The PR director's finger was already on the gallery management screen.
In the thumbnail, Elena sat at Julian's right with the protocol ring pressed against the edge of the menu. Her place card read `Fiancée protocol / Structural Safety Witness`. On the other side, the light caught Serena's card so that `Pending Designer Documentation` showed even more clearly than her name.
It was an ugly photo.
Not because anyone looked ugly.
Because everything the Cross family wanted hidden had landed in the same frame. Julian's fiancee was not a clean decoration. Serena's designer credit was not secure.
The table setting around them was perfect: crystal, menu cards, winter flowers, sponsor names in neat black print. The image should have looked expensive and calm. Instead, the small words on the pl
