“The only way we can fix it,” Lola said, “is if I sign a postnuptial agreement that says I have no claim to any of the Sutcliffe money. They brought in a lawyer and everything. If I sign it, they’ll recognize the marriage by throwing us a party and announcing it. And they set up an account for me. Mrs. Sutcliffe keeps calling it a ‘household account.’ A credit card and a few thousand a month for whatever I need, plus credit at shops for buying things for our new apartment.”

“You mean, like an allowance?” Scarlett asked. “A really big allowance?”

“I didn’t ask for it,” Lola said. “The lawyer just read it off as part of the deal. I told them I didn’t want that, but they just said it was all part of the package. What they really mean is if I’m going to be their daughter-in-law I have to live up to a certain standard. They’re afraid I’m using him, but I’m not. I didn’t do this for money.”

“Why did you marry him?” Scarlett asked.

“It wasn’t…enough.” Lola’s voice wobbled uncertainly. “I just needed…I wanted something real. Something that worked. And I know you don’t believe this, but Chip and I work. I know I’m young, I know all of that. It doesn’t mean I don’t know what I want. You have to understand, the money is just a side benefit.”

“You’re telling me that if Chip wasn’t Chip Sutcliffe you’d marry him anyway? If he didn’t live in a huge apartment on Park Avenue? If he didn’t have a car and a driver, if he couldn’t buy you expensive stuff?”

“It’s all part of who he is,” Lola said, shrugging. “He can’t help that. That’s not why I like him.”

“So then sign the paper,” Scarlett said, shrugging.

On this, Lola got very animated.

“I wanted to! I said I would sign it. I had the pen in my hand. Chip stopped me.”

“Why?”

“Because he didn’t want me to feel second-rate,” Lola said. “He wants his family to accept me, totally. And if they don’t, he’s prepared, you know…for what comes. He’s prepared to let them take it all away. He’s for real, Scarlett.”

That did sound genuine. Scarlett had never doubted Chip’s intentions. She had only doubted Lola’s.

“Yeah, but…” Scarlett hated doing this to Lola, but it had to be said. “He hasn’t felt it yet. He still has lots of nice stuff. He hasn’t been kicked out of school yet. So, he can say now that he’s fine with it, but how is that really going to be for him, when he has no money?”