I never told my boyfriend’s arrogant parents that I was the one who owned the bank holding all their debt. To them, I was just “some barista with no future.” At their luxury yacht party, his mother sneered and shoved a drink into my hands, spilling it down my dress. “Staff should stay below deck,” she said coldly. His father laughed. “Careful—don’t ruin the furniture.”

last name had not impressed her when they met, and it did not impress her now. But it had shadowed every part of their relationship, even when no one named it out loud.

The Delaneys loved surfaces, and their surfaces were cracking. Carter had seen enough balance sheets to recognize desperation when it wore white linen and bought champagne in bulk.

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