Russell introduced us.
“Marlene, this is Elena.”
She looked at the hand I extended.
Then at my face.
She never shook it.
“So you’re the new project.”
The words were quiet enough that Russell didn’t hear.
I lowered my hand.
“It’s nice to meet you too.”
Her eyes moved slowly over my dress, my shoes, my hair.
She wasn’t merely looking at me.
She was assessing the threat.
Throughout dinner, I felt her attention from across the room.
Russell had three adult children, but Marlene was the only one who made her hostility impossible to miss.
The wedding took place several months later.
It was elegant without being enormous.
Afterward, Russell brought me home.
His home.
Soon, supposedly, ours.
I had seen the house before, but entering it as his wife felt different.
The foyer alone was larger than my old apartment.
Polished marble stretched beneath my shoes.
