Chapter 1 - The Woman in the Plain DressThe Sterling Grand Estate had been designed for moments that were supposed to become legends.
That afternoon, every detail gleamed beneath the enormous crystal chandeliers. White orchids climbed the marble columns. Hundreds of candles flickered along the banquet tables. A five-tier wedding cake stood beneath a curtain of soft golden lights, while photographers moved through the ballroom like hunters searching for the perfect image.
Tiffany Vance stood at the center of it all.
She had spent two years dreaming of this day.
More accurately, she had spent two years dreaming about what this day would say about her.
She wanted photographs that would make strangers jealous.
She wanted headlines.
She wanted wealthy people whispering her name.
And most of all, she wanted to become a Sterling.
Her ivory gown cost nearly forty thousand dollars. Her diamond earrings had been borrowed from her mother's private collection. Her veil stretched behind her like a cloud.
Everything was perfect.
Until an older woman in a simple navy dress appeared in the background of one of Tiffany's photographs.
Tiffany's smile vanished.
"Excuse me!" she snapped.
The woman stopped.
She carried herself quietly, without jewelry or obvious signs of wealth. Her gray hair was pulled into a simple knot, and there was something strangely calm about her eyes.
"I'm sorry," the woman said softly. "I was just trying to—"
"You're blocking the photographer."
The woman glanced at the camera.
"I didn't realize."
"Clearly."
Marcus Sterling, Tiffany's fiancé, immediately looked uncomfortable.
"Tiffany, leave her alone."
But Tiffany's wedding-day nerves had already transformed into something uglier.
"She needs to move."
The woman stepped aside.
Then, somehow, her hand brushed the edge of Tiffany's veil.
A glass of champagne slipped from Tiffany's fingers.
It shattered against the marble floor.
The entire ballroom fell silent.
Tiffany stared at the broken glass.
Then at the woman.
And something inside her snapped.
Her palm crossed the space between them.
SMACK.
The sound echoed beneath the chandeliers.
Two hundred guests froze.
Marcus went pale.
The woman slowly turned her face back toward Tiffany.
A red mark was already forming across her cheek.
Tiffany expected outrage.
Instead, the woman simply looked at her.
Not with anger.
May you like
With disappointment.
And somehow, that was far more frightening.
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