Chương 2
She had assumed the CEO was some faceless older man she would never meet.
“I didn’t know you were—”
“That’s not relevant.”
“Oh, come on.”
“You used authority you didn’t have.”
“I was excited.”
“You lied to security.”
“I said somebody had approved it.”
“You said the CEO had personally approved it.”
Robert made an impatient sound.
“This is ridiculous. She made a harmless first-day mistake.”
Claire looked at him.
“It got her parents onto a restricted executive floor.”
“We’re hardly terrorists.”
“No. You’re unregistered visitors who bypassed building security because an employee lied.”
Diane folded her arms.
“Chloe was trying to show us where she worked.”
Claire nodded once.
“I know.”
“And for that you humiliate her?”
Claire’s fingers tightened again.
The truth was uncomfortable because her mother was not entirely wrong.
The termination decision had been defensible. The way Claire had delivered it was not.
The sentence—You lasted nine minutes—had come from a place Claire had spent years pretending did not exist.
She had heard Chloe’s voice outside the office before they entered.
Just wait until Mom sees the executive floor.
Then Diane laughing.
Our Chloe. First morning and already going places.
And Robert saying, Don’t wander too long. Claire’s probably still at that operations job across town.
Claire had been standing behind the glass door with a security alert glowing on her tablet.
She could have called HR.
She could have let security escort them downstairs.
She could have waited twenty minutes and handled the issue privately.
Instead she had stayed in the office.
She had let them walk in.
She had wanted them to see.
That part belonged to her.
She closed the folder.
“HR reviewed the security incident.”
“In nine minutes?” Chloe asked.
“They reviewed the alert immediately.”
“This is insane.”
“There’s more.”
Chloe’s chin lifted.
Claire hated that she recognized the gesture. It was Robert’s.
Her assistant placed another document on the desk.
Claire did not touch it.
“Your onboarding login was flagged because you attempted to access the executive communications directory.”
“I clicked the wrong folder.”
“Three times.”
“I didn’t know what it was.”
“It was labeled Executive Communications—Confidential.”
Chloe opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Diane looked toward her.
“Chloe?”
“I was looking for the brand assets.”
Claire said nothing.
Chloe’s eyes hardened.
“What?”
Claire waited.
“You’re doing that thing.”
“What thing?”
“That silent superior thing where you make everyone feel stupid.”
Robert turned toward Claire.
“She has a point.”
The absurdity nearly made Claire laugh.
Instead she inhaled slowly through her nose.
Her assistant remained near the door.
Outside, two people in suits passed the glass wall without looking in.
Claire said, “The access attempt would normally trigger a written warning for a new employee. Lying to security about executive authorization is more serious. The combination, during your first morning, led HR to recommend termination during your introductory period.”
Chloe stared at her.
“Recommend.”
“Yes.”
“So you decided.”
“Yes.”
“Because you’re the CEO.”
“Yes.”
“And because I’m your sister.”
“No.”
“That’s bullshit.”
Diane flinched at the word but did not correct her.
Claire leaned back slightly.
“You can challenge the termination through Employee Relations. The instructions are in the envelope.”
Chloe laughed again, louder this time.
“Oh, I can challenge you to your own company?”
“It isn’t my company.”
“You sit behind the giant desk.”
“It belongs to Harrington Global.”
“God, you’re unbelievable.”
Robert stepped closer to the desk.
“This ends now.”
Claire met his eyes.
“What does?”
“You call whoever you need to call. You say there was a misunderstanding. Chloe returns to orientation.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“No.”
His lips pressed together.
“You are letting years of jealousy interfere with your judgment.”
That did it.
Not dramatically.
Claire did not shout.
She did not stand.
Her face remained still enough that Robert seemed to mistake the silence for hesitation.
Only her right hand changed.
Her fingers curled against her palm beneath the desk.
She could feel the edge of one fingernail against skin.
“Jealousy,” she repeated.
Diane looked away first.
Robert said, “You’ve always resented the attention Chloe received.”
Claire thought of a hundred possible responses and discarded all of them.
The birthdays.
The college graduation where Robert had left early because Chloe had a dance recital rehearsal.
The Thanksgiving when Diane had asked Claire to sleep on the den sofa because Chloe and her boyfriend wanted the guest room.
The year Claire had worked eighty-hour weeks rebuilding Harrington’s collapsing Pacific distribution network and her parents had told relatives she was “still figuring out operations.”
None of those belonged in this office.
Not like this.
Claire looked at Chloe.
“Your termination stands.”
Chloe’s face finally lost its polish.
“You planned this.”
“No.”
“You knew I was hired.”
“I learned four days ago.”
“And you didn’t stop it.”
“I recused myself from your hiring review as soon as I recognized your name.”
“Recognized my name.”
Claire regretted the phrasing immediately.
Chloe stared at her.
“You make me sound like a stranger.”
“In the hiring process, that’s what you needed to be.”
Diane shook her head.
“You could have helped her.”
“That would have been inappropriate.”
“You could have helped your own sister?”
“Yes.”
Robert gave a disgusted breath.
“You’ve become very impressed with yourself.”
Claire looked at the press release.
For one ugly second she wanted to lift it and place it directly into his hands.
Not because he needed proof.
Because she wanted him to feel the weight of how wrong he had been.
She left it on the desk.
Her assistant spoke gently.
“Ms. Morgan, security is waiting downstairs to collect the visitor passes. I can escort everyone.”
Diane turned on her.
“We are not criminals.”
“No, ma’am.”
“You don’t need to escort us.”
“Visitors on this floor are escorted.”
Diane’s lips tightened.
Robert looked at Claire one last time.
“You’ll regret handling family this way.”
Claire’s answer came slower than she intended.
“I already regret parts of it.”
Robert seemed briefly surprised.
May you like
Then the surprise disappeared.
Chloe picked up the onboarding folder and shoved it toward the assistant.
