Her Wicked Game, Our Last Stand

replaying that dinner. I tried to reconcile the Olivia I knew-or tho

a simple bouquet of flowers and complimented my father on the beautiful garden he kept. She played wit

r at a tech conference. In the beginning, she seemed hesitant. He would tell me how he' d bo

gush to me over the phone. "She doesn' t care

management and data analysis. She built this image of a determined, self-sufficient woman who was i

had been so

d say after she' d left. "She has a good head on

s modest background not as a negative,

rents brought it up, she just smiled and said, "I' m marrying Ethan, not selling mysel

was no haggling, no greed. It was another checkmark in the "perfect daugh

pping for her wedding dress. I helped her address invitations. I spent countless

deep, unsettling confusion. Why the sudden change? Why the cruelty? Had it all been

a stranger, and I couldn't shake the feeling that h