Outside the police station, a car was waiting in front of me.
The window rolled down, and Lambert Kaufman looked at me with a smile. "Morning rush hour. Cabs are hard to find. Let me give you a ride."
"No, thanks."
I shook my head.
The Simmons family and the Kaufman family were sworn rivals in business.
If someone caught a photo of me sitting in the same car as Lambert Kaufman, there'd be no washing it off, no matter what I said.
Lambert seemed to read exactly what I was worried about. He gave an easy shrug.
"Kathy Simmons, I've got a very strong feeling."
"You're going to call me."
Just then a cab happened to pass by. It already had a passenger.
But Lambert had his assistant flag it down anyway, then pulled the passenger out of the car. The man was about to start cursing when the assistant pushed a few bills into his hand. Not a word of complaint after that. He took the money and walked off happy.
And so I got into the cab without any trouble.
"I'll be waiting!"
As the car pulled away, Lambert called out with a smile.
Back home.
I'd meant to find my parents first thing and explain everything.
But there was no one in the house.
On top of that, I hadn't slept well in the holding cell the night before. So I took a shower and went back to my room to sleep.
I don't know how long I was out.
Noise from the living room woke me. I recognized my parents' voices.
I got up out of bed and was about to go out, but the moment I reached the door I heard my mother say, laughing, "That plan of yours was pretty clever."
"It keeps Kathy from grabbing the heir's position."
"And it clears the way for Connor to move up."
"Two birds with one stone."
The hand on the doorknob began to shake violently.
Then my father's voice came.
"Hmph. What would a woman do as an heir? You want the Simmons family business ending up in an outsider's hands someday?"
"I hinted at it to her long ago."
"Just keep your head down and do your work. That's all."
"But no, she had to fight for it."
"She brought this on herself!"
The words left me frozen where I stood, my mind gone blank in an instant.
He was the one who told me.
That if I worked hard, I'd have a shot at inheriting the family business.
But after working this hard, for this long, all I'd earned was "she brought this on herself"?
And... this frame-up, the forged recording, he was behind it?
Then my father went on. "Faking a recording to pin it on Kathy was a bit much, I'll admit."
"But think about it. A few days locked up to cool her off isn't a bad thing."
"Otherwise she outshines her master, and I'd never be able to hand the inheritance to Connor."
My mother spoke up. "Honestly, you didn't do anything wrong. Her merits are sky-high, Connor could never keep her in line, and she'd never be content playing second. Besides, a woman should just marry a man and stay home, keep the household, raise the children."
"Running a company, that kind of thing, still has to go to a son."
My father laughed.
"Now that you mention it."
"We'll arrange a marriage for her as soon as we can."
"Just marry her off and be done with it."
I sank against the door in despair, biting down hard on my lip, my whole body shaking, tears I couldn't stop pouring down.
I'd studied so hard, worked so hard.
All to earn their "approval."
But no matter how good I was.
I could never measure up to the "adopted son" they'd brought home.
Fine. Then I'll step aside.
I lifted a hand and wiped away the tears.
Then I dialed Lambert Kaufman.
"Is that contract still good?"
