He Gave Her The Best So I Left Him With Nothing Chapter 05
The birthday dinner hadn’t even ended before the conversation swung to the wedding.
My mother dabbed the corner of her mouth with a napkin and looked straight past me to address Cormac.
“Cormac, is the guest list finalized? Your father’s friends from the finance world will all be there, correct?”
She wasn’t asking about my dress or the ceremony.
“Of course, Mrs. Whitaker,” Cormac nodded. “All of the Sinclair family’s important connections will be in attendance.”
“Good.” My mother smiled, satisfied, then turned to Marguerite, a flicker of calculation in her eyes. “Marguerite’s biotech project is about to open another round of fundraising. The wedding is the perfect opportunity. You can introduce her to some of those investors.”
I stared at her, stunned.
She wanted to turn my wedding into my sister’s personal pitch meeting?
Cormac didn’t hesitate. “Of course. That’s a brilliant idea.”
He even leaned in eagerly. “We can cut the video montage of Sadie and me. It runs a little long anyway, and guests get bored. That’ll free up plenty of time for Marguerite to give a short presentation on stage.”
“Wouldn’t that be stealing Sadie’s spotlight?” Marguerite asked, a practiced modesty in her voice, though her eyes were already gleaming.
“Your project is important. If you’re going to present, it should be done right,” Cormac said, his tone decisive, already reshaping the day. “I’ll handle the venue, the AV equipment, the whole run-of-show. We’ll make sure it’s perfect.”
In the blink of an eye, my mother, Cormac, and Marguerite were huddled together, their voices buzzing with excitement.
“We could set up a display table at the entrance with brochures.”
“Keep the speech to ten minutes and put it in a prime slot right after the welcome.”
“I’ll prepare the PowerPoint. Sadie, maybe we can reallocate some of your guest-favor budget…”
As though I weren’t even there, they mapped it all out, turning my wedding, bit by bit, into a launch party for Marguerite’s new venture.
Not one of them thought to ask the bride for her opinion.
I was sitting right there, and no one looked at me once.
I watched them, their faces bright with plans for Marguerite’s future, and felt my heart turn to ice.
Fine.
This wedding wasn’t going to exist much longer anyway.
