The Art of Scandal(89)
“Welcome to the gala! I’m Hailey Dearwood, communications director for our esteemed Mayor Abbott, who’s hosting the event with…” She scanned the room until she spotted Rachel. “There she is! Rachel Abbott. Please applaud her. She deserves it.”
Servers froze in the middle of placing salads on the tables. The program wasn’t supposed to start until after they’d served dessert. The room broke into a slow, confused applause.
“Rachel is amazing,” Hailey continued. “She makes me feel inadequate in every way.” The microphone flopped to one side. She looked flushed and unsteady, eyeing the crowd like a rock singer about to launch herself into a mosh pit.
“Is she drunk?” Rachel whispered.
Nathan touched her arm. “Do you want me to do something?”
A group of men in navy blazers were poised to rush the stage if someone signaled. It would cause a huge scene. So far, the damage was minor. “I’ll handle it.” She started to move closer but stopped when Hailey pointed to her again.
“Would you look at her? God, that dress! She looks like a supermodel.” She peered into the crowd and yelled, “Chime in whenever you want, Mayor.”
A tense chuckle filled the room. Matt sat at a table near the front. He didn’t laugh. He stared at Hailey as though he didn’t recognize her.
“Rachel was supposed to do this part of the evening. But she works so hard, I thought she deserved a break. She also deserves our gratitude. As of thirty minutes ago, this is officially the biggest fundraiser that the Vasquez Foundation has ever held. This woman has outraised every single prior event.”
The crowd went from confused to appreciative, their applause louder, peppered with a few excited shouts. Hailey spoke into the microphone as their claps faded. “You all sound so surprised. I don’t blame you. I’m shocked too.” She snorted. “That sounds so mean. But seriously, how would we know? Did you know she was brilliant?” She pointed to someone in the crowd. “How about you? Did you know?”
Hailey strolled across the stage. “She’s just so pretty.” She spat the last word like a curse. “You all know what I mean. Everyone in this town is pretty and perfect, but really, no one is. Deep down we’re all ugly inside. Selfish. And greedy. But we keep pretending because we all want…” She stopped walking when she reached Matt and stared down at him with watery eyes. “We all just want the fairy tale.”
Rachel gasped. “Oh my god,” she breathed. “It’s her.”
“What?” Nathan grabbed her arm.
“Matt’s mistress.” Rachel closed her eyes. “I am so stupid. Of course she is.”
“Hailey.” Matt moved to the stage with the forced smile of a maniacal Cheshire cat. He gestured for her to come down. “I think that’s enough.”
Hailey glared. “I already know what you think. I know everything about you.” She pointed to Rachel. “And you don’t deserve her. She’s put up with so much from you without one fucking word of complaint.” Hailey laughed, a harsh chuckle that echoed through the stunned ballroom. She looked at Rachel. “I admire you for being the bigger woman.” Her eyes glazed with tears. She looked at Matt, and her anguish flattened into bitter loathing. “But I’m not.”
Hailey grabbed the sheet covering one of Nathan’s pieces and pulled it away. Rachel closed her eyes. She knew what was coming. The shocked murmur that rippled through the crowd confirmed it. Hailey had switched the portraits before the gala. It was her. Naked.
Someone gasped. Rachel opened her eyes and saw Matt rushing to the stage. Hailey planted herself in his path and he froze, hands outstretched like he wanted to grab her. But he shouldered past and snatched up the frame.
Rachel didn’t realize that Nathan was gone until she saw him next to Matt, trying to yank the portrait away. She rushed to the stage, but Joe beat her there. He grabbed Nathan’s arm and pulled hard, breaking his grip on the canvas. Matt stumbled back, and it clattered to the floor.
“That’s enough!” Joe shoved Matt toward the stairs and jabbed his finger in Nathan’s direction. “Both of you. Go.”
The room had become a sea of iPhones, backed by a discordant symphony of high-pitched outrage and gleeful shock. Rachel was numb. Hailey confronted her with tears still sliding down her cheeks. “Tell Matt I quit.” She walked away with the regal posture of someone who’d been crowned prom queen instead of revealed as a jilted lover.
Rachel spoke into the microphone. “I apologize for the disruption, everyone. Thank you for coming, and for your generous donations.” She looked out at the crowd. Half of them were ignoring her. The other half were trying to get another glimpse of her naked portrait. “There are donation cards at your table, and I hope you’ll consider additional gifts to a worthy cause.”
There was still no sign of Sofia. Rachel rushed offstage. She intercepted security and somehow managed to convince them to focus on crowd control rather than the earlier drama. A few minutes later, she found Nathan, Matt, and Joe facing off in the darkened special collections area. Matt flung curses over Joe’s shoulder, while Nathan glowered, a silent, impenetrable wall.
“You need to calm down,” Joe said.
Matt sputtered something about calling security, but froze when he saw Rachel. His long glare felt endless, and she floundered beneath it, trying and failing to summon actual words. She remembered how ashamed he’d looked when she pushed his birthday cake to the floor. Was there a right thing to say in moments like this? Sorry I hurt you, but I wanted him more.