“But you should probably cancel Savannah’s engagement party.”

Chapter 11 — They Didn’t Cancel

They did not cancel the party.

That, in the end, was their final and most complete mistake, and it was so perfectly in character that I could almost have predicted it.

Savannah insisted the engagement party go ahead as planned, at the Grand Pine Hotel — a luxury waterfront property that was, though she did not know it, also partly owned through my grandfather’s trust, which is to say, that night, by me.

Two hundred well-dressed guests arrived on Saturday evening, expecting expensive champagne and grand speeches and the formal announcement of my sister’s glorious promotion to executive vice president.