Chapter 2
The private room went quiet again, and the way everyone was watching started to change. Their gazes grew more complicated, no longer just for fun.
"I admit I lost it when I dumped wine all over her," I said.
I paused and then fixed my gaze on Eric.
I said, "Eric, your mom thinks 3 grand is enough to buy my whole future.
"So let me ask you. Am I really only worth 3 grand to you? Aren't I the woman you say you'll love for a lifetime?"
Eric's expression kept switching. His lips parted, but he couldn't get a single word out.
Laughter bubbled out of me, so hard that my eyes stung with tears.
"Fine. I get it," I said.
I didn't waste another second. I took my parents by the hand and headed for the door, never once looking back.
"Vivian!" Eric yelled.
He finally caught up to me and grabbed my wrist. His grip was so tight that it felt like he was trying to crush my bones.
"What do you want? Do you really have to make this so ugly?" he snapped.
Rage exploded inside me, burning away every ounce of patience and self-control I had left.
I raised my hand and landed a slap on his face, putting all my strength into it.
The sharp sound echoed down the hallway.
Eric was stunned, clutching his face and staring at me in disbelief.
"This slap is for my parents," I said, my chest heaving, my voice icy.
I continued, "When your mom was humiliating them, you just sat there like you were dead inside.
"And now you have the nerve to question me?"
I shook off his hand like it was something filthy.
I said, "Your mom said 3 grand is enough to buy my life. Well, I'd love to know, how many years of your loyalty to her does 3 grand get?
"Get lost!"
With that, I grabbed my parents and hurried into the elevator.
The doors slid shut, cutting off Eric's twisted face and sealing us off from that nightmare of an engagement party.
Inside the elevator, my mom finally couldn't hold it in anymore. She covered her face and started sobbing.
My dad let out a deep, heavy sigh and slammed his fist against the elevator wall.
"Vivian, you were way too impulsive," he said, disappointment written all over his face. "Great, now the wedding's totally ruined. What are people going to say about you after this?"
I looked at them, and all the satisfaction I'd felt from fighting back just moments ago evaporated, leaving me hollow inside.
I demanded, "Dad, Mom, when she was humiliating you and me like that, why didn't you say anything? Do you really think it's fine for me to just put up with all that, as long as I marry Eric?"
My voice shook, not that I even noticed at the time.
My mom broke down even harder, while my dad turned his face away, muttering, "Just endure it... It'll pass..."
Just endure it.'
That saying again.
I'd heard it a million times since I was a kid.
My heart turned to ice in that moment.
The drive home felt endless, like it stretched on forever.
The air in the car was so thick. The only sound was my mom's broken sobs.
Our beat-up old car felt like a moving metal coffin, locking the three of us inside with all our embarrassment and shame.
As soon as we got home and the door closed behind us, my dad finally snapped, all the anger he'd been holding in on the way home exploding.
"Vivian, was ruining our family's reputation today the only way you'd be satisfied?" he shouted.
He jabbed a finger at my nose, his hand shaking with rage.
He said, "We struggled all these years to raise you, and this is what you do with your engagement? Do you have any idea what people will say?
"A girl flipping out at her own engagement party? Everyone's going to tear you apart behind your back!"
My mom wiped her tears and chimed in, "Yeah, Vivian, the Shaw family's got money. Just suck it up for now. Once you're married, Linda can't keep messing with you, right?
"After the scene you made today, who's ever going to want to marry you?"
I stood in the middle of the living room and listened to the same old arguments, feeling like I was drowning. I was wrapped up tight in their 'it's all for your own good' logic, barely able to breathe.
My heart went completely cold.
It wasn't their blame that froze me. It was knowing that, to them, my dignity and my feelings didn't matter at all next to a "good marriage" and what people would say.
I said, "So just because their family's got money, I'm supposed to stand there and let Linda humiliate us?
"Just because I'm a girl, I have to put on a happy face when they slash the wedding budget from 60 grand down to 3 grand, and pretend it's all fine?
"Dad, Mom, do you even see me as your daughter? Or am I just a commodity to be traded for some stability in your lives?"
I was practically screaming, all the hurt and confusion I'd bottled up for over twenty years finally exploding out of me.
"Wh-What the hell are you saying?" my dad yelled, his lips almost turning purple with anger as he raised his hand, ready to hit me.
I didn't move. I just stared back at him with a cold, unblinking gaze.
But that slap never came.
He dropped his hand, collapsed onto the couch, and held his head in his hands, looking like a caged beast.
My mom sobbed, "How could you say we don't see you as our daughter? Everything we do is for your own good..."
For my own good.
What a joke.