Chapter 6 - The Newspaper on the Gift TableThree weeks later, the night of the engagement party arrived.
The grand ballroom of Lakeview Hall shone with brilliant golden light. The restored crystal chandeliers cast sparkling reflections across the pristine white Italian marble floor. Five hundred high-society guestsâpoliticians, bankers, socialites, and reportersâfilled the room in tuxedos and silk gowns.
Evelyn Whitfield stood in the center of the ballroom wearing a fifteen-thousand-dollar embroidered silver gown, her diamond necklace catching the light as she clinked champagne glasses with her fiancé, Julian Vance.
Beside them stood Victoria Whitfield, wearing velvet and pearls, boasting loudly to a group of socialites about the grand wedding they were planning for the spring.
âLakeview Hall has really outdone itself tonight,â Victoria bragged, waving her hand around the magnificent room. âI told the venue management that only a space of this caliber was suitable for a Whitfield celebration.â
At the front of the ballroom, near the entrance, stood the grand gift tableâcovered in white linen, surrounded by towering floral arrangements of orchids and white roses.
At 8:30 p.m., while the guests were enjoying appetizers, Danielâs head event coordinator walked quietly up to the gift table, carrying a single item on a silver tray.
He set the item directly in the center of the table, right beside a stack of glossy, ribbon-wrapped boxes from Tiffany & Co. and Cartier.
The item was a small, rectangular wooden box.
May you like
It was wrapped entirely in faded, vintage newspaper.
And tied around the center was a simple, weathered piece of blue string.
Related Stories
