My Parents Texted Me, “Don’t Come To Our Wedding Anniversary Party. Only ‘Proper’ Guests Will Be There.” So I Stayed Alone In My Apartment And Let Them Have Their Picture-Perfect Night Without Me. But That Same Day, My Sister Called, Voice Shaking, And Blurted, “Why Did You Hide This From The Family? Mom And Dad Just Saw The News And…”

Dr. Kendra Voss, my old Stanford adviser, had given a statement verifying the originality and timeline.

“This technology was developed solely by Alexis Fairchild during her independent research. Any claims otherwise are unsupported.”

The article quoted the NDA, explained why it didn’t cover my personal project. It quoted Caitlyn’s presentation slides. It quoted emails where she asked for more than basic concepts.

It was airtight.

Within minutes, the yacht world picked it up. Trade sites ran the story.

Young founder takes on family firm in valuation tech dispute.

Forums lit up. Brokers who had seen Caitlyn’s pitches started connecting dots.

I refreshed the page.

Comments poured in.

“This is why you document everything.”

“Family business betrayal at its finest.”

“Whitaker just lost credibility.”

My phone stayed silent for exactly three minutes.

Then it started: notifications, messages, emails, numbers I didn’t recognize.

Journalists. Old classmates. People I hadn’t spoken to in years.

I didn’t answer any of them. I just watched the stories from the gala continue to post.

Champagne. Laughter. Toasts.

They hadn’t seen it yet.

But they would.

Very soon.

The calls started coming in almost immediately. My phone vibrated on the coffee table like it was trying to escape. First was Caitlyn. I let it ring, then Mom, then numbers I didn’t recognize.

I turned the ringer off and watched the screen light up over and over.

When I finally answered Caitlyn, her voice was raw.

“Alexis, what have you done? You put everything in that article. You have no idea the damage. Investors are calling. They’re pulling deals. The board is already scheduling emergency meetings. You need to fix this.”

I stayed silent.

She kept going.

“We can sue you. Defamation. Breach of NDA. You violated the agreement. You think you’re protected? You’re not.”

I hung up.

Mom called next. Her tone was controlled fury.

“Alexis, this is unforgivable. You humiliated the family, the firm. Your father is beside himself. You need to retract the story now before it’s too late.”

I didn’t respond. I let her talk.

Then I ended the call.

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