Chapter 4

The Morrison gala was supposed to be my redemption.

Two weeks had passed since the Sanderson cancellation and my reprimand. Two weeks of walking on eggshells, triple-checking every detail, arriving earlier and staying later than anyone else. Two weeks of pretending I didn’t see Simone’s smirk every time she passed my office, or feel Marcus’s eyes following me through the dining room.

The Morrison family was old money. Real estate empire, political connections, the kind of guest list that included senators and CEOs. Their annual autumn gala was Veridian’s most prestigious event of the season. Eighty guests. Seven-course tasting menu. A string quartet flown in from Vienna. Total budget: two hundred thousand dollars.

Mr. Laurent had assigned it to me personally. A test. Prove yourself or pack your desk.

I’d spent three weeks planning every microscopic detail. The seating chart alone had taken me six hours, navigating family feuds and business rivalries with the precision of a chess grandmaster. The florals were perfect. The lighting was perfect. The timing was perfect.

Nothing could go wrong.

I arrived at Veridian at two in the afternoon, five hours before the first guest was scheduled to arrive.

The private event space on the third floor was already buzzing with activity. Florists arranging centerpieces. Sound technicians testing microphones. Servers in crisp white shirts setting tables with mathematical precision.

I moved through the room with my clipboard, checking off items. Napkins folded correctly. Check. Wine glasses positioned at the proper angle. Check. Place cards in alphabetical order. Check.

“Diana.” Marcus appeared at my elbow. “How are we looking?”

“On schedule. The kitchen confirmed the amuse-bouche will be ready at seven sharp. The quartet arrives at six for sound check. Everything is under control.”

“Good. Mr. Laurent will be observing tonight. Along with the Morrisons, we have several potential new clients attending. This needs to be flawless.”

“It will be.”

Marcus studied my face. “You look tired.”

I’d barely slept in two weeks. Every night, I lay awake in Maya’s guest bed, running through worst-case scenarios. Every morning, I checked my phone expecting another text from Genevieve, another shoe waiting to drop.

“I’m fine.”

“Make sure you eat something. Long night ahead.”

He squeezed my shoulder and left.

I returned to my checklist. The afternoon blurred into evening. The quartet arrived and began their sound check, filling the space with Vivaldi. The kitchen sent up sample plates for final approval. Everything was coming together exactly as planned.

At six thirty, I went downstairs to my office to change. I’d brought a black cocktail dress, professional but elegant enough to blend with the guests. As events manager, I needed to be visible but not intrusive. Present but not presumptuous.

I touched up my makeup in the small mirror I kept in my desk drawer. Concealer under my eyes. Fresh lipstick. Hair smoothed back into its neat bun.

I looked like someone in control.

I almost believed it.

By seven, the first guests were arriving. I stationed myself near the entrance to the event space, greeting people with a practiced smile. Senator Morrison and his wife. The CEO of Morrison Properties. A real estate billionaire whose name I recognized from Forbes covers.

And then I saw her.

Genevieve.

She glided through the entrance on Leo’s arm, wearing a red dress slit to the thigh. Her blonde hair cascaded in perfect waves over her shoulders. She looked like she’d stepped off a magazine cover.

My heart stopped.

“Diana!” Mrs. Morrison swept over, a vision in silver silk. “Everything looks absolutely spectacular. You’ve outdone yourself.”

I forced my attention back to my client. “Thank you, Mrs. Morrison. I’m so glad you’re pleased.”

“Pleased? I’m thrilled. Catherine was just saying how lucky we are to have you managing tonight.” She gestured to a woman in emerald green standing nearby. “Catherine Wimberton, this is Diana Pembroke, our brilliant events manager.”

Catherine Wimberton. Wife of real estate mogul Richard Wimberton. Potential new client.

I shook her hand, falling into my professional persona. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Mrs. Wimberton.”

“Call me Catherine. Gloria has been raving about you. Richard and I are planning our thirtieth anniversary next spring. We’d love to discuss having you manage it.”

“I’d be honored. Here’s my card.” I pulled one from the small clutch I carried. “Please feel free to call me anytime.”

Mrs. Morrison beamed. “You see? Diana is the best. Now, we must circulate. But truly, dear, everything is perfect.”

They moved into the crowd, and I exhaled slowly.

Then Genevieve was in front of me.

