Chương 7
“That doesn’t make her file public property.”
“It would improve your position.”
Claire looked at him.
“No.”
The board chair leaned back.
“Why?”
Because she was my sister, Claire almost said.
But that sounded dangerously close to the same special treatment she had spent the week rejecting.
“Because if we start exposing employee records whenever an employee embarrasses the CEO, no one here should trust us.”
He nodded.
“That was my answer too.”
The company released its statement at noon.
Chloe responded within an hour.
Harrington’s process protects executives, not employees. I stand by what I experienced.
Claire read the statement once.
Then she put the phone down.
She did not respond.
The public argument faded gradually because most public arguments did.
Three days later another CEO resigned somewhere else.
A product recall dominated business news.
A celebrity lawsuit swallowed social media for forty-eight hours.
By the following week, searches for Claire Morgan returned more articles about Harrington’s quarterly outlook than about her sister.
Inside the Morgan family, nothing faded.
Diane stopped calling.
Robert sent one message:
Your mother is very upset.
Claire stared at it for several seconds before answering:
I know.
He did not reply.
Chloe removed Harrington Global from her LinkedIn history because nine minutes did not qualify as experience.
She left the original posts online.
Claire knew because she checked once each evening.
She disliked herself for checking.
She did it anyway.
Three weeks after the termination, Claire drove to her parents’ house in Bellevue for Robert’s birthday.
She almost turned around twice.
The first time was at a stoplight.
The second was in their driveway.
Diane opened the door before Claire could knock.
“You came.”
“You invited me.”
“I wasn’t sure.”
Neither of them hugged.
Claire carried in a bottle of Robert’s preferred nonalcoholic sparkling cider because he had stopped drinking two years earlier and disliked when people made a performance of remembering.
The house smelled like roasted chicken and Diane’s lemon floor cleaner.
Nothing about it had changed.
That irritated Claire more than it should have.
Chloe was in the kitchen.
She wore jeans and an old university sweatshirt, her blonde hair loose instead of tied neatly.
For a second both sisters stopped.
Then Chloe opened the refrigerator.
“There’s wine if you want it.”
“I’m driving.”
“So?”
Claire looked at her.
Chloe shrugged.
“Right. Responsible CEO.”
The words carried an edge, but a tired one.
Claire set the cider on the counter.
“How are you?”
Chloe laughed under her breath.
“That’s bold.”
“You don’t have to answer.”
“I’m unemployed.”
“I know.”
“Of course you do.”
Claire leaned against the counter.
“I meant because Mom told me.”
Chloe’s expression shifted.
“Mom talks to you?”
“Occasionally.”
“She mostly talks about you.”
Claire blinked.
“That’s new.”
“Don’t get excited.”
A timer beeped.
Chloe opened the oven and swore because she had forgotten oven mitts.
Claire handed them to her.
For a few seconds they moved around each other the way they had as teenagers, one opening a drawer while the other reached for a spoon, bodies remembering a rhythm their adult minds no longer trusted.
Chloe pulled out a tray of potatoes.
“I applied to six places.”
Claire said nothing.
Chloe glanced at her.
“You can say good luck.”
“Good luck.”
“You sound like a bank.”
“I’m nervous.”
That made Chloe look at her.
“Nervous?”
“Yes.”
“Of me?”
“Of this kitchen.”
Chloe almost smiled.
Almost.
Robert called from the dining room.
“Are we eating tonight or tomorrow?”
Chloe rolled her eyes.
Claire picked up the salad bowl.
“That part hasn’t changed.”
“No,” Chloe said. “God protects some things.”
Dinner began politely.
Politeness lasted seven minutes.
Robert asked Claire about Harrington’s stock price.
Diane asked Chloe about an interview.
Claire asked Robert whether he still went walking with the neighbor on Tuesdays.
Everyone was trying.
Then Robert said, “Chloe has an interview at Rainier Creative next week.”
Claire nodded.
“That’s good.”
“It’s for an assistant brand manager role.”
Chloe looked down at her plate.
Claire noticed the title was one level above the Harrington position.
“That sounds interesting.”
“They asked why she left Harrington.”
Diane’s fork stopped.
Robert continued.
“She had to explain.”
Chloe said, “Dad.”
“What?”
“We agreed.”
“I’m making conversation.”
“No, you’re not.”
Claire set down her water.
“What did you tell them?”
Chloe looked at her.
“The truth.”
Diane said quickly, “A version of it.”
Chloe’s jaw tightened.
“I said I was terminated during onboarding after violating a visitor access rule.”
Claire waited.
“That’s what happened.”
Robert looked irritated.
“You did not need to make yourself sound irresponsible.”
“I was irresponsible.”
“You made one mistake.”
“I made three, Dad.”
“According to Claire’s company.”
Chloe put down her fork.
“According to me.”
The table went quiet.
Robert stared at her.
Chloe’s cheeks flushed, but she continued.
“I lied to security.”
“You were excited.”
“I lied.”
“You didn’t understand the system.”
“I tried to get into a confidential folder.”
“You clicked something.”
“Three times.”
Robert looked toward Claire.
Claire did not react.
Chloe laughed bitterly.
“See? This is exactly why I’m like this.”
Diane stiffened.
“Like what?”
“Like someone who thinks every stupid thing I do needs a nicer explanation.”
“Chloe.”
“No. Seriously. I’m twenty-five. I don’t need Dad turning corporate espionage into me being curious.”
Claire looked at her.
“Corporate espionage is generous.”
Chloe stared.
Claire lifted one shoulder.
“You were looking for salary information.”
A startled sound escaped Chloe.
Then, against her will, she laughed.
Claire did too.
It lasted perhaps two seconds.
Diane looked horrified by both of them.
Robert did not laugh.
“You think this is funny?”
“No,” Chloe said. “That’s the problem.”
She pushed her chair back.
“I spent a week telling everybody Claire fired me because she hated me.”
Claire’s smile disappeared.
Chloe looked at her.
“And she did hate me a little.”
Claire held her eyes.
“A little.”
Diane made a distressed sound.
May you like
Chloe ignored her.
“But I kept waiting for the review to prove I hadn’t done anything wrong.”
