Chapter4

On the day of the party, I put on the gown I’d had made six months earlier. The ceremony was in the Aldrich’s grandest ballroom.

Victoria swept into the dressing room with a few of her friends. Her eyes found me in the mirror.

“The dress will do.” She tipped her chin at the makeup artist. “The face is wrong. Thin out the brows. Tone down the blush. Make her look softer.”

When they were done, my face felt like a mask that belonged to someone else. Those thin, arched brows were perfect on Victoria. They suited her old-money polish. On me they looked all wrong. My features were too strong to carry them.

When I stepped out of the dressing room, I spotted Grandma and Dale right away. No one had greeted them. The event planner didn’t remember they existed until she saw me. Then she hurried over to squeeze them in at the edge of the head table, like a seat added at the last minute.

If this engagement was real, my family wouldn’t be an afterthought.

Before I could open my mouth, Dale raised a hand, telling me not to make a fuss. “It’s fine. No need to go to any trouble for us. We’ll sit in the back. Nobody’ll notice us there.”

Grandma nodded along, her shoulders hunched. “Back’s fine. We can watch from there. That’s plenty.”

The emcee was a famous late-night talk show host. He warmed up the crowd with a few jokes, then invited Grey and me onstage for our speeches. Murmurs drifted up from the tables, every word perfectly clear.

“Grey’s really fallen for her.”

“Please. Just another gold digger.”

“Oh, don’t be cruel. Every good family needs a charity case.”

I glanced over at the back corner. Dale sat ramrod straight in his new suit, trying to take up as little space as possible.

Grandma reached nervously for a champagne flute. Her hand shook, the glass tipped, and champagne splashed down the front of her dress. She grabbed a napkin and scrubbed at it in a panic.

A cluster of distant Whitmore relatives traded looks and snickered behind their hands.

The emcee held out the microphone for our toast. Grey stood beside me, smiling, expectant.

He went first. He thanked the guests. He thanked his mother. He thanked the Whitmore family for everything it had given him. Every word was gracious. Every word was perfect.

He didn’t mention my grandmother. He didn’t mention Dale. He didn’t say the one thing he had promised.

I took the microphone. I looked out at all those contemptuous faces, then at Grandma and Dale, shrinking in their corner.

“Thank you all for coming tonight.”

My voice was steady.

“But there’s something I need to make clear right now. I’m not going through with this engagement.”

I turned for the exit. Grey lunged after me and grabbed my wrist, so hard it hurt. His face had gone white. He couldn’t believe it.

“Nellie, what the hell are you doing?”