The manager’s voice cut cleanly through the room.
“Ms. Anderson is not a guest here tonight. She is the owner of Briar Glen Country Club.” For a moment, nothing moved. Then everything seemed to collapse at once.
Courtney’s confident smile broke mid-expression, like glass cracking under pressure. Patricia’s pearls stopped shifting as her breath caught in her throat.
Even the piano player froze, fingers hovering above the keys, as if music itself no longer belonged in that space. The silence that followed wasn’t empty—it was heavy, crowded with realization no one wanted to accept.
