He stopped pacing.
Instead, I just accepted that my fiance’s sister was nobody important.
In fairness to you, that’s what my family has always believed.
Patricia was watching me carefully.
How do you feel right now?
Honestly, vindicated, but also sad.
Sad because this didn’t have to happen this way. That they just cared even a little. We could have had a relationship. They could have been proud.
I looked back at the restaurant,
but they weren’t capable of that.
Robert took a long pull on his cigar.
What do you want to happen now?
What do you mean?
Do you want me to end this dinner? Send them home? I’m hosting. I have that authority.
I considered it. The power in that moment was mine. Complete reversal.
I could humiliate them the way they’d humiliated me for years, but that wasn’t who I was.
No, I said. let dinner continue. But I’m not sitting at their table.
Done. You’ll sit with Patricia and me. We’ll have our own conversation. They can watch what it looks like when people actually value you.
Jason looked at me.
Can I ask you something?
Of course.
Do you want me to call off the wedding?
I blinked.
What?
Because if this is who Clare is, if this is how she treats family, I need to reconsider everything.
Jason, that’s between you and her. Not my decision.
but you’re her sister in biology only. We don’t have a relationship. Haven’t for years. So, whatever you decide, decide it based on who she is to you, not who she is to me.
He nodded slowly.
That’s fair, but I need to think.
Robert clapped his son on the shoulder.
Take the time you need. Marriage is a lifetime commitment. Make sure you’re committing to the right person.
We returned to the dining room.
The seating arrangement had quietly shifted. Patricia, Robert, and I sat at one table. Jason joined us after a moment’s hesitation.
My family remained at their original table. Clareire, mom, dad, and Jason’s mother, who looked thoroughly confused by everything happening.
The first course arrived. Lobster bisque.
Robert raised his glass.
A toast to Elena Rivera, one of the finest jurists I’ve had the privilege of working with, and to unexpected reunions.
To Elena, Patricia echoed.
We drank.
Across the room, my family sat in silence.
The dinner continued.
Robert told stories about cases we’d worked on together. Patricia shared memories from my clerkship. Late nights in chambers, arguments about constitutional interpretation, the time I found a Supreme Court precedent that completely changed our analysis.
“She was relentless,” Patricia said fondly. “I’d think we’d settled on an opinion, and Elena would come back with a case from 1952 that nobody had cited in 70 years, but was directly on point.”
“That’s good lawyering,” Jason said. He’d been quiet through most of the meal.
“That’s brilliant lawyering,” Robert corrected. Most clerks can find recent cases. Finding the overlooked precedents that change outcomes. That’s art.
I felt myself relaxing.
This was my world. These were my people. Not the family that shared my blood, but the family I’d built through work and respect and shared values.
The main course arrived. Filet minan.
Clare appeared at our table, eyes red, voice shaking.
Can I talk to you?
I looked up.
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