Matthew stepped off the elevator on the second floor with only Mr. Crescent to greet him. Crescent could instantly tell something was wrong simply by the paleness of Matthew’s face.
“Everything okay?” Crescent asked.
“No,” Matthew replied, looking around him. “Where is my daughter?”
Crescent inclined his head toward the lobby where guests filed in as quickly as they could to be greeted by Chloe. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, exchanging hugs, handshakes, and greetings, all with a smile of jubilation on her face. She was the picture of elegance in her floor-length, shimmering violet dress and the soft curls of her hair falling down her back. While shaking hands with politicians, judges, doctors, and any other acquaintance Matthew could squeeze in here, nobody would ever have been able to tell that her relationship with her father, and her life, had drastically changed.
While greeting the newly appointed district attorney with a warm hug, she followed the gaze of another guest and locked eyes with Matthew, giving him a hard, defiant look and a grin that asked him what he was going to do about her brazen disregard for Parnell party etiquette. Matthew had to step back from the view of the guests, fists clenched in a tight ball, trying to get his anger in control.
“Our plans for this evening have been altered, Mr. Crescent. Come find me in one hour.”
Crescent gave an obedient nod. “Yes, sir.”
Matthew straightened his jacket and turned toward the stairs. Through clenched teeth he said, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go join my daughter.”
***
“Governor,” Matthew excitedly said, extending his hand as he walked forward. “So glad you could make it.”
Shaking hands with Matthew, the governor replied, “I wouldn’t have missed it. Happy birthday, my friend.”
“Thank you,” Matthew said with as much humility as he could muster as he kissed the hand of the governor’s wife. To her, he said, “Always a pleasure to see you, Eleanor. You look radiant tonight.”
Eleanor tried to hide a bashful grin as the blood began to rise in her cheeks. “You are so sweet, Matthew. Thank you.”
“Not just a birthday party,” the governor said with a jovial smile, “but a celebration. It must be wonderful to have your family back together again.”
Chloe stifled an amused grin while she watched Matthew keep himself composed. “You have no idea. The food smells intoxicating and the music is inviting. Please help yourself and I’ll see you inside.”
As the governor and his wife began ascending the stairs to the ballroom, Matthew turned to face Chloe, but she kept her eyes on the guests and spoke to him quietly while faking a happy smile. “Now is not the time, Father. We have guests.”
Infuriated with her insolence and smugness, Matthew composed himself as more guests approached and received the same welcoming greeting from father and daughter. Matthew’s agitation quickly accelerated as Madeline approached them with a victorious smile on her face. Chloe’s behavior, however, didn’t change at all.
“Matthew!” Madeline cried as she gave him a kiss on his cheek. “Happy birthday, darling.”
Matthew solemnly nodded as he pulled back from her embrace. “Thank you, Madeline.”
She turned to Chloe, who stood poised and gracious, taking a small step back as Madeline leaned in to hug her.
“Madeline,” Chloe said coolly.
Madeline gave a nervous laugh. “Well, it certainly is good to see you again. It is so wonderful to have you home.”
“Yes,” Chloe replied. “I understand you profited well from it.”
Like a rat caught in a trap, Madeline froze for a few seconds and gave Matthew a questioning look, but Matthew either didn’t hear the comment or was pretending he didn’t.
“Well,” Madeline said, “I will see you inside.”
“You most certainly will. We have quite a bit of catching up to do,” Chloe said as Madeline gave her a wary look and began climbing the stairs.
It took another twenty minutes for the arriving guests to thin out before Matthew was able to gracefully pull Chloe aside, out of view and earshot of other guests. He turned on her with fire in his eyes while she stared back at him with indifference.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? How dare you—”
“How dare I? What? Defy you? Disrespect you? Disobey you? Embarrass you? Let’s get one thing straight, Father. You have done everything in your power to destroy me and have made it painfully clear what your intentions are and what you expect from me, but I haven’t needed you to tell me what to do for the past eight years and I don’t need it now. I am no longer a child you can order around. I will do what I want, when I want, no matter what you have done to me in the past or plan on doing to me in the future. It’s been too long since I’ve danced, laughed, and had a good time. I’m going to enjoy myself tonight. Rest assured, I will be pretending, but then again, I was raised to pretend I was somebody I’m not. That’s not going to change tonight simply because you order it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, we have guests.”
Matthew watched her walk away in complete shock, vowing that after he got what he wanted from David, this would be her last social gathering ever.