"You'll always be nothing, Claire. Face it. " My sister Amanda's words echoed through the marble lobby of TechFlow Solutions as every employee within earshot turned to stare. I stood there in my simple blazer, clutching a folder of business proposals, while she towered over me in her designer suit and corner office confidence.
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But instead of crumbling like she expected, I smiled. Three months later, her boss Michael Chang was on the phone, his voice trembling as he said, "Ms. Thompson, we understand Summit Digital is acquiring our company. We're honored to work under your leadership. " That day, Amanda learned that underestimating someone can be the most expensive mistake you'll ever make. The fluorescent lights of The Sterling Room cast everything in a golden glow that night, making the crystal glasses sparkle like tiny stars across the white tablecloth.
It was supposed to be perfect. Mom's fifty-fifth birthday, the whole Thompson family gathered together for the first time in two years. I had driven three hours from Seattle, fought through Portland traffic, and spent my last two hundred dollars on a dress that would hopefully help me blend in with my successful siblings. But the moment I walked through those heavy oak doors, I knew I had made a mistake. Amanda spotted me first, her perfectly manicured fingers pausing mid-gesture as she spoke with the hostess.
She was everything I wasn't—tall, confident, wearing a black dress that probably cost more than my monthly rent. Her auburn hair was styled in loose waves that looked effortless but probably took hours to achieve. When our eyes met, her smile faltered for just a second before snapping back into place, but it wasn't the warm smile I remembered from childhood. It was the smile she wore in board meetings, calculated and cold. "Claire! " she called out, loud enough for half the restaurant to hear.
"Look everyone, the prodigal daughter finally decided to show up. " The way she said it made my stomach twist. There was something sharp underneath the cheerful tone, something that made me feel like I was already failing before I'd even reached the table. David, my older brother, barely looked up from his phone when I approached. He was deep in conversation with someone about quarterly projections and market volatility, using words that sounded important and foreign to me. He had always been the golden child, the one who graduated summa cum laude from Stanford and landed a job at Goldman Sachs straight out of college. Even now, at a family dinner, he couldn't disconnect from work because work was who he was.