Chapter 1 — The Bride in the Wine-Stained Dress
Red wine ran down the front of my wedding dress.
It dripped off the hem.
Pooled around my knees.
And soaked the little plastic name tag I was still wearing from the gas station where I'd worked the night shift before my wedding.
No one helped me up.
Not the bridesmaids.
Not the guests.
Not even my groom.
Bryce just stood there with his hands in his pockets, looking embarrassed.
Not because his boss had shoved his bride to the ground.
Because his bride looked poor.
Vanessa, his glamorous oil-company executive, stepped over my veil in designer heels.
She raised her wine glass high enough for all three hundred guests to see.
"Look at her," she laughed.
"A gas station cashier actually thought she belonged at a Black Gold wedding."
A few people laughed.
Others looked away.
Several guests quietly lifted their phones.
Bryce leaned down until only I could hear him.
"Don't make a scene, June."
"You already look embarrassing enough."
My heart should have broken.
Instead...
It became strangely calm.
Vanessa opened a leather folder and waved it in front of my face.
"The little piece of dirt your daddy left you?"
She smiled.
"Bryce already took care of the paperwork."
"Sign the transfer before dessert."
"Maybe we'll even let you keep the last name."
I looked at the documents.
Then at Bryce.
For two years he had called my father's land worthless.
A dry pasture.
Broken fences.
Nothing but dust outside Midland.
He told everyone I was emotionally attached to junk.
What he didn't know...
Was that six hours earlier...
I had received a phone call.
The one I'd been waiting on for half a year.
So I smiled.
Just a little.
Vanessa mistook it for surrender.
Bryce wrapped his arm around her shoulders and laughed with his investors.
"Once she signs..."
"...the property is finally mine."
I didn't argue.
I didn't cry.
I simply waited.
Then...
The ranch gates slowly opened.
A black SUV rolled across the cattle guards.
Everyone turned.
An older man stepped out carrying a sealed leather case embossed with the Texas state seal.
His eyes found me immediately.
"Ms. Callahan?"
I nodded.
He lifted the folder.
"The certified mineral title confirmation has arrived."
Bryce frowned.
"What mineral title?"
I stood.
Pulled off my wine-soaked veil.
And looked straight at him.
"Go ahead," I said.
May you like
"Tell everyone what signature you forged."
The entire wedding went silent.
