Two months later, I saw a news headline: Vance Corporation had filed for bankr-
uptcy. The same article mentioned that its heir, Julian Vance, had shaved his
head and joined some obscure spiritual commune upstate.
His mother and sister found me. They knelt on my doorstep, begging me to talk
to Julian, to convince him to come back. I stood in the doorway, my husband’s
arm around my waist, and shook my head.
“I’m sorry,” I told them. “I have no connection to your family anymore. I have no
obligation to help you.” I closed the door.
The next time I saw them, they were handing out flyers on a street corner, their
faces worn and tired. Standing nearby was Melissa, her face a permanent scowl.
I watched as she shoved Mrs. Vance to the ground, cursing at her. I learned later that Melissa was pregnant with Julian’s child. Her family, ashamed that she
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had gotten pregnant out of wedlock, had disowned her, casting the once–proud
socialite out into the world with nothing.
But none of that was my concern anymore.
Next week, Adrian, Lily, and I were leaving for a long vacation in Europe. Our life
was happy. And the future looked even brighter.
