Bella leads the way into the bustling banquet hall. She’s wearing a pearlescent white dress, and it shimmers and shines under the crystal chandeliers. Leilani follows behind her, taking off her shawl and passing it to a coat check girl. Her pale shoulders shine as brightly as Bella’s dress.
As she walks through the hall, she catches several men staring at her. Even the doorman can’t take his eyes off of her. She straightens her shoulder, lifts her chin, and continues to walk, ignoring the people around her.
“Honey, you’re beautiful,” Andrew murmurs, grabbing her from behind.
Caitan turns to see what her brother is talking about, and her face contorted with anger. She asks, “Where’s your shawl?”
Leilani smiles and says, “I took it off when we got here. The banquet hall is quite warm.”
“What happened to my dress?” Caitan hisses. “Why did you take the straps off?”
“I was just finishing the job you started,” Leilani whispers back.
Caitan stomps away and starts whispering with Jessica. Leilani shrugs and looks down at herself. The strapless dress exposes her snow-white shoulders and delicate clavicle, and the empire waist hides her baby bump. The black lace makes her skin look even lighter and softer.
As they walk into the hall, the murmuring whispers seem to get louder. She takes a deep breath and reminds herself that people could be staring at Caitan and Jessica too. Jessica is wearing a clingy velvet gown in deep emerald, offsetting the flaming color of her wig, and Caitan is dressed in a golden gown that matches her blonde hair.
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Waylen standing on a balcony. She looks to see if Rebecca is with him, but he seems to be alone. He spots her and raises his glass in a mock toast. She swallows hard and looks away. I should have known that he’d be here, she thinks. I just hope he doesn’t cause any trouble.
“What are you staring at?” Andrew asks.
“I’m just taking it all in,” she lies. “The hall is splendid.”
Andrew looks like he’s about to question her, but a man claps a hand onto his shoulder. A large emerald and ruby ring glitters on his finger—the Clifford family crest is engraved into the ruby.
“Andrew, come over here,” the man says. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”
“Hi, Father,” Andrew says.
The man looks at Leilani, smiles, and asks, “Is this your girlfriend, son?”
“Actually, she’s my fiancé,” Andrew says. “Leilani, this is my father, Joseph Clifford. Father, this is Leilani.”
Leilani inclines her head and says, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Clifford.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” Joseph says. “Come on, and I’d like you to meet the president.”
Andrew puts his hand on her waist and guides her up to the main table. Bella, Caitan, and Jessica cl.u.s.ter around them too. The president shakes everyone’s hands and chats for a few minutes about the weather. Then he excuses himself to talk privately with Joseph.
The president’s wife greets them and invites them to sit with her. Several women are already around her, complimenting her gown and asking her questions about her children. Leilani feels uncomfortable in the crowd, but she can’t think of a polite way to leave.
“Leilani, have we met anywhere before?” the president’s wife asks.
Bella leans forward, and stage whispers, “She’s Mr. Waylen Bamford’s ex-wife. I imagine you met her while she was still married to him.”
“I knew she looked familiar,” the president’s wife says.
Leilani feels her cheeks redden, and she looks down at her borrowed shoes. The socialites around her all begin to whisper. Their high-pitched voices carry, and she can hear every word they say about her.
“I’d heard rumors, but I didn’t believe them for a second,” one gray-haired lady says. “Young people are so shameless these days—it’s shocking.”
“If she’s with Andrew now, I’m sure Bella Clifford will make her life hell,” a young blonde whispers. “Everyone says Andrew’s mom is the reason all his relationsh.i.p.s end.”
“I don’t think he’ll need his mom to make him see what a loser she is,” says a brunette. “She’s not even wearing makeup right now. Does she think this is the gym?”
“Don’t be so hard on her,” a middle-aged woman says. “Her life after the divorce has been really hard. Look, she’s carrying a fake Hermes bag. She must be really desperate without the Bamford money—I heard her own family disowned her.”
“Fake?” Bella asks, turning to Leilani. “Why on Earth would you bring a fake bag to this party? Are you trying to embarrass us—I could have loaned you something.”
“Andrew gave me this bag,” Leilani says with a shrug. “I doubt he’d buy a fake.”