“Diana. What a surprise.” Her smile was poison wrapped in sugar. “I had no idea you’d be here. Leo, look, it’s your ex-fiancée.”

Leo had the decency to look uncomfortable. “Diana. You look… well.”

“What are you doing here?” I kept my voice low, professional.

“The Morrisons are family friends,” Genevieve said airily. “Senator Morrison served with Daddy on several boards. Didn’t you know?” She tilted her head, eyes glittering with malice. “Oh, but you wouldn’t. You’re staff now, aren’t you? Not exactly on the guest list.”

“I’m working.”

“Yes, I can see. How industrious.” She ran her fingers along Leo’s lapel possessively. “We should find our table, darling. I’m sure Diana has important… event managing to do.”

They moved past me into the room. I stood frozen, my carefully constructed composure cracking.

Genevieve was here. At my event. The most important night of my career, and my stepsister was here to watch.

I pulled out my phone with shaking hands and texted Maya: She’s here. Genevieve is at the gala.

Maya’s response came immediately: Are you serious? Can you have her removed?

I couldn’t. The Morrisons had invited her. Asking them to remove a guest would be professional suicide.

Me: I have to get through this. Just need to survive the next four hours.

Maya: You’ve got this. She’s a parasite. Don’t let her feed off your fear.

I pocketed my phone and straightened my shoulders. Maya was right. I couldn’t let Genevieve derail this. The event was perfect. The clients were happy. I just needed to execute the plan and get through the night.

Dinner service began at seven thirty. I coordinated with the kitchen, ensuring each course hit every table simultaneously. The amuse-bouche. The first course. The second. Everything flowed like a symphony.

Between courses, I circulated through the room, checking in with guests, ensuring everyone was satisfied. I avoided the corner where Genevieve and Leo sat, laughing with the Morrisons like old friends.

At nine, just before dessert service, I was standing near the bar when I heard the commotion.

“It’s gone!” A woman’s voice, shrill with panic. “Someone stole my bracelet!”

The room fell silent. The quartet’s music stuttered to a stop.

I turned to see Mrs. Wimberton, the woman I’d just met, standing near her table with her hand pressed to her bare wrist. Her face was flushed, her eyes wild.

“Catherine, what’s wrong?” Senator Morrison hurried over.

“My bracelet. The diamond tennis bracelet Richard gave me for our anniversary. I took it off during dinner and set it on my napkin. Now it’s gone.” Her voice rose to near-hysteria. “Someone took it! It’s worth forty thousand dollars!”

My stomach dropped.

Mr. Laurent materialized from somewhere in the crowd. “Mrs. Wimberton, I’m certain there’s been a misunderstanding. Perhaps it fell?”

“I’ve looked everywhere. Someone stole it!” She was crying now, mascara running down her cheeks.

“I’ll call security immediately,” Laurent said, his voice tight with barely contained fury. His eyes found mine across the room. The message was clear: Fix this.

I rushed over. “Mrs. Wimberton, I’m so sorry. We’ll find your bracelet. Why don’t we retrace your steps? When did you last remember having it?”

“During the fish course. I took it off because it kept catching on my dress. I set it right here.” She pointed to her place setting. “On my napkin. And now it’s gone.”

Security arrived, two men in dark suits. I recognized them from other events. Professional. Discreet.

“We need to conduct a search,” the taller one said. His name tag read Stevens. “Starting with the staff.”

“Of course.” My voice came out steady despite the panic building in my chest. “Whatever you need.”

The next twenty minutes were chaos contained within a veneer of civility. Security searched the servers, the bartenders, the musicians. They checked the bathrooms, the hallways, the kitchen.

Nothing.

“We’ll need to search the event coordinators as well,” Stevens said, looking directly at me.

My mouth went dry. “Of course.”

I grabbed my tote bag from where I’d left it near the service entrance. The black leather bag with Veridian’s logo embossed in gold. I’d carried it to hundreds of events.

I handed it to Stevens.

He opened it carefully, methodically removing items. My planner. My phone charger. A pack of breath mints. Emergency sewing kit. Lipstick.

And then his hand closed around something at the bottom.

He pulled out a diamond bracelet.

The world tilted.

“Is this your bracelet, Mrs. Wimberton?” Stevens held it up.

“Yes! Oh my God, yes, where did you find it?”

Stevens looked at me, his expression unreadable.

“In Ms. Pembroke’s bag.”

The room erupted.

