Stacy opened the passenger side door of the sporty red Jaguar and slid out before James was halfway around to open it for her. "Goodnight, James!" she said sternly.

"Aren't you going to invite me in, Stacy? It's early yet," he whined.

"No, James, I have a headache and Amy's home. With only six days left before the wedding, I think I need my rest."

"Very well, but don't think I'll have that lowlife insinuating herself into our lives and being around my home once we've married."

James was in a snit. They had argued earlier, but he was choosing the wrong time and the wrong subject to get into a snit about. Stacy turned so abruptly, her long blonde tresses slapped her face as she returned to mere inches from James' and said, "Now you listen to me, James. Amy is my friend, and not you or anyone else is going to take her away from me." With that said, Stacy turned again and stormed into the guest cottage of her parents' palatial home, leaving James shocked and gaping.

Stacy was angrier than she'd ever been in her life. Mild-mannered, polite James had suddenly become a tyrant. Earlier in the evening, he'd informed her that she would not be pursuing a career. She would be too busy with his home and family.

Amy was stretched out on the sofa munching popcorn and reading a mystery book. "Did you have a nice evening, Stace?" she asked.

Stacy huffed and muttered to herself as she paced the floor. How could James be such a snob? How dare he call Amy a lowlife? Amy was beautiful, smart, loyal and funny. Her father had raised Amy after her mother had left home with another man when Amy was only two years old. She had buried her father just two weeks after she graduated from high school with a full scholarship to Harvard. She'd studied and worked several part-time jobs and still managed to graduate with a 3.8 grade point average.

"Stace, will you stop pacing and tell me what's wrong?"

"Come on, I need you to help me pack." Stacy had just made a sudden, monumental decision.

"You're already packed for your honeymoon, Stace, there's nothing left to do."

"Well, there isn't going to be a honeymoon because there won't be a wedding. I'm leaving!" Stacy stalked into the bedroom, pulled a suitcase down from the closet and began tossing out her trousseau and throwing in jeans and underwear. "Mr. James Thomas Donavan, hotshot attorney, thinks I'm going to forgo my career to stay in his home and raise his children and entertain his clients and his colleagues and take care of him, all in the name of furthering his career. What about me?" she shouted. "What did he think I was studying all those years at Harvard? Pregnancy and childcare? Or perhaps, how to set the table correctly, or choose the perfect invitation?" Stacy was running out of steam. She looked at Amy, who was barely suppressing a smile, and burst out crying.

"Oh, Amy, I'm so tired of being Janet and Charles Blair's pampered little girl. I've spent my entire life trying to please everyone. They've expected me to marry James for as long as I can remember and me being the dutiful daughter, convinced myself I was in love with him. I didn't realize until tonight that James is a male chauvinist snob. My parents want a merger, not a marriage." Stacy continued her verbal outrage as tears streamed down her face. "My dad with his textile empire, can't wait for me to marry the son of the furniture tycoon of North America. They'll make a killing merging those two companies. Well, I won't stand for it!" Stacy stamped her foot for emphasis. "I have a right to be happy, too. My parents have more money than they'll ever be able to spend in a lifetime and, thanks to my grandmother, so do I. So, I'm leaving." Stacy wiped the tears off her cheeks and raising her head, smiled weakly at her friend.

Amy hugged her best friend in comfort. "So what are your plans? What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going away, Amy. Someplace far away where no one knows me. I'm going to make a life for myself without my parent's name. One that will make me happy."

Amy had never liked James. She knew he was spoiled and snobbish. She also knew that he'd never approved of her friendship with Stacy, but Amy was willing to ignore that for her friend's sake. Stacy was finally seeing him for what he was, and for that, Amy was proud of her friend. Realizing that Stacy was serious about leaving, Amy pulled her own suitcases out of the closet and began packing.

"You don't have to leave, Amy. My parents will let you stay on here until you start your new job next month."

"There are hotels all over the world. I'm going with you. Now, where are we going and when do we leave?"

"Oh, Amy, do you mean it? This is so exciting. But we're going to be poor. I'm taking plenty of money, just in case, but I really want to make it on my own. Do you know that until I went to college, I had never made a bed in my life? I didn't know how to work. Getting through all that studying and passing exams was a challenge for me. It was like a personal victory. I loved it."