He looked uncomfortable.
That afternoon downstairs, he had hidden his smile behind the contract while she compared his income to David’s.
Now there was nowhere to look except at the consequences of joining in.
“You knew?” Vanessa demanded.
He shook his head immediately.
“No.”
“Nobody knew?”
“The staff knew,” Patricia said.
That landed harder than anything else.
Vanessa’s eyes moved toward her.
“The staff?”
“Yes.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
Every tasting.
Every planning meeting.
Every conversation in which she had referred to me as ordinary, underpaid, unrealistic, or jealous had occurred in front of people who knew exactly whose estate she was standing in.
She sank back in the chair.
“Oh my God.”
Patricia closed the folder.
“The team maintained professional confidentiality because Elena instructed us to.”
Mom rubbed one hand over the other.
“Elena, sweetheart, this has gone far enough.
Vanessa is embarrassed.”
The old reflex was automatic.
Vanessa was embarrassed, therefore I was expected to repair the room.
I looked at Mom.
“She embarrassed herself.”
Mom’s lips parted.
“Families shouldn’t keep secrets like this.”
“Families also shouldn’t measure each other’s dignity by income.”
Silence returned.
Vanessa stood.
“Fine.
Congratulations.
You own a wedding venue.
Is this where you throw me out and cancel everything?”
Patricia’s eyes moved toward me.
That was the moment Vanessa expected revenge.
Maybe she even wanted it.
If I canceled the wedding, she could leave the room telling herself I was jealous, vindictive, threatened by her happiness.
I didn’t give her that escape.
“No,” I said.
She frowned.
“No?”
“Your wedding contract remains valid.
You paid the deposit.
You requested premium service.
You’ll receive premium service.”
Vanessa stared at me as if kindness had become another kind of trap.
“Then what is this meeting?”
I tapped the folder.
“You asked to meet Belmore’s owner because you want to become an elite wedding planner and bring future clients here.”
Her face stiffened.
That was why she had dressed so carefully.
Why Mom had come.
Why Trevor had practiced calling her business concept “luxury-forward” in the car.
