Chapter 3

"He's sixteen, Evelyn! You took the keys to Vanessa's car and left him on a public street?!"

Connor's voice echoed through his study as he poured a glass of whiskey.

I sat on the armchair across from him. "He skipped school and took a car he wasn't allowed to drive. He had a ride home. What he didn't have was permission to take Vanessa's car."

"You embarrassed him in front of his friends!" Connor snapped. "He attends the top academy in the state! And you stand on a street corner in construction gear right where his classmates can see you!"

"I was inspecting my project, Connor," I stated. "A project your firm has been begging to join for two years."

"What matters is perception!" Connor spat. "Which brings me to the Legacy Gala this Thursday."

He pulled an embossed gold invitation from his desk drawer and set it down.

"Vanessa will be accompanying Tyler as his family guest for the evening," Connor announced flatly. "You will not be attending."

I looked at the gold card. "You are barring me from my son's school gala?"

"I am saving our family from an awkward scene," Connor replied. "Vanessa knows how to navigate donor circles. Tyler asked me personally not to bring you. He wants a mother who fits the room."

I looked at my husband. "Is that what he said?"

"Word for word," Connor lied.

"You can choose who sits at your table, Connor," I said slowly, standing up. "You don't choose where I'm allowed to go."

Connor sneered. "If you show up, I'll have security remove you."

"Then make sure the cameras are rolling when you try," I replied.

I walked into my private office and locked the door.

I sat at my desk and opened my shared drive. A new folder sat near the top of the list: LEGACY GALA — FINAL MATERIALS.

I opened it.

Inside were photographs copied from my private family archive—pictures of my mother working long shifts at an industrial laundry and childhood photographs of me sitting on the concrete steps of Block 4.

Connor had emptied my private files to build the presentation slides for his firm's charity drive.

Connor knew what those photographs meant to me. He knew my mother had worked herself sick to keep me in school, and now he had handed her face to Vanessa as decoration for a charity speech.

I pulled up the headmaster's number. One call would stop the presentation.

My finger hovered over the screen. Then I looked at the invitation on my desk: You will not be attending.

If I stopped them now, they would call me jealous and bury the truth before anyone saw it. I set the phone down.

Tomorrow night, they would put my life on that screen.

This time, I would be in the room.