“Now you’ll never marry my son!” my mother-in-law laughed, setting my wedding dress on fire. I wiped my tears, smiled coldly, and said, “Enjoy destroying that dress, because the wedding was never the real trap.” Her face went completely pale when I made one quick phone call…

by my colleagues from the ad agency. They surrounded us, clapping wildly off-beat, ruining their expensive makeup with tears, and refusing to apologize for their volume.

Eddie, my boss, materialized from the throng holding two flutes of vintage Dom Pérignon. He possessed the manic energy of a man who evaluated every human interaction in terms of brand continue reading …