Chapter 14: The List

The hotel had rolled a red carpet down its front steps, and photographers stood on both sides of it in the rain.

I walked up it alone.

A black dress with long sleeves.

My mother's bangle on my left wrist, pale green against the black.

The ring on its chain lay under the dress, warm against my skin.

Nobody photographed me.

At the top of the steps the ballroom doors stood open on white tablecloths and orchids I hadn't arranged.

Margaret stood just inside the doors in midnight blue silk and her pearls, greeting every guest by name.

Vanessa stood beside her in silver, holding a tablet with the guest list on it.

They hadn't seen me yet.

A man in a black suit with an earpiece stepped in front of me.

"Good evening. Name, please?"

"Lena Chen."

He checked his own tablet.

He checked it again, and his face changed.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I'm going to have to ask you to step aside."

"Why?"

"You're on a list." He lowered his voice, which was kind of him. "Please don't make this difficult."

"What list?"

"Do not admit."

Behind me, a couple in evening clothes stopped on the top step.

Then another couple behind them.

"Is there a problem?" a woman asked.

Vanessa looked up from her tablet.

Her eyes went to my face, then down my dress, then back up, and she smiled.

"Oh, no," she said loudly. "Aunt Margaret, look."

Margaret turned.

For one second, she looked at me.

Then the smile came back, polite and cold.

"I'm sorry, everyone," she said to the people on the steps. "A small problem. Please go in. There's champagne."

Nobody went in.

"Mrs. Zhang," I said. "I'd like to come inside."

"This is a private event for the Zhang Foundation," Margaret said. "You weren't invited."

"I'm aware."

"Then you know why security is standing in front of you."

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