“Olivia, what are you doing here? We discussed this.”

Melissa leaned closer to Jake, clearly expecting to enjoy my humiliation.

Then Jake looked up and recognized me.

And with one innocent sentence, he destroyed the secret she had worked so hard to protect.

“Olivia is your sister? She’s my boss.”

PART 2

My mother raised one hand to her throat while Melissa’s face lost all color.

I placed the wrapped brooch on the table.

“Surprise. Happy birthday, Mom.”

Jake stared at Melissa.

“For three years, you talked about your sister, but you never told me her name. You never said she worked at Meridian.”

Melissa recovered quickly.

“How was I supposed to know where Olivia worked? We hardly speak.”

Jake frowned.

“You told me to apply at Meridian. You sent me the job advertisement.”

The restaurant staff brought me another chair. I sat between my father and Jake while Melissa insisted the entire situation was merely a coincidence.

Jake turned toward her.

“You said a friend worked there. You helped me prepare for the interview.”

“You were looking for a job,” Melissa replied. “I was helping you.”

I kept my voice calm.

“You have known where I work for five years. You attended Meridian’s Christmas party with me two years ago.”

My father looked at Melissa.

“Is that true?”

She avoided his eyes.

Jake asked when I had promoted him.

“Last week,” I replied.

He looked back at Melissa.

“Right before Olivia was removed from this dinner.”

Every face turned toward my father.

I asked him to explain the argument Melissa claimed we had.

He could not remember any details.

“She said Olivia threatened her relationship,” he admitted.

Jake stared at Melissa.

“Why would Olivia threaten us? She didn’t even know we were together.”

Melissa’s composure began to crack.

“She has always been jealous of me. She tries to take everything I have.”

“What have I ever taken from you?” I asked.

“Everything!” she snapped. “You were always the intelligent, responsible daughter. Even when Mom and Dad praised me, they compared me to you.”

Jake looked horrified.

“Olivia has never behaved improperly toward me. She has only been my supervisor.”

Melissa accused us of having a secret relationship.

I almost laughed.

“I discovered your connection two days ago from Jake’s emergency contact form.”

Then I asked the question that mattered.

“Why did you deliberately keep both of us unaware? Why place your boyfriend inside my company and hide the relationship?”

Melissa claimed she only wanted Jake to have a good career.

My mother shook her head.

“Then why didn’t you simply tell Olivia?”

Jake’s expression suddenly changed.

“Melissa asks me about work constantly. Specific clients, campaigns, presentations…”

He stopped.

“Oh God.”

I looked at him.

“Your boutique’s new marketing campaign closely resembles a confidential strategy Meridian developed for the Stratton account.”

Melissa waved the accusation away.

“They’re common marketing ideas.”

“No,” Jake replied. “The targeting method was proprietary. Olivia designed it.”

Melissa’s irritation turned into arrogance.

“So I borrowed a few ideas. That’s how business works.”

“That may qualify as corporate theft,” I said.

My father looked physically ill.

“You used Jake to obtain information from your sister’s company?”

“I didn’t steal anything. He shared it because he loves me.”

Jake stood.

“I shared those details because I trusted you. I thought you cared about my work. I never imagined you were using me to monitor your sister.”

For the first time, my family could no longer dismiss the situation as a misunderstanding.

I told them this was not about one dinner or one employee. It was part of a pattern that had shaped our entire lives.

Melissa rolled her eyes.

“Here comes perfect Olivia.”

“I’m not perfect. I’m simply tired of being blamed for things that never happened.”

Then I mentioned my Harvard application.

My mother looked confused.

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