Chapter 4 - The Collapse of the Golden Boy
By noon that same day
the news had swept through the tech and venture capital ecosystem like a wildfire.
Callaway Ventures released an official statement announcing the immediate withdrawal of their investment from Vidia due to "unresolved intellectual property disputes."
In the hyper-connected world of high-tech startups
such a statement from a firm as prestigious as Callaway was a death sentence.
Within hours
two other minor venture firms that had pledged seed funding announced they were freezing Vidia's accounts.
The board of directors at Vidia—composed mostly of Liam's college friends and early angle investors—called an emergency meeting.
By three o'clock in the afternoon
Liam was stripped of his title as Chief Executive Officer and placed under formal investigation by his own company.
Meanwhile
the personal fallout was even more catastrophic.
Sienna Callaway called off the wedding entirely.
Her family released a short
dignified statement confirming that the engagement had been terminated.
Sienna sent back the engagement ring
along with every gift Liam had ever given her during their two-year relationship.
At four o'clock
my phone rang.
It was my mother.
I picked it up and held it a few inches from my ear
anticipating the storm.
"How could you?!" my mother shrieked into the receiver
her voice hoarse from crying.
"How could you do this to your own flesh and blood?!
Liam is ruined!
Do you hear me?!
He lost his company!
Sienna left him!
The wedding is canceled!
His life is over!"
I sat at my desk in my quiet apartment
looking out at the city skyline.
"Liam ruined himself
Mom
" I answered calmly.
"He stole my work
lied to investors
and spent four years treating me like garbage."
"He is your brother!" she screamed.
"He was trying to make something of himself!
You always had your steady job!
You didn't need that silly credit!
Why couldn't you just let him have it?!
You were always so selfish
so bitter
so jealous of his success!"
I felt a cold flame ignite in my chest—not of anger
but of total
liberating detachment.
"Listen to yourself
Mom
" I said
my voice steady and unwavering.
"You are sitting there blaming me for not letting Liam steal my life's work.
You called me a failure at his wedding.
You told strangers you didn't brag about me.
You let him laugh at me in front of hundreds of people.
And now that his lies have caught up with him
you blame the person he stole from."
"Meredith—"
"No
Mom
" I cut her off.
"For thirty-three years
I let you and Dad treat me like I was second-best.
I let you make me feel small so Liam could feel big.
I gave him my code because I wanted my brother to succeed.
And how did he repay me?
He threw fifteen hundred dollars at me and told the world I was too dumb to do anything more than tech support."
"We are your family!" she sobbed.
"Not anymore
" I said softly.
"A family supports each other.
A family takes pride in each other's accomplishments.
You didn't want a family
Mom.
You wanted a golden prince to brag about at dinner parties
and you didn't care if you had to stomp on your daughter to build his throne."
"Meredith
please
you have to call Gerald Callaway and tell him it was a mistake!
Tell him you gave Liam the code as a gift!" she pleaded
her tone turning desperate.
"If you don't
Liam will face lawsuits!
He could go to prison for fraud!
Please
Meredith
save your brother!"
I looked at the blue folder sitting on my desk
now empty of its burdens.
"Actions have consequences
Mom
" I replied.
"Liam chose his path.
Now he has to walk it."
"If you do this
you are no daughter of mine!" my mother spat
her voice dripping with venom.
"I know
" I said quietly.
"I haven't been your daughter for a very long time."
I ended the call
blocked her number
and blocked my father's number as well.
For the first time in my adult life
I took a deep
clear breath.
May you like
The house of cards my family had built on my back had finally collapsed.
And I was standing completely free in the wreckage.
