Chapter 1 - THE PHOTOS IN THE TRASH
On the night before her wedding to Julian Hawthorne, architect Alora Vance returns to the Hawthorne estate to retrieve their wedding rings. Instead, she discovers every framed photograph of their three-year relationship stacked beside the household trash, one of them marked by a shoe print. The family butler calmly explains that Julian’s childhood friend, Caroline Lindstrom, considered the photographs an eyesore—and Julian ordered them removed.
For three years, Alora has compromised herself to fit into the Hawthorne family. She has changed designs, hidden her own accomplishments, tolerated Julian’s controlling mother, and remained silent when Caroline returned from Paris and moved into the estate days before the wedding. But seeing their love story treated like garbage finally destroys the last excuse she has been making for Julian.
Sitting in her old white Honda outside the mansion, Alora opens the thirty-six-person wedding group chat.
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This time, she decides she will not stay quiet.
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