Chapter 40
FORTY
Once upon a time, a maid rose in rank to catch the eye of a millionaire.
She gave him her greatest pride and joy: a daughter.
Out of misogyny or sheer power-mongering, he discarded her, using his resources to keep their child from her, but the maid had a surprise ally, a sister who would sacrifice anything for her happiness, a sister who would marry a man for his riches and find a way to reunite true daughter with true mother once again.
So the sisters went to work, tricking and cajoling and manipulating the man.
The four of them—millionaire, sisters, and daughter—lived fitfully ever after at the royal palace until one night, when one of them stabbed Mr. Finch through the eye.
They achieved their goal, but not their freedom. The End.
This is the story that would be told again and again among Aubergine residents in coming years, but for now, we were living it in real time.
“I did it for my daughter,” Katie Gilman yelled to a handful of reporters as she was led away in handcuffs by Sheriff Charlie Strong, whose name would become nationally known in coming days. “No matter what they tell you, I did it for her!”
Savilla, meanwhile, stared on from the ballroom stage in her family mansion as her mother and stepmother disappeared through the grand doors. The sisters would soon be united again, and I could only imagine the two of them sharing a cell.
So many audience members held their phones aloft that it looked like a concert rather than a pageant.
Maybe for the first time ever, Aunt DeeDee was stunned into silence, but she soon did her best to recover the show, asking everyone to applaud for this year’s winners.
Even so, by the end of the final song, as I stood with the crown on my head, DeeDee gave up and set the microphone on the podium.
As soon as the last refrain echoed through the speakers, the seats emptied fast.
The show had gone on, but it had concluded with a bang—thankfully, only figuratively—from which it might never recover. The centennial pageant may have been the last for the Rose Palace.
Lacy came backstage, her headset hanging around her neck. “Are you okay?” She pulled me into a hug. “What an insane way to win.”
“Right, but… I mean…” I took the crown from my head in disbelief. “After all of this, I’m having a hard time believing that I actually won.”
Aunt DeeDee joined us, eyeing the crown.
“You won fair and square, sweetheart. I just looked at the tally sheets. The judges—even Dr. Bellingham before they took him away—were particularly impressed with your confidence and comportment, especially being such a new contestant. They tracked you from the first moment you stepped foot into the ballroom for the bonding session, and their notes said you were a natural. You scored one more point than the second place winner.”
My heart nearly skipped a beat. I’d won this thing. Legitimately, like Aunt DeeDee before me, like Momma knew I could.
“So the money?”
“It’s yours.” Aunt DeeDee smiled. “The prizes will be distributed just as they were awarded this evening. It’s all held in a separate account from the Finches’ personal assets.
I’ll meet with the board first thing Monday morning and see to everything.
The winnings don’t come overnight, but you’ll get it all. ”
“That means I can go back to school. Maybe for the fall?”
Aunt DeeDee and Lacy both wrapped me in their arms at the same time, making us look like some kind of beauty pageant sculpture, arms entwined and heads together.
Despite my best efforts, I began to cry, my face buried in Aunt DeeDee’s hair. “You know I did this for you and Momma.”
My aunt rubbed a finger at the mascara under my eyes, and Lacy kept a hand on my shoulder.
“I know, baby girl.” Aunt DeeDee took a long look at me, her eyes filling now. “She knew we would need the money—but more than that, she hoped finding your footing might help you get unstuck.”
“I bet neither of y’all expected a murder to be involved,” Lacy said, her eyes now watery but her voice tinged with sarcasm.
“True,” Aunt DeeDee conceded. “Even I might not have let you compete if I’d known that was on the agenda.”
“Thank you,” I told her as I pulled her into a hug. “For everything.”
“Of course, darlin’.” She relaxed into my embrace. “Oh, and one more thing. Your friend Summer Patel won the title of Miss Rosie by a landslide, but don’t tell her yet. We’ll announce it and have a little toast with all the contestants after law enforcement clears out.”
“Good. She deserves it,” I said, happy for my friend, for Aunt DeeDee, for myself. “But if you ever want me to enter a pageant again, please make sure nobody dies.”
My aunt wiped at her own eyes and grinned at me. “Deal.”
We let Lacy get back to work. Tear-down was scheduled for first thing tomorrow.
The two of us Green girls—me and Aunt DeeDee—grabbed our things and walked back through the ballroom doors, ready to face whatever came next. This time and every time after, we would face it together.