He sat on the very edge of the chair, his hands flat on his knees.

My father stared at Nathan, then at me.

He had spent twenty years telling his business partners his oldest daughter was a clerk.

He had spent twenty years apologizing for my lack of ambition.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Father demanded, his voice suddenly sharp.

“You never asked,” I said.

“We asked you every Thanksgiving!” Caroline shouted.

She gripped the edge of the table, her knuckles turning white.

“You always said you were ‘managing budgets’,” she added, her voice cracking.

“I do manage budgets,” I said. “Two billion dollars of them.”

Caroline’s chest heaved.

She looked at the expensive engagement ring on her finger, then at Nathan.

“You did this on purpose,” Caroline whispered.

Her eyes began to fill with tears of frustration.

“You waited until tonight,” she said. “You waited until Nathan was here to humiliate me.”

“I didn’t know Nathan was your fiancé until he walked through the door, Caroline,” I said.

My mother reached out, touching Father’s arm with trembling fingers.

“Arthur,” Mother whispered. “Is this… is this official?”