The Charity Case's Crown

The whiskey glasses clinked, and the air hung thick with cigar smoke at Ethan' s bachelor party.

I was just bringing in another round, playing the supportive girlfriend I' d always been for the man I loved since high school.

Then I heard my name.

"Anya? She' s an artist. No family, no connections. Marrying her would be a liability for the firm."

He laughed.

"Besides, after all these years, who else would want her? She' s practically a charity case my family took in. She' s not going anywhere."