"Please tell me you're at least wearing the new suit I bought you."
"Your grandmother liked this one."
There was a small silence.
"Then it's perfect," Olivia said softly.
Nathaniel looked at Margaret's photograph again.
"Will you be there early?"
"I'm already at the hotel. We're reviewing the scholarship presentations."
"Any problems?"
"Nothing serious. Although the new event coordinator is making everything sound more complicated than it needs to be."
Nathaniel chuckled.
"That sounds familiar."
"Granddad, there's something else."
He heard the hesitation in her voice.
"What is it?"
"Some of the foundation's new corporate sponsors seem more interested in access to the board than in the students we're helping."
Nathaniel's expression changed.
"Names?"
"I'll explain when you arrive."
He nodded.
"Then I'll see you shortly."
After ending the call, he slipped his wallet into his pocket, picked up his keys, and stepped outside.
He could not have known that, across the city, another woman was preparing for the same evening with an entirely different set of intentions.
Vanessa Whitmore stood before a floor-length mirror in her luxury condominium, adjusting an emerald-green evening gown that had cost more than many working families earned in two months.
She was thirty-six, ambitious, attractive, and skilled at navigating rooms filled with influential people.
Her black hair was styled into a sleek bob. Diamond earrings glittered beneath the lights. A delicate gold bracelet circled her wrist, and she carried a champagne-colored designer clutch.
Everything about her appearance had been carefully calculated.
She wanted to be noticed.
More importantly, she wanted to be remembered.
Vanessa worked as the executive director of corporate relations at Whitmore Strategic Consulting, a firm founded by her father.
The company was successful, but not nearly as successful as Vanessa wanted people to believe.
Its most profitable clients had recently begun questioning the value of its services.
Several contracts were approaching renewal.
A proposed expansion had stalled.
And an internal financial review had revealed that the company had spent far more on executive travel, luxury entertainment, and promotional events than its revenue justified.
Vanessa knew the situation was becoming dangerous.
Her father had warned her two weeks earlier that the family business could not continue operating as though reputation alone guaranteed profit.
She had dismissed his concerns.
Tonight, she intended to secure an introduction to the chairman of Brooks Hospitality Group.
Whitmore Strategic Consulting had submitted a proposal to manage the Grand Meridian's new luxury membership program.
If the contract were approved, it would provide enough revenue to stabilize the company for at least another year.
And Vanessa believed the proposal was practically guaranteed.
After all, she possessed a VIP invitation.
She had been invited into the exclusive sponsor reception.
She had shaken hands with several directors.
And she had been told that the chairman would make an important announcement.
To Vanessa, these details meant she had already entered the highest level of society.
Her boyfriend, Daniel Mercer, stood near the door checking his phone.
Daniel was a senior financial adviser at a regional investment company.
He was handsome, well dressed, and accustomed to being treated as important.
But unlike Vanessa, he understood that wealth and influence were not always visible.
He had grown up watching his grandfather, a prosperous construction contractor, wear work boots to expensive restaurants.
Daniel had learned that the richest person in a room was sometimes the one who felt the least need to prove it.
Unfortunately, he had also learned to avoid challenging Vanessa when she became determined to impress someone.
"Ready?" he asked.
Vanessa checked her reflection one final time.
"Do I look like someone who belongs on the board?"
"You look beautiful."
"That wasn't what I asked."
Daniel sighed.
"You look like someone who'll make an impression."
"Good."
She picked up the gold-edged invitation.
"Tonight changes everything."
Daniel looked at her.
He hoped she was right.
He had no idea how right she would be.
By seven o'clock, the Grand Meridian Hotel was glowing beneath the evening sky.
The limestone entrance was illuminated by golden lights. Valets guided expensive cars toward the parking area, and guests stepped out beneath a covered driveway lined with flowers.
Inside, the main lobby resembled a palace.
Massive crystal chandeliers hung from a ceiling decorated with intricate molding. Marble floors reflected the warm lights. Tall arrangements of white roses stood between polished columns.
A string quartet played near the grand staircase.
Waiters moved carefully through the crowd carrying trays of champagne.