CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT – WELCOME TO THE FAMILY

The lavish reception tent sparkled like a delicately constructed snow globe on the pristine South Lawn of the Prestons' ancestral Long Island estate. Glittering chandeliers dangled in artful swaths from towering birch crossbeams, their countless facets refracting dizzying shards of refracted light across the tent's ivory canvas. Despite the undeniable opulence on display, Julian found his senses inexplicably...underwhelmed as he escorted his new bride – God, even just ruminating on the words triggered an instinctive sneer - past the breathless throngs of well-heeled spectators. Perhaps the numbness stemmed from the endless dullness he'd had to endure throughout the afternoon - the saccharine niceties from society nobodies eagerly basking in reflected glory, the transparent coveting from grotesquely enfranchised peers assessing every minute detail from heel height to canapé selections. He was no stranger to the sham farce of it all, of course. The rigidly stoic lines of propriety th