The crystal chandeliers in the Fairmont Copley Plaza’s grand ballroom scattered light across the marble floor like scattered diamonds. Two hundred guests moved beneath them in designer evening wear, champagne flutes catching the glow while a string quartet played somewhere near the stage.
My brother David’s engagement party had cost more than most people make in a year. Orchids flown in from Thailand. Musicians borrowed from the city symphony. Enough champagne behind the bar to float a small boat.
I stood near the service entrance in a plain black dress, the same one I’d worn to job interviews three years earlier, pressed carefully and paired with flats from a discount store. While the other women glittered in diamonds, I blended into the wallpaper. Even the catering staff noticed me more than the guests did.
“Darling, everything looks absolutely perfect.”
My mother’s voice carried across the room as she air-kissed Victoria’s mother. Mom wore the Valentino gown she’d bought just for tonight, diamond earrings flashing every time she moved her hands.
“We’re so thrilled to welcome Victoria into our family,” she said. “David has always had such wonderful taste.”
My father stood nearby in a tuxedo that fit him like it had been poured on, his watch glinting under the cuff. “Only the finest for our boy,” he told a cluster of business associates. “Nothing’s too good for David’s special day. He’s always been our star.”
Then came the list. Full scholarship to Harvard Business School. Youngest partner in his firm’s history. Now engaged to a woman from one of Boston’s oldest families. I’d heard that list a hundred times, at graduations, at promotions, at the housewarming for his downtown penthouse.
What happened next changed everything… FULL STORY on the next page.
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