I looked at my sister, and I remembered, in a single rush, all the years of it — every birthday of mine that had been overshadowed by hers, every time my parents had demanded I put Sabrina’s wants ahead of my needs, every sacrifice I had made, cheerfully and then not so cheerfully, for a sister who had just, six months ago, let me stand alone between three caskets rather than move her dinner reservation.

“You destroyed your own reputation, Sabrina,” I said.

“I didn’t do that.

When you blew out your birthday candles six months ago — while your sister was choosing coffins — you destroyed whatever family you had left.

Whatever people at your office are whispering, they are whispering the truth.

And you earned every word of it yourself, at a steakhouse, on the worst day of my life.”

Chapter 19 — Nothing Left to Lose