“Remember, tomorrow night’s the gala at my house. Don’t be late. I’ve got work, so I’m not coming home tonight.”
He grabbed his keys and left. Not once did he glance at the overflowing trash bin behind me—filled with everything he’d ever given me.
The next night, 8:00 PM.
I arrived at the Marks Family’s hotel alone.
The moment I stepped into the garden, I saw them.
Colin and Piper.
Dressed in matching custom couture, bathed in warm lawn lights like royalty.
Mrs. Marks’s face twisted the moment she saw me.
Her smile dropped like a cracked mask.
She wore the Bulgari necklace Piper had gifted her and her eyes ran over me with undisguised disdain.
“You’re an hour late. No surprise. No manners at all–just like your mother the thief.”
But Colin told me the banquet started at eight.
I clenched my fists.
A long time ago, I’d mentioned in passing that Piper’s mother had been a mistress. The next day, Mrs. Marks’s missing jewelry “miraculously” appeared under my mother’s pillow.
Colin knew my mother hadbeen framed.
He never defended me. Not once.
But now—I didn’t grovel. I looked straight into Mrs. Marks’s eyes, then right at Piper’s smug little face.