促銷資訊載入中...
After Cutting Ties, I No Longer Stop My Sister's Truth
NovelShort
已完結
When my sister found out our client's boss, a woman, was unmarried, she blurted out, "An old maid nobody wants." I pulled three all-nighters and drew up seven versions of the proposal before I finally...
章節（4）
第1章
When my sister found out the client's female boss was unmarried, she blurted out, "an old maid nobody wants."
I went three days and three nights without sleep and drafted seven versions of the proposal before the woman finally forgave us.
But the moment I got home, Mom and Dad announced that my integrity score was minus six hundred fifty-nine, that Sophie Dickerson had hit a full thousand, and that she would be inheriting the company.
I stared at them with bloodshot eyes and demanded, "On what grounds? I trailed after her cleaning up her mess, and I saved a fifty-million-dollar contract!"
Sophie stuck out her tongue. "She's forty and still not married. Was I wrong to say nobody wants her? I just told the truth!"
Mom pulled her into her arms. "Sophie has a pure heart, she doesn't lie. She earned that integrity score fair and square."
Dad nodded, gratified, then rounded on me with a bark.
"Lying through your teeth for a few scraps of profit. Your mother and I have never in our lives had less respect for anyone than a greedy, grasping little schemer like you!"
To pick a worthy heir, my parents had set up an integrity score for Sophie and me from the time we were small.
Sophie asked our gravely ill grandmother why she was dragging it out instead of dying, since the ICU was so expensive.
Our parents gave her a point.
Sophie pointed at a classmate with a congenital limp and called him a cripple, and got the parents called in.
Our parents said I was the older sister and shouldn't let Sophie get bullied, so every day I apologized without end.
Our parents called me a bootlicker with a mouth full of lies.
Before a bid, Sophie leaked the supplier's cost quote to a competitor, then wheedled up to our parents.
"I want to go head to head with them, fair and square, and see who can land the biggest project of the year!"
This time, I wouldn't stop her. I'd let her show everyone exactly what she was made of...
01
"Sis, isn't the only reason you're so eager to kiss up to Ms. Simmons that she's the client?"
Sophie rolled her eyes in contempt.
Three all-nighters in, the vein at my temple was throbbing.
Still, I drew a breath and explained, carefully.
"Even if Ms. Simmons were an ordinary person, after my sister said something that offensive to her, I'd still do everything I could to make it right."
Mom frowned, displeased.
"Nothing but lies. If sucking up to that woman didn't make you money, I'd never believe you had it in your heart to be that kind!"
"Your father and I built this from nothing on integrity. How could we ever have raised a daughter as morally rotten as you?"
I opened my mouth to explain something more.
Dad stood, his tone grave.
"Carissa Dickerson, enough of this nonsense."
"The way I see it, Ms. Simmons is a woman past forty who still won't let go of the company's reins. High cheekbones, the kind that spells doom for any husband. Sophie only told the truth."
"If she got angry, it just proves honest words grate on the ear. She's the one who can't take it."
Mom hugged Sophie close, her eyes full of admiration.
"Sophie's integrity score has already reached a thousand. As of today, the Dickersons officially passes to Sophie."
I couldn't believe my ears. The word tore out of me. "On what grounds?"
"I gave this company ten years. From the factory floor to sales, I did every part of it with my own hands."
"And Sophie? She shows up only when it counts, and opens her mouth to offend every single person in the room!"
Before I could finish, a dull pain struck my temple.
Mom had grabbed a heavy notebook and hurled it at my forehead.
"You bet, you lose, you accept it. When you were ten, your father and I told you both: whoever hits a thousand points first takes over the company."
"Look at yourself. Minus six hundred fifty-nine. That means you've told six hundred fifty-nine lies."
Inside the notebook, after Sophie's name, ran row after dense row of "+1."
And after my name, careless "-1" marks scrawled in red pen.
"You're the older sister. You bet and you lost, so take it. Don't make people look down on you."
