Then she realized how terrible that sounded.
“I mean… she never told anyone.”
I looked directly at Daniel. “Nobody asked.”
That struck him harder than I intended. He lowered his eyes immediately.
Mara grabbed his hand tightly. “This is absurd. She hijacked our wedding.”
Someone laughed quietly across the ballroom.
Then another person did too.
Not loudly enough to be cruel.
But enough to wound.
I placed the microphone gently onto the nearby table.
“You handed it to me.”
Her cheeks burned bright red.
“And you chose the song.”
“Because I was trying to be nice.”
The bridesmaid holding the phone slowly lowered it. Professor Albright’s face turned cold as winter.
“Interesting,” the professor said calmly. “Because I distinctly heard you tell her to sing whichever version she could survive.”
Mara froze.
So did the entire ballroom.
Professor Albright was not merely another guest. She chaired Bellmont Conservatory’s alumni board — the same board Mara desperately wanted approval from for a prestigious Vienna fellowship she spent the entire evening bragging was “basically guaranteed.”
The professor removed her glasses slowly.
“Bellmont values discipline. Talent. Character.” Her eyes settled directly on Mara. “Especially character.”
“Professor, please,” Mara whispered.
But cruelty always leaves witnesses.
Tonight it had lighting, audio, and four camera angles.
Daniel finally spoke again, his voice low and shaken. “Did you actually plan this?”
Mara spun toward him. “Don’t start being dramatic.”
“Did you?”
