Chapter 3

I was supposed to rest at the hospital overnight, for observation before the surgery. David left to sit with Emily. My parents went home to get some sleep. No one stayed with me.

I drifted into a restless sleep, only to be violently shaken awake hours later.

"Olivia! Wake up! How could you do this?"

It was David. His face was contorted with rage, his hands digging into my shoulders.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, my voice thick with sleep.

"Don't play dumb with me!" He dragged me out of the bed. I was still in the thin hospital gown. "You're coming with me."

He pulled me through the quiet hospital corridors. A few nurses stared but did nothing. He shoved me into the elevator and pushed the button for the ground floor.

"David, what is going on?"

"Emily's latest design for the Azure competition was just leaked online, credited to a dummy corporation. And the leak traced back to an IP address registered to you."

My blood ran cold. I hadn't done it. I hadn't even seen Emily's design.

"That's impossible," I whispered. "It wasn't me."

"Save it," he snarled. "The press is having a field day. Everyone is calling her a fraud. Her career is over, and it's your fault!"

He dragged me out of the elevator and into the hospital lobby. It was filled with reporters and flashing cameras. My parents were there, standing next to a sobbing Emily.

The moment my mother saw me, she rushed forward and slapped me across the face. The sound echoed in the cavernous lobby.

"You monster!" she shrieked. "How could you be so jealous, so evil? You're trying to destroy your own sister the night before you're supposed to save her life!"

The reporters swarmed us, shouting questions, their cameras like weapons in my face.

"Mrs. Miller, did you steal your sister's design?"

"Is it true you've always been jealous of her talent?"

Emily, looking pale and fragile, clung to our father's arm. "Please," she whimpered, her voice just loud enough for the microphones to catch. "Don't blame my sister. She's just... she's been under a lot of stress. I'm sure she didn't mean it."

Her performance was perfect. The forgiving victim. It made me look even more like a villain.

"You need to fix this, Olivia," my father said, his voice a low, dangerous growl. "You need to go out there and apologize to your sister. Tell them it was all a misunderstanding. Tell them you did it."

"But I didn't," I said, my voice shaking.

"It doesn't matter!" David hissed in my ear. "Emily's reputation is on the line. Just do it."

I looked at their faces, a united front against me. They didn't care about the truth. They only cared about protecting Emily.

A strange calm washed over me. The system's countdown was a steady presence in my mind. 11 hours and 5 minutes.

What did one more lie matter?

I let go of the fight inside me. I was a vessel to be emptied, a story to be erased.

I stepped forward, toward the cameras. The flashes were blinding.

I took a deep breath and looked directly into one of the lenses.

"It was me," I said, my voice clear and steady. "I was jealous of my sister's talent. I leaked her design to try and ruin her chances in the competition. It was a terrible, petty thing to do, and I am deeply sorry."

A wave of murmurs went through the crowd.

I turned to my sister. "Emily, I am so sorry. Please, forgive me."

Emily's eyes welled up with tears. She stumbled forward and threw her arms around me. The cameras went wild.

She hugged me tightly, her lips close to my ear.

"Thank you, sis," she whispered, her voice dripping with venomous triumph. "You're finally being sensible. This is the best gift you could have ever given me."

She pulled back, her face a mask of tearful forgiveness for the reporters.

My parents beamed. David nodded in approval. I had done it. I had saved the family's reputation. I had become the good, sensible daughter they always wanted.

I felt nothing at all.