Chapter 1: The Room That Already Knew
"Did you honestly expect me to congratulate you after walking in on my fiancé proposing on bended knee to my adopted sister?"
I had traveled back to my family's home in Scottsdale for one specific reason: to retrieve a memory stick.
It safeguarded years of my research—chemical recipes, trial results, pending patents, and engineering notes regarding a medical film created to make wounds heal faster.
I had assured my family I would be at a corporate retreat in Seattle for the entire week.
No one thought I'd be home before Sunday.
But the seminars wrapped up early, and I was expected in Washington, D.C., by Monday to start a government biomedical project.
I unlocked the front door with my old house key.
The first things that greeted me were scattered rose petals, burning candles, and a romantic soundtrack.
Then I spotted Ethan.
He was kneeling down, holding out an open velvet box.
Standing right before him was Chloe, my little sister—the girl my parents adopted when she was just six and I was eleven.
The very same girl they forced me to share my bedroom, my clothing, and nearly my whole existence with.
"Chloe, will you marry me?" Ethan asked.
The entryway door creaked as it closed behind me.
Ethan glanced back over his shoulder.
He didn't look guilty in the slightest.
He just looked bothered.
"What are you doing home?
You told us you were gone until Sunday."
That's when I surveyed the room.
My father, Richard, was relaxing with a glass of red wine.
My mother, Diane, was standing with her hands warmly on Chloe's shoulders.
My brother, Ryan, was watching the whole scene unfold from the kitchen.
Every single one of them knew.
"Madeline," my mother cut in, "don't make a scene out of this.
Chloe and Ethan are in love.
You've always been the level-headed one in our family.
We need you to be understanding now."
The level-headed one.
The mature one.
The one who had to surrender her happiness because she was "resilient."
"I should have been honest with you sooner," Ethan said.
"But I didn't want to break your heart."
"When is the big day?" I asked flatly.
"In April," Chloe murmured.
"I am so sorry, Maddie.
I tried to f!ght it."
My dad set his drink down on the coaster.
"Ethan and Chloe are simply a better fit.
Your main priority has always been your laboratory, not settling down and having kids.
I don't mean that as an insult."
I calmly removed the diamond Ethan had slipped on my finger fourteen months ago and placed it on the console table by the door.
"Then I suppose you won't have to stress over me anymore."
"Don't overreact," he told me.
"We can talk through this maturely."
"I only came back to get something."
I walked up the stairs, grabbed my memory drive, and stared at a framed family photograph.
Chloe was the focal point in the middle.
I was standing on the outer edge.
Just like it had always been.
As I made my way back down, my mother stepped in front of me.
"Just remember, we have given you a wonderful life."
"And I have given this family much more than you will ever know."
I stepped outside.
A town car was idling in the driveway to take me to the terminal.
On Monday, my new professional life was beginning.
None of them were aware that I had been planning my departure from the family company for several months.
None of them were aware that eleven of the fourteen vital patents keeping Prescott Biomedical from going under were exclusively in my name.
And none of them were aware that I had legally retained full ownership of all my intellectual property.
As the car pulled onto the street, my cell phone started vibrating endlessly.
I ignored it.
They were completely clueless about the empire they had just forfeited.
And I had no idea what fate had in store for me next.
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What will Madeline do now that she holds the one thing that can bring Prescott Biomedical to its knees — and they don't even know it yet?
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