My sister lifted her glass, called me “just a nurse” in front of the entire wedding, and the room laughed with her—until the groom’s father looked straight at me like he’d seen a ghost and said five words that changed the air in the room
Fifteen minutes later, Victoria returned to the ballroom. Her makeup had been touched up, but her eyes were still red beneath it, and her posture carried the stiffness of someone who had just been given an ultimatum three hours into her marriage.
James walked beside her, not touching her. Present, but separate.
