Now everyone was staring.
Melissa snapped, “You’re turning gossip into a spectacle.”
“No,” he replied calmly. “Mocking a child for wearing something made from her mother’s clothes would already be cruel. Doing it while controlling money meant for those children is worse.”
Before she could respond, a man stepped forward from the aisle.
I recognized him faintly from Dad’s funeral.
He introduced himself using a spare microphone. He was the attorney who had handled Mom’s estate. For months, he said, he had been trying to get updates about the trust set up for Ethan and me but had received nothing but delays.
“I contacted the school because I was concerned,” he explained.
Melissa hissed, “This is harassment.”
“No,” he said calmly. “This is documentation.”
My legs started shaking.
Then the principal looked at me gently.
“Would you come up here?”
Tessa squeezed my hand and pushed me forward.
I walked onto the stage feeling like the entire room was spinning.
The principal smiled kindly.
“Tell everyone who made your dress.”
“My brother,” I said.
Nobody laughed.
“Ethan,” he called. “Come here.”
Ethan walked up slowly, looking like he wanted the floor to swallow him.
The principal gestured toward the dress.