Shattered Ties

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It was a typical Sunday dinner gathering at home. Everyone was filled, relaxed in the living room and having a nice chat with drinks to step down the food in our belly when I walked up to my sister Ifeoma seated in the living room from my room.

"You really think I won't find out?" Jessica snapped, her voice louder than she had intended.

"I don't understand. Find out what?" Ifeoma asked, raising her brows in confusion. The room immediately fell silent.

"Don't even try to play dumb" Jessica scoffed. "You were the last person to touch my computer. You leaked my business plan to my competition" she continued.

Although there was no evidence to prove Ifeoma did it, she was sure it was her sister. She had barged into her earlier that week in her office using her computer with claims that her own was out of network. At first, she believed her, not until she saw her competition present the same business plan she had in mind for the promotion that she began suspecting her sister must have leaked it to her opposition.

Jessica watched as Ifeoma opened her mouth wide in shock at her accusation. Ifeoma tried speaking but swallowed her words "I can't believe you'll accuse me of something like that. What do I stand to gain by that?"

"You tell me? You're the only one in this family I've told about that plan, and just last week, I caught you using my computer at work. So tell me, what do you stand to gain from being jealous of me, Ifeoma?" Jessica growled at her, ignoring that their parents were present in the room.

Ifeoma looked from one family member to the other. They all stood there watching them gnaw at each other without saying anything. She wondered if they believed she could do such a thing. Well, she had always known them to love Jessica more than her because Jessica happened to be the smarter one. Or so they thought.

This was exactly why she didn't want to be part of their family business at first. She didn't want anything that would put her up against her family or breed enmity between them.

"Are you guys just going to sit there and watch her accuse me of something I didn't do?" She asked.

"Leave them out of this and confess you did it" Jessica continued.

Ifeoma chuckled bitterly. Realising it was time to stand up for herself. With a raised voice she replied

"Confess what exactly, Jessica? That you're so full of yourself and think because they see you as the smarter one everything should revolve around you? Huh?" She paused, stood up, and walked closer to Jess. "Since we're airing secrets and how we feel now, why don't I help you "

Jessica could feel her heart lurch a bit. She stammered "What secrets? What are you talking about?"

But ifeoma didn't stop. Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. "How can I be jealous of you when you took Chidi from me? Parading him around to them like he was yours"

"Ifeoma, stop... stop. We don't have to do this here," Jessica muttered, looking around.

"I introduced you to him. I told you how much I like him but you took him anyway, and you didn’t even have the decency to tell me. Until you brought him for dinner to meet your parents, our parents. And what did they do? They have the guts to embarrass me on why I haven't brought a man home. And you stand there talking about me being jealous of you?”

"Ifeoma stop..." Jessica pleaded.

"No, no, no. We're not done. They have to know that the apple of their eyes. Their smartest business girl 'Jessica' isn't who they think she is. They have to know I made her," Ifeoma Ifeoma said, looking at her parents while pointing at her sister.

"Don't do this.."

But Ifeoma wasn't ready to stop. "Maybe it's time we tell them that all the business ideas you've been bringing up were always from me. Because I wanted nothing to do with them or the family business. I felt giving you an edge over me would make them send me off the family business and let me do what I love and had wanted to do."

She looked at her parents who by now had their eyes wide open and surprise written on their faces

"Maybe it's time we tell them that even this business plan you're raving about that I leaked to the competition was from me, too. So maybe next time, before you stand there and try to accuse me of being jealous of you, you think of who really made you in that company," Ifeoma yelled, breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry, Ifeoma", Jessica apologized to her sister, her voice gentle. There were tears all in her eyes now. "I just didn't know how to react. I thought..."

"No, I think it was best you got a taste of how it felt to be betrayed. Yes, I think you deserve what you got and I never leaked that plan." She turned to her parents "And I think it's about time I told you both that I'm done with the company. I'm going to do what I love to do, and you both won't stop me" With that, she turned and walked out of the room, making sure to slam the door.

Immediately silence engulfed the room as Jessica slumped to the couch. Her sister's words echoed in her mind louder than the slammed door.

Note: This story was inspired by The Ink Well Prompt #85: "I can't believe you said that!" With the skill challenge will be to use dialog in the story.