Chapter 4
The wedding courtyard looked like a painting.
White roses climbed the stone arches.
Crystal decorations caught the daylight.
Music drifted from the bandstand.
Champagne moved through the crowd on silver trays.
At the center of it all, Elise looked perfect.
Grace could admit that.
Her sister was beautiful in the way expensive things are beautiful—polished, arranged, and designed to be admired from the correct distance.
When Grace arrived, Elise looked her up and down.
“Vintage?” she asked.
Grace touched the faded blue fabric.
“Yes.”
Elise smiled.
“That’s a generous word.”
Margaret heard and laughed softly.
Richard gave Grace a look of practiced disappointment.
“You could have made an effort.”
Grace almost told him she had made the only effort that mattered by allowing the wedding to happen there at all.
Instead, she said, “Congratulations, Elise.”
Elise leaned close.
“Try not to embarrass me.”
Grace looked around the estate courtyard.
The fountains.
The flowers.
The guests.
The lawyer near the reception stage.
Daniel Mercer stood still, black leather folder in hand, waiting.
Grace gave him the smallest nod.
Not yet.
She wanted to believe the family could get through one afternoon without cruelty.
Then Elise took the microphone to thank everyone.
She thanked vendors.
Friends.
Her parents.
The groom’s family.
She did not thank Grace.
Then she looked toward her sister and smiled.
May you like
The performance was beginning.
Read the full story 👉 Grace arrived prepared for insults, but Elise wanted more than words in front of the wedding guests.
