Mrs. Raines.My chest tightens as I wonder if I’ll ever get to hear him call me that again. But I push my worry aside and decide to focus on enjoying myself.
My guests all have a ball of a time. Everyone takes a spin on the dance floor. We eat. We drink. We laugh.
I lose track of time. More importantly, I lose track of my anxiety as the people I love most in this world celebrate my existence. It’s one heck of a party.
Things like this don’t happen for girls like me. I’m not used to being the center of the celebration, the object of affection. But it seems like the tide has turned ever since I let Lincoln Raines into my life.
I don’t know how many hours have passed when the DJ cuts the music and calls me forward, handing my great-grandmother the microphone.
My breath catches when I notice the small, official-looking envelope clasped between her wrinkled, bejeweled fingers as she stands on the stage at the front of the room.
This is it.
This is my future.
A legacy for my mom and me. A little retribution for what we’ve had to endure at my father’s cheating hands.
My heart pounds out of my chest as Great-Grandma draws near and takes my hand in hers.
“My dear Julissa Mei. Twenty-seven years ago, the moment I laid eyes on you, a feisty, stubborn little thing, I immediately knew you had fire and goodness in you. And now, seeing you settled and married to such a fine young man…” Great Grandma’s hand—the one holding the big check—starts to reach out toward me. But before she’s able to finish her sentence, there’s a loud screech from my sisters’ corner of the room.
“Wait! Stop!” I hear Hilary yelling over and over as she charges in our direction, a troubling feat in her five-inch heels.
“What kind of nonsense is this?” Great-Grandma’s face is pinched, her annoyance evident at the interruption. “I’m in the middle of something here. You are being quite disrespectful, young la—”
“But, look!” My half-sister dramatically shoves two crinkled sheets of paper in Great-Grandma’s face. The pages are riddled with lines and wrinkles like it’s been folded, unfolded, and refolded many times. Like it’s been crinkled and shoved inside a purs—
I gasp, suddenly recognizing that document.
No.
There’s no way!
How?
How did Hilary get her hands on that? I had it safely tucked away inside my purse for weeks.Until…until it was just…gone.
Out of nowhere, I get a vision of Hilary handing me my ‘missing’ purse on the day I was picking out my wedding dress. I get a vision of the smirk she’d worn on her face in that moment.
That sneaky, conniving bitch! She stole my purse just to find dirt on me.And she found my marriage contract.
And now, she’s going to use it to ruin my life.
Hilary grins triumphantly as my world crumbles around me. “Look! This marriage is a complete fraud!” She waves the paper in the air. “This contract says it all. It was a total act of deception, not a wedding! Look, Great-Grandma! Those fraudsters will get divorced as soon as the trust fund hits Julissa’s bank account. It's all right here!”
The room grows pin-drop silent.
Great-Grandma’s brows are pinched as she looks from the paper to my horrified face. The old, weathered hand that’s still clutching the check visibly shakes. “Is…is this true, Julissa?”
My gut squeezes.
Great-Grandma’s voice sounds so small. Nothing like the take-no-nonsense badass she usually is. In this moment, all I can think about is the fact that IbrokeGreat Grandma. I did this. I broke her heart.
The fact that Hilary just shattered all hope of ever getting my trust fund isn’t even on my mind. The fact that everyone at my birthday party is watching my life blow up is the least of my worries.
All I care about is the look on Great-Grandma’s face. A look of shock, distrust, and disappointment.
Ouch. The disappointment hurts the worst.
