With that authority, she could remove dissenting directors, bury the audit, and approve the same vendor contracts funneling money back to her family.
Suddenly, destroying my wedding dress looked less like cruelty and more like strategy.
Tessa helped me into a simple ivory reception dress from the hotel boutique.
It cost two hundred and forty dollars and fit badly around the shoulders.
I loved it immediately.
At 12:20, Adrian called.
“My mother says you disappeared.”
“I’m still here.”
His breath caught.
“What happened?”
“Meet me at the altar.”
“Claire—”
“Trust me.”
Silence.
Then quietly:
“Always.”
Evelyn found me fifteen minutes before the ceremony.
For the first time all day, her smile slipped.
“You’re wearing that?”
“Yes.”
She glanced at the cheap dress before recovering.
“Well. At least you’ve accepted reality.”
I held her gaze.
“Which reality?”
“That some women marry into families above them and mistake access for belonging.”
