Chapter 2: The Cost of Arrogance
Eleanor dropped the deed onto the table as if the paper had suddenly caught fire. The blood drained completely from her face, leaving her looking hollow, pathetic, and suddenly very old. The wealthy guests at the surrounding tables, who just moments ago had been quietly judging the bride’s mother, were now staring in absolute, paralyzed shock. The woman they had dismissed as a lower-class peasant was the sole owner of the very ground they stood on.
"Why?" the groom finally choked out, stepping back and looking at his mother-in-law as if he were seeing a ghost. "Why didn't you just tell us? Why hide this?"
"Because I needed to know exactly what kind of family my daughter was marrying into," she answered, rising slowly from her chair. She carried herself with a quiet, undeniable majesty that no amount of designer jewelry could ever buy. "My daughter has a pure heart, and she foolishly believed your family would love her for who she is. I, however, have dealt with shallow people like your mother for forty years. I knew that if you thought we were beneath you, you would eventually show your true, ugly colors. I just didn't expect it to happen before the main course."
May you like
