My family had used my money. My empire. My reputation. Then quietly erased me from the guest list. I pressed the intercom. “Amber, connect me with “

“Amber, connect me with every division lead on the wedding account. Full emergency meeting. Ten minutes. I don’t care if they’re on lunch or halfway to Fiji. Get them.”

My voice is calm, sharp as glass. My pulse pounds in my ears.

Amber doesn’t ask questions. She never does.

While the calls go out, I pull up the full vendor schedule for Celeste’s wedding. Every last detail. Ceremony, reception, rehearsal dinner. I click through them one by one—catering: mine. Venue: mine. Florals: designed by Magnolia Bloom, a boutique I fully acquired last year. Even the “custom crystal lighting installation” is a rental from my luxury events arm, Aurora Illumina.

The wedding, from top to bottom, is mine. Funded by me. Or rather, stolen from me.

Ten minutes later, the glass conference room is full. My senior coordinator, Theo, takes one look at my face and straightens in his seat. The others follow suit.

I don’t waste time.

“Celeste Wade’s wedding is officially off-limits,” I begin. “No services will be rendered. No staff deployed. No rentals delivered. Full cease order effective immediately.”

A few gasps. Someone—Dani, head of hospitality—starts to raise a hand.

“They paid in full, didn’t they?” she asks, cautious.

“They paid,” I confirm, “with my money. Under the guise of a family gift.”

Faces shift. Eyebrows rise. It’s dawning on them. My family screwed me over. And now?

We’re pulling the plug.

“Pull every single vendor. Notify subcontractors. Issue refund holds pending review. If you need language for breach of ethical terms, I’ll draft it myself.”

Theo leans in. “What about PR backlash? It’s a high-profile wedding. Senator Marlowe’s niece is on the guest list.”

I smile coldly. “Then let the Senator find a new venue. Preferably one not paid for by a woman uninvited to the party.”

The room goes silent. Then Dani exhales. “We’re with you.”

“Good,” I say. “Meeting adjourned.”

I don’t waste time. The next hour is a flurry of motion. Contracts paused. Deliveries canceled. Backup bookings triggered for replacement clients. I make sure no one is left in the lurch except the ones who tried to erase me.

My phone rings again.

It’s Celeste.

I stare at the screen for a full ten seconds before answering. “Hello.”

“Why did you cancel the wedding vendors?” Her voice is tight, furious.

I say nothing. Let her squirm.

“I just got a call from Margo at Lilac & Lace,” she snaps. “She said the lighting, florals, everything’s off the table. What the hell, Lauren?”

“Funny,” I say coolly. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

She stammers. “I—I didn’t even know you were still involved.”

“Really?” I deadpan. “After you took my money? My vendors? My brand name to make your wedding look like a royal gala?”

“I thought it was a gift!” she cries.

“A gift doesn’t come with a guest list embargo,” I reply. “Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?”

There’s a beat of silence. Then, quietly: “Mom said it would be easier this way. Less drama. That you wouldn’t want to come anyway, after everything.”

I blink. “After everything?”

I paid for this wedding. I gave her options no one else could afford. And now I’m the villain?

“Celeste,” I say slowly, “do you even realize what you’ve done?”

She goes quiet again.

“I don’t care how many centerpieces you picked out. The wedding is over unless someone else coughs up the entire vendor replacement cost—and good luck booking anything even half-decent with three weeks to go.”

She gasps. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I already did,” I say. “And if you try to slander my business or guilt me into reversing it, I will take legal action. This isn’t petty. This is professional.”

Click.

I hang up.

The next twenty-four hours are chaos—for them.

For me? Bliss.

I pour myself a glass of San Pellegrino, prop my heels up on my desk, and watch the fire spread.

By morning, Celeste’s wedding is officially in shambles. No venue. No catering. No signature floral arch. Guests start getting confused emails about “rescheduling due to unforeseen circumstances.”

I hear through a friend that my mother has a full meltdown at brunch. My father tries calling. I don’t answer.

By the third day, I receive an envelope at my door.

Inside: a handwritten apology from Celeste. Tear stains. Desperate pleas. She “didn’t know Mom had gone that far.” She “should’ve stood up.” She “misses me.”

I toss it on the table without opening the rest.

A second letter follows. This time, from my mother.

It’s three pages long. Starts with, “You’ve always been so dramatic, Lauren.” Ends with a half-hearted line about how “family comes first.”

I actually laugh out loud.

No, Mom. Integrity comes first.

I’m not the little girl begging to be taken seriously at the dinner table anymore. I’m not the invisible sister throwing birthday parties from behind the curtain.

I’m the woman who built an empire and learned to stop handing out keys to people who live to lock her out.

By the end of the week, Celeste’s wedding is officially postponed “indefinitely.” A new venue pops up online, but it’s a fraction of what she had before. A basic hotel ballroom with generic linen tables. No signature installations. No gourmet tasting menu.

A little bird tells me she even tried to rehire one of my vendors. He declined, citing “prior engagements.” I may or may not have gifted him a bottle of Oban for that loyalty.

One morning, as I sip my espresso and look out at the city I helped shape, Amber walks in with a package.

It’s a box of macarons. The expensive kind. No note, just Celeste’s cursive scrawled on the shipping label.

“Should I toss it?” Amber asks.

I hesitate.

“No,” I say. “Leave them. I’ll bring them to the team. A reminder of why we protect what’s ours.”

She nods.

Later that afternoon, I stand at the glass wall of my office, watching the sunlight bounce off mirrored skyscrapers.

I think of all the times I gave without boundaries. All the birthdays, weddings, baby showers I helped build for a family that never truly saw me.

Not anymore.

I’ve redefined my circle. Reclaimed my power.

And from now on, I don’t fund any table I’m not invited to sit at.

Not even for family.

Especially not for family.