#Chapter 251: Under the Stars

Audrey The final numbers were staggering. I had to blink twice just to make sure I wasn’t seeing things, but I wasn’t. We hadn’t just met our fundraising goal for the orphanages—we had nearly doubled it in one night. I couldn’t believe it. All those weeks of planning, sleepless nights, and too-early mornings had paid off. This was more than I could have hoped for, more than we had ever dreamed possible. “And that’s not even counting the pledges still rolling in,” Edwin announced into the microphone, gesturing toward the donation booth—where there was still a line of people waiting with their wallets open. The crowd erupted into applause at that. Champagne glasses clinked together, cameras flashed, and somewhere in the back of the room, I caught the unmistakable shrill of Tina’s ear-piercing whistle. I stifled a giggle as I looked over and saw my friends jumping up and down and making increasingly-ridiculous faces at me, drunkenly trying to make me snort w