He wanted to put her on display like a museum exhibit. Look everyone, this is what failure looks like.
This is what happens when you can’t keep up. Elena folded the invitation carefully and put it in her bag.
Then she stood up, her legs a bit stiff from sitting, and looked down the street in the direction Jonathan’s car had gone.
“One week,” she said quietly to herself. “I have one week.” She didn’t know exactly how she was going to do it.
She had no money, no nice clothes, no way to transform herself into someone who belonged at a fancy wedding.
But in that moment, Elena made a decision that would change everything. She was going to that wedding.
And when she walked through those doors, she wasn’t going to be the broken, defeated woman Jonathan expected to see.
She was going to show him and everyone else that her worth had never come from money or status or fancy clothes.
It had always been inside her, and nothing, not even 3 years on the streets, could take that away.
But first, she needed help. Elena took out her phone, an old beat up phone that barely worked anymore, but it still made calls.
She scrolled through her contacts until she found a name she hadn’t called in over a year.
Marissa Chin. Marissa had been Elena’s best friend years ago, back when Elena still had a life, a home, a career.
Marissa was a stylist and fashion consultant who worked with wealthy clients all over the city.
She was successful, kind, and one of the few people who had tried to stay in touch with Elena after the divorce.
But Elena had been too ashamed to keep answering Marissa’s calls, too embarrassed to let her friends see how far she had fallen.
Eventually, Marissa had stopped calling and Elena had convinced herself it was better that way.
Now staring at Marissa’s name on her phone, Elena felt fear mixing with her determination.
What if Marissa didn’t answer? What if she had moved on and forgotten about Elena completely?
