By the time Elena reached the ballroom entrance, her parents were standing awkwardly against the far wall like strangers who had wandered into the wrong wedding.
The main family table — the one Elena had personally arranged and reserved weeks earlier — was completely occupied by Victor Hale’s relatives. Every seat was filled
Victor’s aunt sat laughing loudly beside two cousins. His uncle lounged arrogantly near the center. And at the head of the table sat Celeste Hale, Victor’s mother, glowing beneath crystal chandeliers in champagne-colored silk, smiling like a queen surveying conquered territory.
Elena’s mother clutched her old pearl purse tightly with both hands.
Her father stood stiffly beside her in the brown suit he had saved months to buy for this day.
Both of them were trying desperately to smile.
Elena stared at the seating cards.
Her parents’ names were gone.
For a moment, she honestly thought there had been some mistake.
Then Celeste noticed her looking.
“Oh, darling,” she said smoothly, lifting her wine glass while nearby guests quieted to listen. “We had to rearrange things slightly. The family table should appear respectable in photographs.”
The words landed like ice water.
Elena’s throat tightened painfully.
“Where are my parents supposed to sit?” she asked quietly.
Celeste glanced toward them with deliberate contempt.
“Somewhere less noticeable,” she replied. “They look poor.”
Several guests laughed softly behind folded napkins.
Elena turned instinctively toward Victor, waiting for him to stop this.
He stood beside his mother in a perfectly tailored tuxedo, handsome and polished and suddenly unrecognizable.
Victor lowered his voice.
“Don’t create a scene, Elena,” he murmured. “Mom’s right. Optics matter today.”
Her mother blinked rapidly, trying not to cry.
Her father lowered his eyes toward the floor.
And something inside Elena changed.
