Chapter 1

The heavy oak doors of the ballroom parted with a soft, muffled click, and I stepped into the humid, perfumed air of the reception. The sheer volume of sound hit me first—a roaring ocean of laughter, clinking crystal, and the low thrum of a jazz quartet playing something upbeat that made my knees feel slightly weak. It was overwhelming, a cacophony of joy and excess that felt a world away from the quiet, sterile loneliness I had been nursing for the last hour. I had slipped away from the crowd, seeking a moment of respite from the endless stream of well-wishers, the polite applause for my father’s speech, and the way everyone kept looking at him, then at me, then back at him, as if we were a single, cohesive entity that couldn’t be separated. But he wasn’t with the crowd. I navigated through the maze of long, draped tables, the air thick with the scent of expensive lilies, roasted chicken, and the sharp, clean sting of premium champagne. The room was bathed in a warm, golden glow from the chandeliers hanging overhead, their crystals catching the light and scattering it across the sea of white linens. I moved toward