The Raise of James Morrison.

Chapter 4

"Alright, alright, everyone! Gather around!" David's voice boomed across the hall. "I want to show you all what a REAL gift looks like. Not like some people who think a bag of gas station candy is appropriate for Grandma's birthday."

Laughter rippled through the crowd. James felt Emily tense beside him, but she said nothing, her jaw tight.

David reached the gift table and gestured dramatically at an enormous mahogany display case, at least three feet tall, with ornate gold inlay work and a glass front. Inside sat an exquisite tea set delicate porcelain cups, an elegant teapot, saucers with intricate blue and white patterns.

"Feast your eyes on THIS!" David announced, lifting the lid with a flourish. "A genuine Ming Dynasty Imperial old select tea set, used in the actual palace! Cost me five million dollars, and I had to pull every string I had to acquire it through a private collector!"

At that moment the crowd gasped and murmured in appreciation. Several relatives moved closer to admire it.

"Five million!"

"My God, David, that's incredible!"

"Grandma will be so moved!"

David preened under the attention, then his gaze slid to James with predatory glee. "What do you think, James? Pretty nice, huh? I bet you've never seen anything this valuable in your entire pathetic life."

James glanced at the tea set, his expression neutral. "It's a nice piece."

The crowd erupted in laughter at his understated response.

"'It's a nice piece,'" David mimicked in a mocking, simpering voice. "That's all you can say? Come on, James, don't be shy! Tell everyone have you ever, in your miserable existence, been within ten feet of something worth more than a hundred bucks?"

More laughter. James said nothing, remembering Emily's warning to keep quiet.

David circled him like a shark. "You know what the difference is between you and me, James? Between a man and a parasite?" He gestured between the Ming tea set and James's bag of chocolates. "This. This right here is the difference. I bring treasures that show respect, love, and status. You bring... what? Chocolate? CHOCOLATE?"

He snatched the bag from James's hands before he could react, holding it up like a piece of garbage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, James Carter's 'gift'!" David shook the bag. "Handmade chocolates! Probably cost what, fifteen dollars? Twenty if he was feeling REALLY generous?"

The crowd's laughter grew louder. James could feel his face burning, but he kept his expression carefully blank.

"David, that's enough," Emily said suddenly, stepping forward. Her voice was sharp but controlled. "Everyone brings what they can afford. Not everyone needs to show off."

"Show off?" David's eyebrows shot up in mock offense. "Emily, sweetheart, this is your grandmother's birthday. This is a milestone! A once-in-a-lifetime event! And your... husband..." he said the word like it was poison, "...brings CHOCOLATES like he's visiting someone in the hospital!"

"I said that's enough." Emily's voice was ice-cold, but there was something else there—embarrassment. She wasn't defending James. She was trying to stop her own humiliation.

David saw it too and grinned wider. "Oh, I get it. You're not worried about his feelings. You're worried about your reputation, aren't you? Because when James looks like a joke, you look like a joke for being married to him."

Emily's face flushed red, but she didn't deny it.

At that moment a tall, handsome man in an expensive suit stepped forward from the crowd Marcus Wellington, one of Marvin city's most eligible bachelors and a longtime admirer of Emily. His family owned a hotel empire, and everyone knew he'd pursued Emily relentlessly before her grandfather had arranged her marriage to James.

"Emily, you deserve so much better than this," Marcus said smoothly, his voice dripping with false sympathy. "Everyone can see it. You're brilliant, accomplished, beautiful—and you're stuck with... this." He gestured dismissively at James. "Your grandfather may have meant well, God rest his soul, but marrying you to this freeloader was a mistake. Everyone knows it."

"Marcus, please," Emily said, but her protest was weak.

"I'm just saying what everyone's thinking," Marcus continued, moving closer to Emily. His cologne was expensive, his suit perfectly tailored. Everything about him screamed wealth and confidence. "You could have married anyone. You still could, honestly. A woman like you shouldn't be dragged down by some nobody with no family, no money, no prospects, no—"

"Actually," James said quietly, "the tea set is fake."

The entire room went dead silent.

David's head snapped around. "What did you just say?"