Secrets (3)

The days ticked by in a flurry of preparation until at last the evening of Monique's lavish birthday party arrived.

Guests decked out in jewelry that sparkled with obscene opulence and designer fashions custom-tailored to their curvaceous forms began boarding the sleek superyacht, the air thick with signature perfumes mingling into an indistinct cloud of luxury.

For Constance, it was an atmosphere of overwhelming decadence and splendor unlike anything she had ever witnessed firsthand, even during her years in service to the Vanderbilts. But the intoxicating excitement of being in such close proximity to her daughter once again overshadowed any trepidation she felt about these rarefied surroundings.

Though she knew any real reunion with Harriet would remain an impossible dream, at least for now, Constance had resolved to content herself with fleeting glimpses from the periphery, greedily drinking in any small details about her first-born that she could catalogue in her heart.