Chapter 1 — Bring Me Every Course

At 9:17 on the night of her wedding, while 187 guests whispered that she’d been abandoned, Madison Price lifted her veil, looked straight at the nearest waiter, and said, “Bring me every course.”

The young man stood frozen beside the head table, an empty silver tray balanced against his hip. “All five courses?”

“All five.” Maddie glanced at the vacant chair beside her, the one decorated with a white ribbon and a wooden sign that read Groom. “My father paid for this wedding.

Somebody is going to enjoy it.”

Behind her, another cluster of guests hurried toward the doors of White Oak Manor, carrying purses, suit jackets, and the unbearable excitement of people who had just witnessed a disaster that did not belong to them.

The waiter’s expression did not change. He did not look at her with pity. He did not lower his voice as if speaking beside a hospital bed. He simply straightened his black vest and asked, “Would you like me to begin with the champagne?”

Maddie picked up the untouched crystal flute in front of her. “Now you’re thinking.”

His name tag said Eli. He gave a small nod. “I’ll be right back.”

Maddie watched him cross the ballroom, moving between abandoned tables with the quiet precision of someone who knew how to be present without becoming part of the spectacle.

It was a rare talent that night. Everyone else had made her pain their business.

Her cousin Dana had been the first to reach the head table. “Maddie, honey, let’s get you out of here.” Dana already had her coat over one arm and her car keys in her hand.

“You shouldn’t stay where people can see you like this.”