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Whatever is going down here, they know.

“Most of you will be well aware that Alice and I grew up together,” Christopher says. “We shared holidays, birthdays and more Sunday lunches than either of us could count. Although life took us in different directions, the bond didn’t disappear. It never will. It never should.”

What bond?

The sketchbook he hid?

The cat he threw rocks at?

The years we barely thought about each other?

“Alice has always been a great part of my life. I came back home to step up to my position in the Parker and Otley alliance, but I also came back to do something I’ve been aching to do for years. The one thing that was always meant to be.”

Christopher reaches into his pocket.

No.

No. Fucking. Way.

Not here. Not on night one.

The room disappears around the velvet box in his hand.

It’s all I can see. All I can focus on.

Everything else is spinning, out of control, until it slows. Slows to nothing. Colour draining to black and white.

Christopher gets down on one knee.

Mum’s hand flies to her mouth.

Someone gasps.

And poor Trevor’s smile widens.

Christopher opens the box.

The diamond is enormous.

“Alice Rose Parker,” Christopher says. “Will you please do me the honour of marrying me?”

Every face turns towards me. You could hear a pin drop in the silence of anticipation, and I want to faint. I want to lose consciousness and wake up in another lifetime, where this carnage isn’t happening around me.

Christopher is smiling at me, eyes filled with expectation. The box is open in his hand. And everyone is watching. Staring. Smiling. Holding their fucking breath.

I should say no.

The word is there.

But then I look at Trevor, his eyes shining as Dad clasps his shoulder.

“Come on, Alice,” Christopher says under his breath, still smiling. “Say yes and get it over with.”

I flash one look towards the far end of the room.

Bryce is standing. His face is white. His eyes are fixed on mine in horror. Regret. Emotions that want to rip my soul out of my throat.

But he simply watches. Waiting. Just like everyone else.