Instead, he looked at me with that same tight smile he used whenever he wanted me to cooperate without causing a scene.

Linda tilted her head slightly. “Card is probably easier.”

My hand rested on my purse, but I didn’t open it. “I’m sorry,” I said carefully, “are you asking me to pay for everyone?”

His father cleared his throat and leaned back like this had now become formal business. “It’s kind of a family tradition,” he explained. “When someone new is serious about joining us, they treat the family.”

I let out a short laugh, because the alternative was losing my composure entirely. “A seven-thousand-dollar tradition?”

Daniel finally spoke—but not the way I had hoped.

“Claire, just handle it for now. We can talk about it later.”

I turned toward him so quickly my chair scraped loudly across the floor. “You knew about this?”

He lowered his voice. “Don’t make this bigger than it needs to be.”

That sentence snapped something inside me.

All night long, I had ignored the warning signs. The pointed remarks. The extravagant ordering. The smug expressions every time another bottle arrived. They had planned this.

Not just Linda.

Not just the family.

Daniel too.

He had brought me into that room fully aware of what they intended, expecting I would comply because social pressure is powerful—especially on women who are taught to keep the peace.

I opened my purse.

Linda’s smile widened in triumph. One cousin leaned forward as if he were watching a performance.

But the first thing I pulled out wasn’t a credit card.

It was my phone.

Daniel’s smile vanished. “What are you doing?”

I looked directly at Linda. “I’m making sure I understand this clearly. You invited me to dinner, ordered thousands of dollars’ worth of food and alcohol, and are now demanding that I pay for fifteen people because I’m engaged to your son?”

Linda’s expression hardened. “No one is demanding. We’re seeing what kind of woman you are.”

I tapped the screen and pressed play.

Earlier that week, I had saved a voicemail Daniel left me after I told him I felt uneasy about the dinner. His voice filled the room: “Babe, don’t stress. My parents are covering everything. Just come, smile, and survive a couple hours.”

No one moved.

Then I placed my phone on the table and quietly said, “So either he lied to me, or all of you set me up.”

Daniel pushed halfway out of his seat. “Claire—”

“No,” I said, sharper than I had ever spoken to him. “We’re way past ‘Claire.’”

Linda’s face lost its color. Around the table, people started looking at one another instead of at me.

And that was when I reached into my purse again—and removed something that made Daniel turn completely pale.