Chapter 4: Added by L. Stroud

I went to the dinner, and I did not go because Lydia had approved me.

I went because I had a clip on my phone and a best friend in a borrowed black dress.

"I'm the plus-one," Bea said in the cab. "I'm the one who orders the most expensive steak and makes a scene about the wine."

"You're not making a scene."

"I'm making a scene about the wine."

The steakhouse on Randolph had a private room in the back, with a long table and a wall of dark wood.

The hostess checked a list on a tablet.

"Donahue," she said. "Yes. You're on it."

I looked at the screen.

My name was typed in at the very bottom, under the partners and their wives.

Under it, in grey: added by L. Stroud.

I walked in without being led.

Fourteen people sat at the table, and a candle burned in front of each one.

The senior partner sat at the head in his navy suit.

Dean sat halfway down the left side with his jaw set.

Lydia sat beside him in a green dress, with her hand on his sleeve.

She looked up and her whole face brightened.

"Maddie!" she said. "You came. Everybody, this is Maddie."

Nobody smiled back at her.

I took the empty chair across from Dean, and Bea took the one beside me.

Lydia leaned across the table, soft and sorry.

"We were just saying how awful this week has been for you," she said. "Dean has something he wants to say. Don't you, Dean?"

Dean looked at his plate.

"Maddie, I'm sorry if the situation was misread," he said. "I hope we can move past it."

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