“Youre perfect, you know,” Sarah shouted. “Want to know why? Because I’m sick of always being secondbest!” She glared at her sister, Emily, who was scrolling through a spreadsheet. “At school you were top of the class, every teacher loved you. At university you graduated with firstclass honours while I barely scraped through resits. At work you keep getting promotions and bonuses, and Im stuck in the same role! I want a high salary and the respect of the boss too! Do you understand? I want to be number one!”
***
“Great, another dressingdown from the manager,” Emily muttered, snapping her laptop shut and flopping back into the leather chair.
Sarah looked up from her screen, a smirk playing on her lips.
“So you messed up the figures in the report. Did anyone give you a pat on the head for that?” she asked.
Emily pursed her lips and turned toward the window, her cheeks flushing with irritation. Sarah ignored the younger sisters sour expression and began gathering her things. The workday finally ended; the folders were filed neatly, the coffee mug was rinsed.
Emily stayed silent as they walked down the corridor. Only after the office doors closed behind them did Sarah speak again.
“Its easy for you to laugh. Youre the perfect one.”
Sarah sighed. Their arguments had become a daily routine. Earlier, Emily would brush off criticism with a joke and move on. Now every comment seemed to carry a hidden sting.
“I just do my job well, Sarah. You can too,” Emily said.
“Of course you can.”
They had both worked for three years in a large retail buying department. Sarah had joined first; half a year later she helped Emily get in. The sisters were always close, supporting each other in everything, though their approaches to work differed dramatically.
Sarah stayed late, researching suppliers, comparing terms from dozens of firms before making a decision. Emily preferred a more relaxed pacegetting the minimum done by the deadline, then spending the rest of the day on her phone or chatting in the staff kitchen. Sarah never judged Emily for having a different outlook; each to their own.
A month earlier, something that should have been a family celebration happened. The senior manager called Sarah into his office and offered her a promotion to Senior Purchasing Manager, with a substantial raise in pounds. Sarah was taken aback but accepted immediately. Years of painstaking effort had finally paid off.
Emily hugged her and congratulated her, but Sarah saw how quickly Emilys smile faded, how forced her words sounded. That evening they went to a café to celebrate, yet the atmosphere felt off. Emily kept steering the conversation toward salaries, asking how much more Sarah would earn and how many overtime hours shed have to put in.
“Youre just lucky the boss noticed you, otherwise youd still be stuck in the same old rut,” Emily said casually.
“Lucky?” Sarah repeated. “I worked on that project for two months without a day off.”
“Exactly.”
Six months later, Sarah was appointed head of the whole department. The news spread through the office like wildfire. Colleagues shook hands, offered congratulations, and wished her success. Emily was the last to arrive. She hugged Sarah and whispered in her ear, “Congratulations. Youre brilliant now.”
There was no warmth in those words. Sarah stepped back, looked Emily straight in the eye, and saw something cold and foreign, like a snake coiled under the surface.
In the weeks that followed, Sarahs office life changed subtly but steadily. First, the team stopped inviting her to group lunches. James from the neighbouring department no longer stopped by with his morning coffee. Colleagues gave curt nods, smiled less, and turned away quickly. Whispers and muffled laughter drifted behind her back. Whenever she turned, everyone pretended to be busy.
Sarah was baffled. What had happened? She had always been open, helpful, and willing to share her expertise. Had the promotion really altered how people treated her? She hadnt become demanding or unreasonable.
One evening, as Sarah was about to leave, Rachel knocked on her office door, visibly nervous.
“Come in,” Sarah called. “Whats wrong?”
Rachel closed the door behind her and sank into the chair opposite. Her face reflected embarrassment.
“I have to tell you something. Im ashamed, but you deserve to know the truth.”
Sarah set down her pen and looked at Rachel. Rachel swallowed and began, “Emily has been spreading rumours about you for months. She tells anyone wholl listen that the ideas in your projects are actually hers, that you stole her work, that you only got the promotion because youre a brownnose. She says you look down on the rest of us and think were fools.”
Emily? Her own sister, the one shed helped get a job? The one shed defended? The office was turning against her because of her?
“Are you sure youre not mixing things up?” Sarah asked, voice tight.
“Absolutely. At first I didnt want to believe it. I thought maybe it was a misunderstanding. But she repeats it constantly, to everyone. People start believing it. And gossip spreads faster than you can stop it.”
Sarah didnt remember how shed said goodbye to Rachel and walked to her car. The drive home was a swirl of thoughts. Why? Why now? They had always been together. Sarah had protected Emily, fixed her mistakes, supported her. And now the gratitude seemed twisted.
When Sarah arrived at Emilys flat, Emily opened the door, surprise flashing across her face.
