But I remained calm.
“I don’t want any trouble.”
Vanessa suddenly turned toward a garden hose lying beside the flowerbeds.
At first, I thought she intended to move it out of the way.
Then she picked it up.
Before I could react, a powerful stream of cold water struck me across the chest.
I gasped.
My shawl became soaked.
Water streamed down my face and dripped from my hair.
My shoes sank into the damp grass.
The force made me stumble onto one knee.
Vanessa burst into laughter.
“Maybe that will teach you not to trespass!”
A few guests laughed along with her.
Someone began recording.
I held my grocery bag tightly against my chest.
My phone was inside, quietly capturing the entire encounter.
“I only asked to see Ethan,” I managed to say.
Vanessa crouched in front of me.
“Mr. Carter doesn’t entertain beggars at his engagement party.”
Behind her stood her mother, Patricia.
She glanced at my soaked clothes with obvious disgust.
“Please get this woman out of here before she ruins the photographs.”
Vanessa’s father, George, added coldly,
“And search her bag before she leaves. We don’t know what she might have taken.”
I stared at them.
They had decided I was dishonest simply because I wore inexpensive clothes.
A young server approached carrying a clean napkin.
“Ma’am, are you okay? Let me help you.”
Before he could reach me, Vanessa snapped,
“If you touch her, you can forget about keeping your job!”
The young man stopped.
His expression filled with uncertainty.
I could tell he wanted to help, but he was frightened.
I gently reached toward him.
“It’s all right, sweetheart.”
Then I looked back at Vanessa.
“Remember what happened here today.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Oh, now she’s threatening us!”
I shook my head.
“No. I’m asking you to remember how you treated someone you believed had nothing to offer you.”
Vanessa laughed again.
“Someone needs to teach this woman her place.”
I didn’t answer.
I simply looked at her.
Because at that exact moment, the glass doors behind her opened.
And my son stepped outside.
Ethan was holding a champagne glass, smiling as he spoke to someone behind him.
Then he noticed the commotion.
His smile disappeared.
He looked at the soaked woman kneeling on the grass.
At the garden hose in Vanessa’s hand.
At the guests holding their phones.
Then he recognized me.
“Mom?”
His voice was quiet.
But somehow, everyone heard it.
Vanessa turned around.
“What?”
Ethan stared at me.
“Mom, what happened?”
The garden fell completely silent.
Vanessa looked from my face to his.
Then back again.
“Your mother?”
The champagne glass trembled in her hand.
Ethan immediately placed his drink on a nearby table and hurried toward me.
He knelt in the wet grass without caring about his expensive trousers.
“Mom, are you hurt?”
“I’m all right, sweetheart.”
He gently helped me stand.
Then he looked at Vanessa.
“What happened here?”
She recovered enough to speak.
“Ethan, darling, this is a misunderstanding.”
His expression remained serious.
“A misunderstanding?”
“She came onto the property looking like a homeless woman. I didn’t know who she was.”
Ethan glanced at the hose.
“So you sprayed her with water?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“She refused to leave.”
Patricia hurried forward.
“We were simply protecting the celebration, Ethan. Your mother arrived without identifying herself.”
Ethan didn’t respond immediately.
Instead, he turned toward the young server standing nearby.
“Did my mother threaten anyone?”
The young man looked nervous.
Vanessa immediately interrupted.
“Don’t drag the staff into this!”
Ethan looked at her.
“Let him answer.”
The server swallowed.
“No, sir. She only asked where she could find you.”
Vanessa’s expression tightened.
The young man continued.
