Chapter 4 - The Deflection
All eyes in the grand ballroom snapped to me.
Chloe smirked, looking incredibly proud of her petty insult.
Olivia sat at the head table, pretending to look deeply uncomfortable.
But I could see the triumphant gleam in my sister’s eyes.
She wanted me to shrink into my chair.
She wanted me to run out of the room crying like I used to when we were teenagers.
Instead, I picked up my champagne glass.
I stood up gracefully.
I raised my glass high in the air.
"To Olivia," I said in a clear, carrying voice.
"May her marriage be as authentic as her personality."
I took a sip of my drink.
The silence stretched so thin it felt like it might snap.
A few of my distant cousins at Table 42 stifled their laughter.
Someone at the groom's table let out a sudden, loud snort.
Olivia’s face turned bright red.
Her new husband, Ethan, looked back and forth between us.
Ethan was a nice guy from a quiet family.
He looked absolutely terrified of the toxic dynamic he had just married into.
I set my glass down.
I grabbed my designer clutch.
I had proven my point, and I was officially bored.
It was time to leave.
I walked elegantly across the ballroom floor.
I didn't rush.
I didn't keep my head down.
I walked like I owned the entire building.
As I passed the head table, Ethan caught my eye.
He gave me a small, apologetic nod.
I nodded back out of pure pity.
He had no idea what he had signed up for.
I pushed through the heavy double doors of the ballroom.
The cool autumn air hit my face as I stepped out to the valet stand.
"Ticket, please," the valet attendant said.
I handed him my ticket.
A few moments later, he pulled up my sleek, black Porsche Panamera.
I had bought it as a graduation present to myself.
My father rushed out of the venue doors just as I opened my car door.
"Maya!" he yelled.
He ran down the concrete steps.
"You are not leaving!"
"Yes, I am," I said, slipping into the driver's seat.
"You didn't leave a gift!" he gasped, out of breath.
I rolled down my tinted window.
"My gift was paying for my own college so you could afford this party, Dad."
I hit the button to roll the window back up.
May you like
I put the car in drive.
I left my father standing in the driveway, engulfed in my exhaust fumes.
