Her brother’s hand closed around the microphone, but I held on and stepped back. “Please,” I said in his language, calm and clear. “Let the guests read the card beside their glasses. I would like everyone to see my words.” A hush fell over the courtyard. The bride’s father stopped grinning. Her brother’s face drained of color. Then, one by one, the guests began reading the cards, and the whispers rose like wind through the old trees.

An older woman near the front stood up slowly, a card trembling in her fingers. She was the bride’s grandmother, small and silver-haired, and she stared at my name printed above those cruel lines. Then she looked at the bride’s father and said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “Which of you wrote this?” Nobody answered. My son turned toward me, confused. And I reached into my purse.