The Stranger I Married novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: The Fundraiser

Nolan's donor night was on a Saturday in the ballroom of the Drake, under a chandelier the size of a car.

Two hundred people in black tie held champagne flutes and talked about the ward map.

I wore the blue dress he'd chosen and the diamond he'd given me.

I wanted him to see it was still on my hand when I took it off.

He had not apologized.

He had sent a text at midnight that said, Big night Saturday. Smile. We'll talk after.

I had not slept since the roof.

I had told Carly everything at four in the morning on the floor of the cooler.

She had said, "Do whatever you want, and I'll drive the getaway van."

She was not at the party.

I was alone in a sea of strangers, with my arm still faintly bruised under a long glove.

Judith Hartwell sat at the center table in black velvet.

She did not look at me.

She did not have to.

I could feel her looking.

At eight-fifteen, the band stopped.

A hush fell, and Nolan walked up the three steps to the stage in a tuxedo that fit.

"Friends," he said into the microphone. "Neighbors. Future voters."

Polite laughter.

"Eleven months ago I met a woman who changed my life.

She's strong, she's funny, and she can make a bouquet out of a parking lot."

He extended a hand toward me across the dance floor.

"Maya, would you join me?"

Two hundred heads turned.

The spotlight swung and found me, and everything went white.

I thought of the fourth rung of a ladder.

I thought of a man with a bent foot under it, saying I'd rather you didn't.

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