Part 2
Chapter 2: Peace Has a Price
Daniel stopped beside Tiffany without touching her.
“Tiff, maybe we should deal with this somewhere private.”
“No.”
The word carried farther than Margaret expected.
The drummer lowered his sticks. Within seconds, the rest of the band stopped with him.
Daniel glanced toward the stage.
“Tiffany.”
“We’ve been talking privately for months.”
Margaret stayed still.
Several guests shifted away from the dance floor, creating a loose circle around them.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“People are watching.”
“Good.”
His face changed.
Margaret had expected Tiffany to quiet down once Daniel arrived.
Instead, she seemed steadier.
Tiffany pointed toward Margaret.
“Every request becomes a lecture with her.”
Margaret kept her hands around her purse.
“You’ve made considerably more than one request.”
“There.”
Tiffany gave Daniel a sharp look.
“That right there.”
Daniel rubbed the back of his neck.
“What?”
“That tone.”
Margaret looked at Tiffany.
“I’m speaking normally.”
“You always sound like I’m some stupid child asking for candy.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You never have to say it.”
Daniel stepped between them slightly.
Then something unexpected happened.
“Tiff, stop.”
Tiffany stared at him.
Margaret did too.
Daniel swallowed.
“You’re making this worse.”
For one brief second, relief moved through Margaret’s chest.
Tiffany’s face hardened.
“So now I’m the problem?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“Whose side are you on?”
Daniel froze.
Margaret watched the courage leave his posture almost immediately.
His shoulders dropped.
“Tiffany, I’m not choosing sides.”
“You just did.”
“I’m trying to keep everyone calm.”
Tiffany looked toward Margaret.
“Then tell her.”
Daniel’s eyes moved to his mother.
Margaret already knew that look.
“Mom.”
Her relief disappeared.
“Don’t.”
“It’s one bottle.”
Margaret’s fingers tightened.
Daniel spoke even softer.
“Can you please just do this tonight?”
Margaret absorbed the words without answering.
Tiffany watched her son ask his mother to surrender.
This time, her smile returned.
And Daniel did not look Margaret in the eye.
Tiffany folded her arms.
“You see what she does?”
Daniel stared at the floor.
Margaret remained silent.
“She makes everyone beg,” Tiffany continued.
“I haven’t asked anyone to beg.”
“Flowers.”
Margaret breathed through her nose.
“Tiffany.”
“You complained about the flowers.”
“The price changed three times.”
Several guests heard that.
Margaret knew because two heads turned immediately.
Tiffany gave a short laugh.
“There she goes.”
Margaret looked toward Daniel.
He still would not meet her eyes.
“You asked me why I questioned them.”
“No. I’m showing Daniel what this has been like.”
Daniel spoke quietly.
“We don’t need to list everything.”
“I think we do.”
Tiffany raised one finger.
“The flowers.”
Another.
“The band.”
Margaret answered before she could stop herself.
“You replaced the band we originally booked.”
Tiffany’s eyebrows lifted.
“See?”
Margaret closed her mouth.
Tiffany raised another finger.
“The hotel block.”
“You added forty rooms three weeks before the wedding.”
A whisper moved through the nearest table.
Margaret heard her name.
Her stomach tightened.
Tiffany stepped closer.
“You remember every detail.”
Margaret looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Every invoice.”
Margaret said nothing.
“Every deposit.”
Still nothing.
“Every dollar.”
Margaret’s voice came quieter than she intended.
“I had to.”
That answer changed the room.
Not loudly.
A woman near the bar looked away.
One of Daniel’s college friends suddenly became interested in his drink.
Tiffany’s expression softened, but not with kindness.
“With you, money is always the tragedy.”
Margaret felt the words strike.
Daniel looked up.
“Tiff.”
“No, she wants everyone to know what everything cost.”
“I answered your questions.”
“You corrected me in front of everyone.”
“You brought this up here.”
Daniel moved closer to Margaret.
His voice was barely audible.
“Mom, maybe don’t answer every point.”
Margaret turned toward him.
For a second, she could not speak.
He thought silence would protect her.
Again.
Margaret nodded once.
“All right.”
Tiffany blinked, almost disappointed.
