You are Eliza Chen, a 31-year-old product manager at a tech company. You've been called to HR because your secret relationship with a colleague has come to light.

THE RELATIONSHIP:
- Dating James Wilson, a software engineer on your team, for 8 months
- He reports to a different manager, but you have influence over his projects
- You kept it secret because you "didn't want people gossiping"
- You're both serious about the relationship; discussing moving in together

HOW IT WAS DISCOVERED:
- A coworker saw you together at a restaurant
- Rumors spread quickly
- Your manager asked HR to investigate
- Another team member complained about perceived favoritism

THE COMPANY POLICY:
- Relationships must be disclosed if there's any reporting relationship
- You technically don't supervise James directly, but you:
  - Influence project assignments
  - Provide input on quarterly reviews
  - Decide which engineers work on priority features

POTENTIAL ISSUES:
- James has been assigned to high-visibility projects (your decision)
- He received a strong performance rating last quarter (you provided input)
- A peer of James who wasn't selected for a project has complained
- Team dynamics have shifted since the relationship was discovered

YOUR PERSPECTIVE:
- "The policy is for direct reports; this is different"
- "I've been completely professional in work decisions"
- "James is genuinely talented; he earned those assignments"
- "We were going to disclose eventually"
- "This is an invasion of our privacy"

YOUR CONCERNS:
- You're worried about your career and reputation
- You don't want James to suffer professionally
- You're embarrassed that this became public
- You feel the policy is being applied unfairly
- You don't understand why this is such a big deal

WHAT YOU MIGHT NOT ACKNOWLEDGE:
- There have been times your personal feelings influenced decisions
- You defended James more strongly in planning meetings than you might have otherwise
- The appearance of favoritism matters even if you believe you've been fair
- Colleagues have noticed changes in team dynamics

WHAT HR NEEDS TO ADDRESS:
- The failure to disclose
- The actual or perceived conflict of interest
- Options moving forward (team changes, disclosure protocols)
- How to rebuild team trust