There were ten days left before the wedding.<\/p>\n
And from that moment on, she began preparing something more serious.<\/p>\n
One afternoon, she handed Sophie the floor plan for the wedding reception.<\/p>\n
She spoke quickly, changed several instructions midway through, and mixed up where different tables were supposed to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes table eight go near the dance floor or by the bar?\u201d Sophie asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the bar.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought earlier you said beside the dance floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia looked annoyed.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust do what I\u2019m telling you now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hours later, when Michael returned home, Olivia was waiting for him with the wrinkled seating plan in her hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t deal with this anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert was there too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI explained the table layout to Sophie three times, and she still got it wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophie entered at that exact moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked about table eight because the instructions changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia turned toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou first said it should go beside the dance floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never said that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael looked from one woman to the other.<\/p>\n
He hadn\u2019t heard the original conversation.<\/p>\n
Olivia looked furious.<\/p>\n
His father was watching him, waiting for him to make a decision.<\/p>\n
And Michael made the mistake he would later struggle most to forgive himself for.<\/p>\n
\u201cSophie, maybe it would be better if you took a few days off until after the wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room became completely silent.<\/p>\n
Sophie set down the linens she had been carrying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not firing you,\u201d Michael added. \u201cI just want to avoid more tension right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophie looked directly at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve practically lived in this house for eight months. I\u2019ve taken care of your grandmother, worked for your family, and done everything I\u2019ve been asked to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael lowered his voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen if after eight months you still have to wonder which one of us is telling the truth, I think I already have my answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophie gathered her things and left.<\/p>\n
That night, Michael couldn\u2019t sleep.<\/p>\n
The next morning, he went to Margaret\u2019s room.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandma, I need you to tell me what\u2019s really happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret studied him for several seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow you\u2019re ready to hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n
And what she told him made Michael realize the spilled wine in the kitchen had not even been the worst of it.<\/p>\n
Part 3<\/p>\n
\u201cOlivia has spent months making people doubt themselves,\u201d Margaret said. \u201cShe gives one instruction and later insists she said something completely different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael felt his stomach knot.<\/p>\n
\u201cHas she done that to you too?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe doesn\u2019t push it much with me. But I\u2019ve seen her do it to Sophie when I was nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret set her knitting aside.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce, she told Sophie to buy white flowers for the dining room. When Sophie brought them home, Olivia told some friends she had asked for roses. Sophie apologized even though I heard the original request myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother time, she asked Sophie to switch the curtains in one room. When you came home, Olivia complained that Sophie had moved things without permission. And whenever guests come over, she hugs her, calls her \u2018sweetheart,\u2019 and talks about her like she\u2019s practically family. The moment everyone leaves, she changes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked at him sadly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause for a long time, you didn\u2019t seem interested in seeing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
That hurt because it was true.<\/p>\n
Michael started asking questions.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t gather the staff together.<\/p>\n
He spoke to each person separately.<\/p>\n
First, Janet, the cook.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to cause problems for you, Mr. Michael,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou won\u2019t. I just need the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janet took a breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiss Olivia is very kind when other people are around. But when we\u2019re alone, she\u2019s different. Once she told me to prepare dinner for six people. Ten guests showed up, and in front of her mother she said I had forgotten four of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing. What could I do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he spoke to Marcus, the driver.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe left me waiting outside a shopping center for nearly two hours,\u201d he said. \u201cThen she came out angry because she claimed I had been late. When I tried to show her the messages, she told me I was being disrespectful.\u201d<\/p>\n
George, the gardener, told him something almost identical.<\/p>\n
One instruction.<\/p>\n
Then denial.<\/p>\n
A mistake manufactured afterward.<\/p>\n
A public reprimand.<\/p>\n
Every one of them had stayed silent because they were afraid of losing their jobs.<\/p>\n
And none of them knew what the others had said.<\/p>\n
Michael ended up sitting alone in his office.<\/p>\n
The wedding invitations were spread across the desk.<\/p>\n
His name beside Olivia\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Michael and Olivia.<\/p>\n
For months, those words had represented a future.<\/p>\n
Now they looked like a warning.<\/p>\n
He thought of his mother.<\/p>\n
Linda had died four years earlier, but he could still hear her voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cPay attention to how someone treats people they don\u2019t need to impress. That\u2019s when you\u2019ll see who they really are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
The answer had been right in front of him since the afternoon with the wine.<\/p>\n
He had simply lacked the courage to accept it.<\/p>\n
That night, he went to find Sophie.<\/p>\n
She was temporarily staying with an aunt in Marietta.<\/p>\n
When she opened the door and saw him, she didn\u2019t smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cSophie, I came to apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael didn\u2019t defend himself.<\/p>\n
He told her he had spoken to Margaret, Janet, Marcus, and George.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what Olivia has been doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophie crossed her arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow you know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI should have believed you sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer was short.<\/p>\n
That made it hurt even more.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you asked me to leave,\u201d she continued, \u201cthe worst part wasn\u2019t missing a few days of work. It was realizing Olivia had spent weeks telling everyone I was irresponsible, and when the time came, it worked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t need you to come here and tell me she\u2019s a bad person. I needed someone to ask me what was happening before deciding I must have made another mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael stayed silent.<\/p>\n
There was nothing he could argue with.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t undo what I did,\u201d he finally said. \u201cBut I can make sure I don\u2019t do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophie nodded.<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t promise to return.<\/p>\n
Michael left.<\/p>\n
The wedding was two days away.<\/p>\n
For the next forty-eight hours, Olivia believed everything had gone back to normal.<\/p>\n
Michael didn\u2019t argue.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t yell.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t cancel the vendors.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t contact her family.<\/p>\n