter 5: The Position She Wanted
Nobody moved.
The room felt frozen.
Vanessa's face turned completely pale.
Dad looked between us.
"Is that true?""
She didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
The truth was already sitting there.
She didn't just want me to fail.
She wanted my place.
My opportunity.
My future.
"You wanted my job," I whispered.
Vanessa shook her head.
"No.""
"Then why was your name submitted?""
"I didn't know it would work.""
I stared at her.
"You applied for my position?""
She cried.
"I thought if they saw me, they would realize I was better.""
The words hurt because they revealed everything.
This was never about me being arrogant.
It was about her believing my success was proof of her failure.
Dad stood.
"Vanessa, leave.""
She looked at him.
"Dad—"
"Leave.""
She grabbed her purse and walked away.
But before she reached the door, she stopped.
"Claire.""
I didn't respond.
"I really was happy for you at first.""
I looked at her.
For a moment, I saw my little sister.
The girl who used to sit beside me while I did homework.
The girl who once begged me to teach her how to build a website.
Then I remembered the ballroom floor.
The torn paper.
The laughter.
She left.
That evening, I returned to my apartment and placed the small piece of paper on my desk.
The corner of the Meridian logo.
A reminder.
Not of Vanessa.
Of myself.
I had spent years thinking I needed my family's approval.
I was wrong.
The next morning, Daniel called.
"Claire, there's one more thing you should know.""
"What?""
"The university president asked Meridian to investigate something else.""
"What else?""
"Your original internship project.""
I frowned.
"My project?""
"Yes.""
He paused.
"We discovered someone tried to claim ownership of your research.""
My stomach tightened.
"Who?""
Silence.
Then he answered.
"Your sister.""
I closed my eyes.
Because I finally understood.
Vanessa hadn't started this at graduation.
The graduation ceremony wasn't the beginning.
It was the moment everything finally became impossible to hide.
Daniel continued.
"Claire, we need you to come in tomorrow.""
"Why?""
"Because there is evidence your sister may have done something much bigger than interfering with your job offer.""
I looked at the torn paper on my desk.
Six years of work.
Six years of sacrifice.
Six years of people telling me to be patient.
And now I realized something.
Vanessa didn't just want my future.
May you like
She wanted my past too.
And tomorrow, I was going to find out exactly how much she had taken.