“How dare you,” Caitan shrieks. “My brother would never buy a fake bag—don’t lie. We all know you bought it yourself so you could pretend to fit in with us.”
“Leilani, my family took you in and dressed you, but this is unacceptable,” Bella says, pointing toward the door. “For Andrew’s sake, I’m not going to make a scene, but you need to leave now.”
Leilani straightens her back and looks down at the other women. Though she’s only wearing low heels, she towers over most of the socialites. She squares her shoulders and lifts her chin defiantly.
“Andrew really did give me this bag,” she says. “If you don’t believe me, you can ask him yourself. But I refuse to leave. My fiancé wants me here, and I’m not going to abandon him.”
“She might be telling the truth,” the brunette says. “This handbag is from next season’s collection. There’s no way someone could have copied it already.”
“From here, the leather looks really convincing and authentic,” the gray-haired woman adds.
“Don’t bother my brother,” Caitan says. “We can check the anti-counterfeiting sticker inside.”
Leilani looks at Caitan. The girl’s eyes flash with malice, but she keeps licking her lips as if she’s nervous.
Caitan reaches for the bag. If they call Andrew over, the whole family will be embarrassed. A few weeks ago, she found leaked designs for the bag and ordered to have a copy made. She used the bag for a photoshoot and was planning to upload the pictures to Facebook and Instagram to show off to her friends. When she saw Leilani carrying the same bag, it seemed too good to be true.
While Leilani was changing, she ordered a servant to sneak into the room and change Leilani’s bag for the fake in the hopes that someone at the party would notice. She even slipped a strip of condoms into the inside pocket where the anti-counterfeiting tag should be. Now when she opens the bag, the condoms will fall out, and everyone will think Leilani is a s.l.u.t.
But if Andrew comes over, everything will be ruined. She can’t reveal that the bag is a fake—it’ll make the whole family look foolish and desperate.
Caitan grabs the bag out of Leilani’s hands and forces the zipper open. She rifles through the bag for a moment, and her forehead wrinkles. The blonde and brunette women crowd next to her, staring into the open bag. Leilani smiles—she knows they see the double-wire seam and careful hand-stitched details. No fake bag has such careful details.
Caitan flips the bag over and shakes the contents onto the floor. A pack of tissues, Leilani’s phone, a credit card, and something wrapped in blue and red foil fall to the ground. Caitan nudges the pile with the toe of her shoe, and a nasty grin spreads across her face.
“Is that what I think it is?” Caitan asks. “I can’t believe she brought that here!”
The crowd presses closer, but it’s impossible to see what Caitan is talking about—the foil package is now hidden under the hem of her golden gown.
“What do you think I brought?” Leilani asks.
“A pack of condoms,” Caitan shouts. “I can’t believe you’d bring condoms to a dinner with the president. Were you hoping to seduce some other man? Is that why Waylen threw you out—because you’re a s.l.u.t?”
The women murmur and gasp. The old gray-haired lady looks pale, and the president’s wife’s lip trembles with rage. They back away from Leilani as if she’s carrying some sort of plague.
Leilani points at the edge of the wrappers and asks, “You mean that? That’s chewing gum.”
“That’s impossible,” Caitan says. “I know what I saw.”
“Well, it’s easy enough to prove,” Leilani says with a shrug. “Bend over and pick it up.”
Caitan purses her lips with uncertainty, and Leilani’s smile widens. She thought her plan was foolproof, Leilani thinks. But I’m not an idiot—I can spot a fake bag. Besides, the condoms were a dead giveaway. Did she really think I wouldn’t notice?
“Wait, let me see the bag,” the president’s wife says.
Caitan has no choice but to pass the bag to the older woman. The president’s wife holds the bag close to her face. She runs her fingers along with the stitches and weighs the chain in her hand. She squints at the anti-counterfeiting label and then passes the bag to Leilani.
“You know I’m good friends with the top designers at Hermes,” she says. “This bag is definitely authentic. I can tell by the stitching and the labels.”
Caitan’s face turns bright pink, and she sputters and chokes. She points at Leilani and then at the president’s wife. Jessica reaches out and snatches her sister’s hand out of the air and pins it down by her side.
“Why did you insist my bag was a fake, Caitan?” Leilani asks, bending over to pick up her phone, credit card, and gum.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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