Chapter 1 - The Ripped Emerald|
The sound of tearing silk cut through the Aurelia Grand ballroom, sharp enough to make a violinist miss a note. Ava Monroe reached behind herself, but Bianca Whitmore already held the emerald fabric in her jeweled fingers. Cold air touched Ava’s exposed back, and three hundred guests watched her struggle to keep the gown together.
Near the champagne tower, a woman raised her phone.
“Ava,” Bianca whispered, pitching her voice so the front tables could hear. “How could you steal my dress and still come here?”
Twenty minutes earlier, Ava had been behind the velvet curtain, fixing a model’s sleeve with three safety pins between her teeth. Six months of unpaid work for her stepfamily had brought her to this gala, yet her name appeared nowhere in the program. Bianca’s name appeared on every page.
“I didn’t steal it,” Ava said, her voice shaking as she clutched the ruined front of her mother’s dress.
Her father rose from the front table. Richard Whitmore looked at the watching donors before he looked at his daughter.
“Don’t make this worse, Ava,” he said. “Apologize to your stepsister.”
“I won't,” Ava replied firmly. “She tore it herself.”
Across the table, Victoria Whitmore, her stepmother, remained seated. She looked composed, almost bored, as she took a slow sip of wine.
Bianca stepped back, her eyes shining with fake tears. “Then why is the auction necklace missing from the display case?”
A guard approached the piano bench where Ava’s clutch lay. Bianca had carried it there moments before ushering Ava onto the stage. The guard opened it, tipping the contents onto the velvet bench.
A heavy diamond necklace glittered inside Ava’s spare scarf.
May you like
A sharp murmur passed through the room.
“I tried to protect you, Ava,” Bianca wept. “But you wanted my dress, my work, my life.”
