My Mom Called Me At 2 A.M. “Tomorrow, You Can Join Your Brother’s Fiancée’s Family For Dinner. BUT KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT.” I Asked Why. She Snapped: “Her Dad’s A Judge. Don’t Embarrass Us, You Always Do.” I Smiled: “Got It.” During The Toast, The Judge Suddenly Stopped Right In Front Of Me: “Hello, I’m Surprised To See You Here. Who Are You To Them?” The Room Fell ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Silent.

“That doesn’t seem accurate because Audrey barely gets to finish a sentence here,” Mallory said, defending me for the first time.

Cade exhaled and told Mallory that our mother was just being protective and didn’t want things getting competitive between us.

“Competitive with whom?” I asked, and Cade snapped that he meant competitive with me before he could stop himself.

The raw and ugly truth was finally plain, and Cade looked away as he realized he had revealed the family’s secret resentment.

Judge Fletcher asked what he meant by competitive, and Cade laughed hollowly while saying I always had something to prove.

“No, I stopped trying to prove anything a long time ago, but you just never noticed,” I said as I felt the heat rise in my chest.

Mallory asked if there was something else she should know, and I asked the table if anyone had mentioned Cade’s massive debt.

Mom made a choking sound while Cade’s chair scraped back as he told me I had no idea what I was talking about.

“Then say it clearly and tell your fiancée if you have debt she doesn’t know about,” I challenged him.

He didn’t speak, and Mom stood up so quickly that she pointed toward the door and told me to leave if I couldn’t support my brother.

“Mrs. Sinclair, I don’t believe your daughter is the one who has disrupted this evening,” Judge Fletcher said in his calm courtroom voice.

Mallory pushed back her chair and said she needed some air, holding up a hand to stop Cade from following her out of the room.

Her mother rose to follow her, and the Judge looked at me once with recognition and concern before he stepped away from the table.

“I hope you know your work speaks for itself regardless of what is said in this house,” he whispered to me.

Then he left the room, and the front door closed with a sound that felt final as Cade turned on me with a face full of rage.

“You just ruined my life,” he hissed, and the worst part was that I could see my mother agreed with him completely.

I did not cry in that house because I refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing me broken in front of her ruined centerpiece.

“You won’t forgive me for what?” I asked her as she stood there with her pearls gleaming under the light.

She accused me of sabotaging Cade’s future because I couldn’t stand not being the center of attention for one night.