“Sarah? Whats wrong? Is everything okay?”
Sarah stepped inside without waiting for an invitation, looked straight into Emilys eyes, and asked, “Why? Why are you turning the whole office against me? Why lie that I stole your ideas? Why spread those rumours?”
Emily flinched, crossing her arms, her face turning a shade of red.
“Did someone tell you something?” she snapped.
“Does it matter who? Just answer the question!”
“Dont shout at me in my own home!” Emily retorted. “Im not yelling, Sarah. Im demanding an explanation. How could you do this? Were sisters!”
Sarah took a step forward, her gaze hard. In Emilys eyes flickered something Sarah had never seen beforeanger, hurt, something else entirely.
“You want to know why?” Emily shouted, voice cracking. “Because Im tired of always being second! Always and everything! In school you were the shining star, teachers adored you. At university you got firstclass honours, while I barely passed my retakes. At work you keep getting raises and praise, and Im stuck in the same spot! I want a big salary and the bosss respect too! Understand? I want to be first!”
Sarah stayed silent as Emily continued, her words spilling without pause.
“You were always ahead. The perfect one. Sarahsmart, beautiful, diligent. And who am I? A shadow. The useless little sister who always messes things up!”
“If you wanted respect, you should have earned it,” Sarah replied. “Work hard, not waste time watching videos at your desk or chatting in the kitchen. You wanted respect? Earn it. But dont drag me through the mud for it.”
Emily opened her mouth, but Sarah turned and left the flat. The door clicked shut. Tears streamed down Sarahs cheeks, which she brushed away fiercely. She had to hold on.
The next morning Sarah submitted a transfer request to the companys Manchester branch. HR was surprised but signed the paperwork without fuss. Sarah was a valuable employee; they didnt want to lose her. The transfer was approved within two days.
Emily found out from a colleague and called that evening. Sarah stared at the name flashing on the screen before answering.
“Youre transferring?” Emily said, voice flat.
“Yes.”
“So youre running away.”
“No. Im moving to a place where you wont plot against me.”
“Youre betraying me! Traitor! Youre my sister!”
Sarah said nothing, hung up, and let the line go dead. There was nothing left to say.
Three months in Manchester passed quickly. The team welcomed her warmly, projects ran smoothly, and Sarah began to forget the nightmare shed lived through. One night Rachel called.
“Sarah, have you heard? Emilys been fired.”
Sarah froze, phone pressed to her ear.
“What?”
“Last week. She missed deadlines on three contracts, made errors in reports. Management gave her plenty of chances, but finally they let her go. Without you, everything fell apart. Thats what happened”
“But I didnt”
“Sarah, you spent years fixing her mistakes. It was invisible to everyone else. When you left, everything came to light. Emily couldnt cope without your safety net.”
Sarah put the phone down and sat in silence.
The next day Emily appeared at Sarahs door, hair a mess, eyes red, clothes rumpled. She burst into the hallway and shouted, “Are you happy?! They fired me! You moved just to sabotage me! Is that it?”
Sarah looked at her calmly.
“Where is my fault, Emily? You had a chance to prove yourself. I never stopped you. What did you do? Ruined everything.”
“This is your fault! You!”
“No, youre the one who caused this. And now stay away from my house.”
Sarah opened the door wide. Emily froze, unable to believe her sister was really ejecting her. Emily turned and fled down the stairwell. The door slammed with a deafening bang.
An hour later, their mother called, voice trembling.
“What are you doing, Sarah? Youre to blame for Emilys dismissal! You abandoned her! Youre selfish! You should have helped, not run off to another office! Youve destroyed our family!”
Sarah tried to explain, telling about the rumours, the betrayal, Emilys own role in her downfall. Her mother shouted, accused, demanded she fix everything immediately.
“Youve betrayed the family, Sarah. Remember that. Its a sin.”
A harsh beep ended the call.
Sarah was left alone. Her family had turned away the moment she chose to protect herself, to stop sacrificing for a sister who wouldnt stop hurting her. She would manage. Sarah had always been strong, and now she needed that strength more than ever.
She opened an email from senior management: a relocation to London, a new senior role, a fresh start. If she had doubted the offer before, now she accepted it without hesitation.
When everyone had turned their backs, there was nothing holding her in this new city but her own resolve. It was time to think only of herself.
Weeks of frantic moving passed. In London, Sarah settled quickly. She didnt look back, didnt try to fit into old patterns. Family ties stayed thin, limited to formal holiday greetings. She no longer worried about their judgment. She had learned that protecting oneself isnt selfish; its essential. The greatest lesson she carried forward was that selfrespect must never be sacrificed for anyone, even those who once seemed inseparable.
