Lila stared at me.

“You read our emails?”

“They appeared on a device you forgot was still connected.”

My mother stood.

“This is completely inappropriate.”

“No, Mom.”

My voice was calm.

“You forged my authorization, tried to cancel property I purchased, and offered money to make sure I could not recover it.”

Faces turned toward her.

“You’re twisting this.”

I looked down at the glittering gown.

“You did this yourselves.”

Then I reached behind my back.

My fingers found the hidden zipper.

Lila noticed.

“What are you doing?”

I smiled.

“You worked very hard to make sure I walked down this aisle wearing someone else’s dress.”

My mother moved forward.

“Claire.”

I pulled.

The zipper descended.

The sparkling bodice loosened.

Smooth ivory silk appeared beneath it.

Lila went white.

“No.”

My mother pushed past the first row.

“Stop.”

I slipped one shoulder free.

Then the other.

The ballroom filled with murmurs.

Daniel stared at me.

“What the hell?”

My mother was almost running now.

“CLAIRE, DON’T!”

I looked directly at her.

And let go.

The glittering gown collapsed around my feet.

For one extraordinary second, nobody made a sound.

Then the room erupted.

People stood.

Someone clapped.

Then someone else.

Within seconds, half the ballroom was applauding.

I stood beneath the chandeliers in the silk crepe gown I had chosen six months earlier.

Simple.

Clean.

Mine.

My mother lunged.

Daniel caught her.

“Evelyn!”

“Let go!”

Her eyes burned into mine.

“Where did you get that?”

“From the designer you tried to bribe.”

More gasps.

My mother froze.

I thought I would feel victorious.

Instead I felt tired.

Because the dress no longer mattered.

Compared with what came next, the dress was almost innocent.

Daniel turned to me.

“Claire, enough.”

There it was.

Not Are you okay?

Not I’m sorry.

Not even I didn’t know.

Enough.

The same word my mother used whenever I embarrassed her by refusing to cooperate.

I looked at him.

He saw something in my face.

His expression changed.

“Claire?”

I raised the microphone.

“I originally planned to stop here.”

My mother went still.

Daniel did too.

“But yesterday morning, I found something else.”

Daniel’s face drained of color.

My heart began to pound.

Not because I was afraid of him.

Because I knew.

That look told me everything before the screen did.

I nodded toward Marcus.

A new email appeared.

SUBJECT: INTRODUCTION

Daniel whispered, “No.”

My mother closed her eyes.

There it was.

Four years earlier.

Her message to him.

Claire will be attending the Urban Futures benefit on the 16th. She is difficult with introductions when she feels they are arranged, so I suggest making it appear natural.

The ballroom went silent.

Daniel released my hand.

Next slide.

I looked through the background you sent. We have enough overlap that it shouldn’t be difficult.

Next.

The six-page document.

My hobbies.

My vulnerabilities.

My father’s death.

My ex-boyfriend.

My routines.

And the highlighted sentence.

Claire responds badly to pressure. The best approach is to make decisions feel like hers.

A woman in the second row covered her mouth.

Daniel stepped toward me.

“It isn’t what it looks like.”

A laugh escaped me.

Quiet.

Broken.

“That sentence should be engraved on the family crest.”

“Claire, please.”

“You knew where I would be before we met.”

“Yes, but—”

“You knew what books I liked.”

“My first conversation with you was real.”

“You knew I hated being set up.”

“I did.”

“You knew about my father.”

His face crumpled.

“I never used that.”

The screen changed.

She trusts me now.

Daniel stopped speaking.

I looked at him.

“When did it become real?”