Chapter 1
My mother-in-law poured red wine down my dress and laughed that I didn’t belong at her luxury party. My husband laughed with her—until the mayor walked through the doors and called me his daughter.
The party was being held in one of the most expensive hotels in Boston.
My husband, Ethan, had spent the entire week warning me not to embarrass his family.
“Just smile and stay quiet tonight,” he whispered before we entered the ballroom.
His mother, Margaret, heard him and smirked.
She had never hidden the fact that she thought I was beneath them.
To her, I was simply the quiet woman Ethan had married without her approval.
Halfway through dinner, Margaret looked at my simple black dress and laughed loudly enough for the table to hear.
“Did you really wear that here?”
Several women glanced at me.
I forced a smile. “I thought it was appropriate.”
“For a cheap restaurant, maybe.”
Ethan covered his mouth, but I saw him laughing.
My face burned.
Then Margaret picked up her wineglass.
“You know what your problem is, Emily?”
I said nothing.
“You married into a family you could never belong to.”
Before I could react, she tipped the entire glass over me.
Red wine poured down my hair and across the front of my dress.
The table went silent.
Then someone laughed.
Margaret smiled. “Now at least people will notice you.”
I slowly turned toward Ethan.
I expected anger.
I expected him to defend me.
Instead, he looked at my soaked dress and laughed with his mother.
“Mom, come on,” he said, still smiling. “She already looks uncomfortable enough.”
That was the moment something inside me went cold.
“You think this is funny?” I asked.
Ethan leaned closer. “Don’t make a scene.”
Margaret folded her arms.
“You should be grateful we even allowed you into this room.”
I reached for my purse.
Then the ballroom doors opened.
Every conversation stopped.
Security officers entered first.
Behind them walked Mayor Jonathan Bennett, the most powerful man in the city.
Margaret immediately straightened her dress.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “The mayor actually came.”
Ethan stood so fast his chair nearly fell over.
Then Mayor Bennett looked across the room.
His eyes landed on me.
His expression changed when he saw the wine dripping from my dress.
He walked straight past Margaret’s outstretched hand.
May you like
Straight past Ethan.
Then he stopped in front of me and said, “Emily, sweetheart, who did this to my daughter?”
