Chapter One<br >The wedding of the year.<br > Alexandra Michaels stared out the window of her<br >office， her gaze not focused on anything in particu-<br >lar. The Los Angeles sky was overcast， filled with dark<br >gray clouds， and a steady rain had been coming down<br >for the past hour. Yet nothing could dampen her ela-<br >tion.<br > Her intercom buzzed， and she walked over and<br >pressed one of the buttons.<br > "Alex? Your mother s on the line."<br > Almost nothing.<br > "1 11 take it." There was a quiet note of resignation<br >in Alex s voice. She knew what conversation this was<br >going to be. There were hundreds of variations on this<br >particular theme. One thing about her mother， she was<br >persistent.<br > "Alex? Darling， are you there?"<br > "I m here." She was nervous already， hating the<br >way her mother sometimes brought out the worst in<br >her. The short， clipped voice. The defensive attitude.<br >Why couldn t they treat each other as friends?<br >