“Please tell him it’s all just an awful misunderstanding, right?”

She came toward me, reaching for the wet sleeve of my cheap shirt.

I stepped back before she could touch me.

“I didn’t misunderstand a single thing today,” I said.

I looked at her expensive silk clothes.

“I won’t be wearing the blue dress you chose for me,” I said.

I drew my damp shawl tighter around my shoulders.

“Please, fix this,” Vanessa said.