The endless numbers made my head spin.
Sophie had been like this since we were kids. No filter, no restraint.
The year she turned ten, she pointed at our gravely ill grandmother in her sickbed, her face full of disgust.
"The ICU costs a fortune a day. Old and not dead is just a burden. If she had any thought at all for her children, she'd have given up treatment long ago!"
Grandma, already so frail, went bloodless in the face at those words.
Tears streamed down her old cheeks as she murmured over and over, "The old woman shouldn't be treated, dragging her children down. I should have died long ago."
I stepped in front of Grandma and lost my temper at Sophie for the first time.
"You have no manners at all. How could you say something like that to Grandma!"
Sophie couldn't have cared less. I turned to our parents for help, hoping they'd make her apologize.
Dad's eyes drifted away on their own. "Sophie's right. Our business may look big, but the employees, the rent, every bit of it is money. We're under a lot of pressure too."
Mom crouched down, her eyes on Sophie brimming with admiration.
"That's my daughter. Sharp-tongued, quick, free-spirited."
She stood and walked toward me, her face cold, and jabbed a finger hard against my head.
"You, on the other hand. Just because your grandmother slipped you a few small kindnesses, you went against your conscience and told pretty, high-sounding lies. Minus one integrity point."
The tears spilled out of me at once.
I hadn't lied.
Grandma had taught me that cruel words wound people, that you should think of others' feelings before you speak.
I hadn't done anything wrong!
But I was too little then to speak up for myself.
From that day on, Grandma saw her daughter's true face. Heartbroken, she refused the doctors' treatment.
Within days, she was gone.
The only relative in that house who ever called me a good child was gone.
After that, Sophie grew even more brazen, saying whatever she pleased, whenever she pleased.
第2章
In elementary school, my sister and I went to a private academy. Cody was the only scholarship student there, admitted specially because his grades were so good.
He had a gentle nature, but a bad leg left him walking with a limp.
Sophie couldn't stand how well liked he was. In gym class, she shoved him hard to the ground.
"Stop dragging us down! If you're sick, go die somewhere. Don't infect the rest of us normal people."
Cody's knees were scraped bloody, his face flushed red, and he had no idea how to fight back.
I couldn't watch it happen, so I shoved Sophie down too and told her to apologize to him.
Our parents were called to the school. I never expected it, but instead of blaming Sophie, they slapped me hard enough to knock me over.
"You ungrateful little traitor, ganging up with an outsider to bully your own sister!"
"What did Sophie say that was wrong? If he's disabled, he should go to a special school. Why come to a normal elementary school and ruin things for healthy kids?"
Dad said it like he had every right to, and Mom read the worst possible motives into me.
"You little girl, don't tell me you take a boy's side the second you see one, just to butter him up on purpose?"
"This time, since you hit your sister, we're adding 10 points to her integrity score. You go reflect on yourself!"
Cody and his grandmother couldn't bear the humiliation, and not long after, they transferred out. I never saw them again.
My phone buzzed. I looked down and saw two messages from Ms. Simmons.
"I was very impressed with the proposal you put together last time. I hear you're underappreciated at the Dickersons. Come work for me. Base salary eighty thousand, bonuses on top of that."
"Don't rush to turn me down. Think it over. I'll wait for your answer."
My heart gave a hard thump.
Ms. Simmons ran the Simmons Group, the benchmark of the industry. Countless bright young talents fought tooth and nail just to get in.
And here she was, holding out an olive branch to a nobody like me, someone with no name in the field at all.
But if I left, what would happen to the Dickersons?
The company's cash flow was almost dried up, and my parents were still living in their old glory days, expanding blindly.
Sophie not causing disasters would be a win in itself. Counting on her was out of the question.
"Carissa, don't hold it against your father and me for playing favorites."
Mom softened her tone, pulling my thoughts back.
She pointed at the notebook, at the dense string of "-1"s crowding after my name, her voice pained.
