Chapter 4 - The Wedding DisasterChicago welcomed us with freezing rain and howling winds.
By the time I took a crowded bus, transferred to a subway, and finally arrived at the upscale suburban hotel where my estranged sister's wedding was taking place, I looked like a drowned rat.
My only nice dress—a navy blue sheath dress I had bought second-hand three years ago—was damp at the hem. Sofi was fussing again, hungry and overstimulated.
I pushed open the heavy glass doors of the grand ballroom lobby, hoping to find a restroom to freshen up before facing my family.
Instead, I walked right into a firing squad.
"Emily! Look at you!"
My mother’s voice rang out across the polished marble floor, dripping with immediate, unfiltered disapproval. She marched toward me, her designer silk dress rustling, followed closely by my older sister, Chloe—the glowing bride—whose face twisted into a mask of pure mortification.
"Mom, please, it's a long story, our flight was delayed—" I started, shifting Sofi in my arms.
"You look a mess!" Chloe hissed, stepping close so the wedding guests sipping champagne nearby wouldn't overhear. "I specifically asked you to wear something decent! And you brought the baby down to the reception area looking like that? Do you want to ruin my special day?"
"I just got off a terrible flight, Chloe. I drove straight here," I said, feeling the familiar, suffocating heat of humiliation rise up my neck. "I just need ten minutes to change and feed Sofi—"
"No," my mother interrupted coldly, crossing her arms. "You are not going upstairs tracking mud into a luxury suite. Hand the baby to the nanny we hired for the weekend, fix your hair in the lobby restroom, and for God's sake, smile. We told everyone you were doing 'so well' in Los Angeles. Don't make a liar out of us."
The words hit me like a physical blow.
Don't make a liar out of us.
To my family, I wasn't a daughter or a sister. I was an embarrassment. A financial disappointment. A single mother who had ruined her life because she couldn't keep a man.
Tears pricked my eyes. I looked down at innocent little Sofi, who was blinking up at me with wide, trusting blue eyes.
No, I thought suddenly. Not anymore.
"No," I said clearly.
My mother blinked, stunned. "What did you just say?"
"I said no," I repeated, my voice steadying. "I'm not hiding in a bathroom. I'm not pretending my life is something it isn't to impress a bunch of people who wouldn't care if I dropped dead tomorrow. And I am certainly not letting you talk to me like this."
"Emily Grace Carter, have you lost your mind?!" my mother shrieked, drawing the attention of half the room.
May you like
"I think I finally found it," I replied coldly.
I turned on my heel, clutching Sofi tightly against my chest, and walked right back out the front doors into the freezing Chicago rain, leaving my family gasping in shock behind me.
