"You already did."
PART 3: THE WEDDING THAT COULDN'T GO ON
Richard tried to move us into a private room behind the ballroom, but I refused.
Not because I wanted to turn the situation into a spectacle, but because Vanessa had spent months using privacy to deny the things she said around me and her public image to control how we were expected to behave.
That night, those two worlds had collided.
"We need five minutes," Richard insisted.
"Your daughter needs to apologize to my mother."
"She will."
Vanessa glared at him.
"Stop speaking for me."
"Then speak for yourself," I replied.
She turned toward Evelyn.
"I'm sorry I tore up your letter."
I waited.
That was all.
"And why did you tear it up?"
Vanessa looked at me.
"Are you interrogating me now?"
"I'm trying to understand who I was about to marry."
Several people nearby looked away when I said that.
Vanessa took a step toward me.
"You can't question our entire relationship because of one thing that happened tonight."
"It didn't start tonight."
Her expression changed.
I reminded her of the comments she'd made about my parents' house, my mother's car, and her dresses.
I remembered a dinner when Vanessa suggested Evelyn use a side entrance at a private club because her coat "wasn't appropriate."
I remembered how many times I'd asked my mother not to take those remarks personally.
Vanessa shook her head.
"That has nothing to do with this."
"It's exactly the same thing."
"I was trying to help you fit in."
"Me?"
"We were getting married. My life was going to become your life, too."
"And to be part of that life, my mother had to turn herself into someone you approved of."
"Your mother never even tried to fit in."
Mom spoke calmly.
"I didn't realize respecting you required an application."
Vanessa shot her a furious look.
There it was again.
Even after learning the truth about the money, she still resented Evelyn for refusing to place herself beneath her.
Richard lost his patience.