Then she looked around the reception.
“No more corrections?”
Margaret swallowed.
“No.”
Tiffany uncrossed her arms.
“Good.”
Margaret had stopped defending herself.
Somehow, the humiliation continued anyway.
Tiffany looked toward the towering centerpieces.
“Do you know how many times she made me feel guilty about those?”
Margaret said nothing.
Daniel shifted uncomfortably.
“Tiffany, she said she’s done.”
“I’m not.”
Margaret’s chest tightened.
Tiffany pointed toward the floral installations suspended above the tables.
“I showed her what I wanted.”
A few guests followed her gesture.
“She sent me cheaper alternatives.”
Margaret kept her eyes on Tiffany.
“I thought we were done correcting things.”
Tiffany smiled.
“We are.”
That hurt more than Margaret expected.
Daniel whispered, “Tiff, enough.”
She ignored him.
“I picked a band.”
Margaret remained quiet.
“I found the hotel.”
No response.
“I planned the menu.”
Tiffany’s voice strengthened with every sentence.
“And every time, I had to wonder whether Margaret approved.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“This isn’t fair.”
Tiffany turned on him.
“Did she make you worry about the money?”
Daniel hesitated.
Margaret watched him.
That hesitation answered first.
“Daniel?”
He rubbed his jaw.
“We talked about costs.”
Tiffany laughed once.
“There.”
Margaret felt several people looking directly at her now.
Daniel tried again.
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“But you did talk about it.”
“Yes.”
“With me?”
Daniel glanced toward Margaret.
“Sometimes.”
Tiffany nodded slowly.
“Exactly.”
Margaret finally spoke.
“I never asked him to pressure you.”
“I didn’t say you did.”
Tiffany’s answer came too quickly.
Then she added something Margaret had never heard before.
“I was told your support didn’t have a ceiling.”
Margaret’s expression changed.
Tiffany continued before she could respond.
“So imagine my surprise when every decision suddenly came with conditions.”
Daniel frowned.
“Who told you that?”
Tiffany looked at him.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Margaret wanted to ask.
She almost did.
Instead, she pressed her lips together.
Daniel watched his mother choose silence again.
Tiffany mistook that silence for defeat.
“Exactly.”
Margaret lowered her eyes.
For the first time that night, she wished she could disappear into the crowd.
But the crowd had already made space around her.
Daniel reached carefully for Margaret’s elbow.
“Mom, come into the hall with me.”
She moved her arm before he could touch it.
Not sharply.
Just enough.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
Tiffany let out a breath.
“Can we please finish this?”
Daniel turned toward her.
“What does that mean?”
“It means she pays for the champagne, and we go back to our wedding.”
Margaret looked at her son.
Daniel’s face was exhausted.
Not angry.
Not protective.
Just exhausted.
That familiar ache returned beneath Margaret’s ribs.
She had seen the same expression whenever Daniel wanted conflict to disappear without deciding who should give way.
“Mom,” he said.
Margaret waited.
He rubbed his hands together.
“We’ve already spent so much.”
She stared at him.
Daniel realized what he had said.
“That came out wrong.”
Margaret’s voice stayed gentle.
“No. It didn’t.”
He looked away.
For months, she had signed checks after changes appeared too late to reverse without penalties.
She had transferred deposits because Daniel called with panic in his voice.
Each time, he promised it was the last adjustment.
Each time, Margaret told herself she was helping her son begin his marriage without debt or humiliation.
Tiffany watched them.
“You offered to help.”
Margaret nodded.
“I did.”
Daniel finally met her eyes.
“Can we get through tonight?”
There it was.
Not fairness.
Not a boundary.
Tonight.
Margaret looked around the ballroom.
The flowers were beautiful.
The tables were full.
The guests were watching.
Her refusal had begun as one word beside the bar.
Now her own son looked as though that word had ruined his wedding.
Margaret’s shoulders lowered.
She did not open her purse.
But she no longer looked like the woman who had snapped it shut.
Tiffany saw the difference.
“So?”
Margaret stared at the floor for a moment.
When she raised her head again, Daniel was waiting for her answer.
And everyone else seemed to be waiting with him.
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