Chapter 3 - The Invitation That Was Never Meant for Annie
Annie had not been invited to the celebration.
She had been brought to the hotel by a church volunteer named Mrs. Dalton.
For the past six months, Annie and Catherine had lived in temporary housing connected to a local family-support program.
Catherine had recently become too ill to work full-time.
Mrs. Dalton sometimes watched Annie while Catherine attended medical appointments.
That afternoon, the volunteer received a catering shift at the hotel.
She had no childcare.
The kitchen manager allowed Annie to sit quietly in a staff room with books and snacks.
Annie was never supposed to enter the ballroom.
But she heard Maris’s name.
She remembered the woman.
Grandma Maris.
The grandmother who had once visited their apartment and warned Catherine never to call Victor again.
Annie slipped away from the staff room.
She approached the ballroom doors hoping to see her father.
Maris found her first.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed.
Annie said, “I want my dad.”
Maris grabbed her shoulder and steered her toward the service corridor.
“You do not belong at this party.”
Annie tried to pull away.
Her dress tore against the corner of a catering cart.
She stumbled into a tray of discarded cake.
Frosting smeared across her cheek and arms.
Maris looked down at her without sympathy.
“You always were as dramatic as your mother.”
Annie began crying.
“I’m hungry.”
Maris pointed at the discarded food.
“Then eat what’s there and stay quiet.”
A kitchen worker saw part of the exchange but did not understand who Maris was speaking to.
By the time Victor found Annie, Maris had returned to the ballroom and resumed smiling for photographs.
Victor listened as his daughter whispered the story into his shoulder.
His hands shook.
“Where is your mother?”
Annie looked toward the floor.
“She’s sick.”
“What kind of sick?”
“She sleeps a lot. Mrs. Dalton says she needs a doctor who costs too much.”
Victor felt something inside him break.
He had sent hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Catherine and Annie had none of it.
He carried Annie into the ballroom.
Guests turned as he crossed the polished floor.
Maris’s smile collapsed.
Victor stopped beside her birthday cake.
Then he asked where the money had gone.
Brian arrived seconds later with the envelope.
But before he could explain everything, Maris pointed at Annie.
“That child has been coached.”
Victor looked at his mother.
“By whom?”
Maris answered too quickly.
“Catherine.”
Brian’s jaw tightened.
“Mrs. Williams, Catherine does not even know Annie is here.”
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The room went silent again.
👉 Brian knew Catherine’s current condition—and he had kept quiet because Maris threatened to destroy his entire family.