"Your sister met her integrity score target, so she gets a reward. You've lost so many points, and if there's no punishment for that, it wouldn't be fair to your sister!"
Dad waved his hand impatiently. "Why waste so many words on her? Just announce it and be done."
"Where's she going to go, leave the Dickersons? Don't go mistaking the platform for actual ability!"
"Almost thirty and she's accomplished nothing, and now she's been let go too. Where's she going to find work, apply to be a cleaning lady?"
Mom nodded, thoroughly convinced.
"First, from now on you'll be your sister's secretary. You'll do it until she retires, and use your wages to atone."
"Every month we'll give you twenty-eight hundred for normal living expenses. We won't be paying into insurance for you."
"When you're old, I'm sure your sister won't let you go hungry."
第3章
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."
第4章
Two weeks later, in a sharp suit, I walked into the bidding meeting.
I could hear my sister offending someone before I even reached the room.
"Mr. Finch, long time no see, and going balder, I see. Getting old, hormones dropping to match? No wonder I spotted your wife out with some cute young guy the other day. Somebody's not getting satisfied at home!"
"Wallis Sullivan, what in the world are you wearing? You look like something out of a barn. No wonder your husband cheated with his secretary. If I were a man I couldn't kiss that face either."
"Mr. James, that autistic kid of yours still alive? Honestly, quit wasting money on treatment. Take him out onto the highway and try your luck. Better to hurry up and start over with a new one."
The company owners around them went dark in the face, saying nothing.
Even my mother seemed to sense something was off, and forced out a couple of awkward laughs.
"Children speak without thinking. My Sophie's got a simple heart, always says what's on her mind, whatever it is. Please don't hold it against her."
Wallis was not one to swallow a loss. She looked my sister up and down and said with contempt,
"I really don't know how the two of you went so blind. You've got a smart, sensible daughter and you tossed her aside to prop this useless one up. Now I'm curious just how long it'll take before the Dickersons go under."
My father flared up at once.
"How dare you talk like that?"
Wallis gave a snort. "I like to say what's on my mind too, whatever it is."
My father choked on it, unable to fire back.
Zion James's son had always been the raw nerve in his chest. He clenched his jaw.
"The Dickersons think far too little of us, handing us your cost quote like that. Don't blame us later if we play rough."
"And since you've offended us, don't blame us for muscling in on every Dickerson project from here on out."
My father's face went white in an instant. His lips trembled as he turned to my sister.
"You actually sent it out? Your sister didn't stop you?"
She stuck out her lower lip, sulking. "I haven't been able to find her for weeks. Who knows where she's off gallivanting!"
"Besides, it's not like I need her. I've got my own strategy. I'll beat them fair and square!"
But this time my parents didn't praise her the way they used to. They panicked.
"Call Carissa Dickerson, now! She has to be here to fix this!"
My father barked the order at my mother while his eyes darted around, searching for me, anxious.
When his gaze met mine, standing not far off, the relief on his face was plain.
My mother came striding over and unloaded on me before I could say a word.
"Where the hell have you been? On a day this important, how are you, the secretary, only showing up now?"
"You've done this job for years. Don't you know the cost quote is a trade secret that can't leak out? Did all that education go to the dogs?"
"Pull out the new plan, now! If there's a single slip in this bid, I will not let it go!"
My father was only just surfacing from his fright, and it seemed to curdle into wounded fury.
"What scheme is running through that head of yours now? Did you come late on purpose to make your sister look bad?"
He raised his arm high, ready to bring his hand down hard across my face as a lesson.
I only gripped his wrist tight, looked straight into his eyes, and said calmly,
"Mr. Dickerson, I'm now a project manager at the Simmons Group. The client you've all been talking about. I'd appreciate a little respect."
"And if you or your family raise your voices at me one more time, don't blame me for cancelling the Dickersons' bidding eligibility on the spot."