Chapter 3

The gala was held in the ballroom of the Marriott hotel downtown.

The moment they stepped inside, everything announced the wealth of the Delgado Group: the gleaming crystal chandeliers, the corridor laid with deep red velvet carpet, the impeccably dressed waitstaff.

Renata Fox wore that cream cashmere coat over a simple black knit dress. Plain enough, but it suited her gentle grace. She had put on light makeup that hid her usual tiredness, and it gave her a quiet, settled kind of beauty, the sort the years bring.

But the son at her side drew even more attention.

Jackson had changed into a navy blazer he'd bought for a school debate tournament. It was no designer label, yet on him, with his broad shoulders and narrow waist, his long straight legs, and that sharply cut face, he outshone even the performers hired for the night.

Mother and son turned heads the instant they walked in.

"Wait, is that Renata Fox from admin? You'd never guess it normally, but cleaned up like that, she's got real presence." "Who's the good-looking guy next to her? Don't tell me that's the rich boyfriend everyone's been whispering about." "No, that's her son! I hear he's still in college!" "God, how is a son that good-looking? Some kind of genetic miracle?"

The murmuring from her coworkers reached Renata's ears, and she felt awkward, instinctively wanting to shrink toward the side.

But Jackson kept a firm hold on his mother's arm, chin up, chest out, and steered her toward the admin department's round table.

"Chin up, Mom," he said under his breath. "Tonight you're the star, and I'm your knight."

Warmth spread through her, and her spine straightened a little on its own.

They had barely reached the table when Kate Lambert's shrill voice cut in.

"Well, well, everyone look, our dear Renata's arrived!" Kate was decked out in a bright red evening gown, a string of glittering pearls around her neck, a chubby boy of seven or eight tucked against her. The kid was gnawing on a fried chicken drumstick, grease all over his mouth.

Kate's eyes swept over Jackson, a flicker of envy in them, and then she covered her mouth and laughed. "So this is your son? Handsome enough, I'll give you that, but this outfit... is that a knockoff off some street stall? Wearing that to an occasion like this, aren't you afraid people will laugh?"

Renata opened her mouth to answer, but Jackson beat her to it, smiling politely. "Hello, Mrs. Lambert. Whether the clothes are designer doesn't matter. What matters is whether the person can carry them. Take you, for instance, decked out head to toe in labels. It does look festive on you. Kind of like... like one of those chubby good-luck dolls people hang up for the holidays."

The coworkers nearby couldn't hold back a burst of laughter.

All that red on Kate, paired with her round figure, really did make her look like a holiday poster child.

"You!" Kate was so angry the powder nearly fell off her face. "You ill-mannered little brat! Who said a child gets to butt in when adults are talking?"

"Kate!" Paul Whitney came over just then, his face dark as he snapped at her. "This is the gala. The chairman will be here any minute, and you're making a scene like this? It's a disgrace. Everyone, sit down!"

Kate shot Renata a vicious glare and yanked her son into a seat.

The little heavyset boy still wouldn't behave. He balled up the napkin he'd wiped his mouth with and threw it at Renata.

Jackson's hand shot out and caught the wad in midair, then set it lightly into the ashtray on the table, the whole movement as graceful as a piece of performance art.

The women around the table stared, transfixed.

"Renata, does your son have a girlfriend?" Maud Chavez leaned in beside her, cheeks flushed, to ask.

Renata smiled, embarrassed. "He's still young. Studies come first."

Just then the ballroom doors opened again, and the noisy hall fell silent in an instant.

Rousing music swelled, and the host called out in a soaring voice, "And now, let us welcome, with our warmest applause, the chairman of the Delgado Group—Mr. Keith Delgado!"