“I didn’t—” My voice cracked. “I didn’t put that there. I’ve never seen that bracelet before in my life.”

“It was in your bag,” Stevens said flatly.

“Someone planted it! Someone must have—”

“Ms. Pembroke.” Mr. Laurent’s voice cut through my protests like a blade. His face was white with fury. “My office. Now.”

“Mr. Laurent, please, I’m being framed—”

“NOW.”

I looked around the room desperately. Eighty faces staring at me with shock, disgust, suspicion. Mrs. Morrison’s hand pressed to her mouth. Senator Morrison’s expression of cold disappointment.

And there, in the corner, Genevieve. Sipping champagne. Watching me with undisguised satisfaction.

Our eyes met across the room. She raised her glass in a mock toast, her smile triumphant.

She’d done this. Somehow, she’d planted the bracelet in my bag.

“I didn’t steal anything,” I said, but my voice was drowned out by the murmur of conversation sweeping through the crowd.

Marcus appeared at my elbow. “Diana. Come with me.”

He steered me toward the door, his grip firm on my arm. We passed Simone, who watched with barely concealed glee. Passed the servers whispering behind their hands. Passed the wreckage of my career scattered across the polished floor.

Laurent’s office felt like a tomb. He stood behind his desk, trembling with rage.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” His voice was low, deadly. “Any idea of the damage you’ve caused to Veridian’s reputation?”

“I didn’t do it. Someone planted that bracelet in my bag.”

“Who? Who would do such a thing?”

“My stepsister. Genevieve Pembroke. She’s one of the guests. She’s been sabotaging me for weeks. The Sanderson cancellation, the phone calls, all of it.”

Laurent’s expression didn’t change. “You expect me to believe a guest, a member of a respected family, snuck into a staff area and planted evidence in your bag?”

“Yes! Because it’s the truth!”

“The truth is security found stolen property in your possession. The truth is I have eighty witnesses who just watched you get caught red-handed. The truth is I gave you a second chance after the Sanderson incident, and you’ve destroyed it spectacularly.”

“Please. Please just listen—”

“You’re fired, Ms. Pembroke. Effective immediately. Security will escort you out. If the Wimbertons decide to press charges, you’ll be hearing from the police.”

The words hit me like a physical blow. “You can’t—”

“I can and I am. You’re a liability. A thief. And you are no longer welcome at Veridian.” He picked up his phone. “Security, please escort Ms. Pembroke from the building. And someone call the police. I want a report filed.”

“No. No, please, this is a mistake—”

The door opened. Stevens and his partner entered.

“Ms. Pembroke, you need to come with us.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong!” My voice broke. “Please, someone has to believe me.”

But no one was listening.

Stevens took my arm gently but firmly. “Let’s not make this harder than it needs to be.”

They walked me through the hallway, down the stairs, past the kitchen where the staff stopped working to stare. Past the main dining room where early dinner service was just ending. Past my office, where three years of work sat waiting for someone else to claim it.

Out the back entrance into the alley behind Veridian.

“You’ll receive information about picking up your personal belongings,” Stevens said. Not unkindly. “I’d suggest getting a lawyer if the Wimbertons press charges.”

Then they left me standing in the alley in my cocktail dress, clutching my bag with the damning bracelet already removed as evidence.

My phone rang. Maya.

“Did you survive? How did it go?”

I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t find the words.

“Di? Diana, what’s wrong?”

“She won,” I whispered. “Maya, she won. I’m fired. They think I’m a thief. It’s over. Everything is over.”

“What? What happened?”

I sank down onto the dirty concrete, not caring about my dress. “Genevieve. She planted a bracelet in my bag. They found it during a security search. Laurent fired me in front of everyone. I’m ruined, Maya. Completely ruined.”

“Oh my God. Diana, where are you?”

“Behind Veridian. The alley.”

“Stay there. Don’t move. I’m coming to get you right now.”

The line went dead.

I sat in the alley behind the restaurant where I’d built my career, my reputation destroyed, my future in ashes. Above me, I could hear music starting again. The gala continuing without me. Life moving forward while mine ground to a halt.

My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number:

“Checkmate. - G”

I stared at the message until the screen blurred with tears.

Genevieve had taken everything. My fiancé. My family. My job. My reputation.

And I had nothing left to fight her with.

I was Diana Pembroke, and I had officially hit rock bottom.

I just didn’t know how much further I had left to fall.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​