“Oh, sweetheart, there you are.” Lance sighed when Flora latched on to his arm and dragged him over to introduce him to people he had zero interest in and would never see again in his life. Lance smiled at her, but what he wanted to do was to get Annalise and leave that room. After several minutes of useless pleasantries, Lance grew restless. The song ended, and he turned toward the dance floor in an almost desperate search of Annalise. She was nowhere to be seen. His father was making his way through the crowd toward him and Flora, but Annalise was not with him. He looked around, almost in desperation, until he finally found her. Annalise was dancing with Arthur! She did not look altogether thrilled, but Arthur was smiling as he was holding Annalise way too close. That slimy little

