Jessica’s engagement fell apart two months later. It turned out her tech-bro fiancé was more interested in the image of a wealthy family than the reality of a debt-ridden one. Without the trust fund illusion, he lost interest. Jessica had to take a job as a hostess at a restaurant—a job Sarah had helped her get, ironically.
Sarah, however, flourished.
It was strange, at first. The silence on her phone. The lack of constant crises. She had an extra fifteen thousand dollars a month that wasn’t being drained into the black hole of her parents’ vanity.
She invested in her business. She hired more staff so she could work less. She started seeing a therapist who specialized in narcissistic family systems.
But the real change was in her own home.
Six months after the failed Gala, it was Thanksgiving.
For the past decade, Thanksgiving had been a stress test for Sarah. Cooking for twenty people, being criticized for the turkey being too dry, cleaning up while her sister napped.
