For Richer for Poorer

Eugenia Ward is a 54-year-old fashion designer whose business has been devastated by 18 months of pandemic lockdowns. She runs two labels: an eponymous ready-to-wear line of luxury evening gowns and a haute couture line called Princess Eugenie. Before the pandemic, her company thrived with stores on Madison Avenue in New York and the Avenue Montaigne in Paris and shows at Fashion Week in both cities. Now, with no one buying evening gowns, her income has vanished while overhead remains crushing.

Eugenia's rise was built on talent and determination. She attended Parsons School of Design and New York University, interned at Valentino, worked at Dior, and spent 16 years as head designer for Oscar de la Renta before launching her own brand at 40. At 21, she married Umberto di San Benedetto, an Italian prince 24 years her senior who lived off commissions connecting wealthy people. They had five children in five years: Stefano, Eloise, Daphne, Gloria, and Sofia. Umberto contributed nothing financially, was unfaithful, and after 22 years demanded a divorce, extracting a large settlement.

Eugenia's five adult children are scattered. Stefano, 31, is married to Liz, the chief financial officer of a successful startup. Eloise, 30, designs streetwear for Balenciaga in Paris and fears losing her job. Daphne, 28, is married to Phillip Brooke, a kind, wealthy man 22 years her senior; they have a three-year-old son, Tucker. Gloria, 27, works at a publishing house in London and is engaged to Geoffrey Crawford, the son of an English earl whom Eugenia finds pompous. Sofia, 26, works as a nurse practitioner and midwife in Appalachia. To survive, Eugenia pivots to casual daywear for Fashion Week and plans a family vacation at a rented compound in East Hampton, followed by Gloria's wedding, all while concealing her financial desperation.

The family gathers over a weekend. Daphne arrives first, eight months pregnant with fraternal twins. Sofia brings Bradley Jackson, a Black trauma surgeon and the first man she has ever brought home, who wins the family's approval immediately. Gloria and Geoff arrive last; Geoff complains about everything without thanking Eugenia for the trip she financed, sulks at dinner, and refuses to engage while Brad charms everyone. During the week, Geoff provokes conflict by declaring Brad should not be invited to the wedding because his parents might object, prompting Eloise to defend Sofia fiercely.

At a dinner party hosted by Daphne and Phillip, Eugenia meets two significant figures. Austin Wylie is a flamboyant Texas oilman with a multibillion-dollar fortune, accompanied by his 22-year-old Russian wife, Natasha. Patrick Hughes is a 60-year-old commercial real estate developer whose 17 major New York office buildings stand empty due to the pandemic. Austin expresses interest in investing in Eugenia's business, while Patrick warns her to be cautious with Wylie. When the family returns, they discover that a woman with a foreign accent spent the day at the house, with Geoff having paid the staff to stay silent. Eugenia suspects the visitor was Natasha.

Patrick invites the family aboard his yacht, My Dream, a 350-foot motor sailer. Eugenia and Patrick discover deep parallels: Both are self-made, both face pandemic-threatened businesses, and both filled loneliness with work and children. He tells her about his son, Quinn, 35, who runs a food-delivery startup but keeps women at a distance. They recognize a mutual loneliness.

Austin offers 10 million dollars for 45 percent of Eugenia's business, but she refuses, recognizing he is exploiting her desperation. Meanwhile, Sofia's eccentric homemade outfit inspires Eloise to sketch a new affordable line called Cotton Candy, targeting teenage girls and young women with tulle skirts and sequined jackets. Eugenia immediately sees its commercial brilliance. When she confronts Gloria about Geoff's behavior, including the mystery woman and his flirtation with a nanny that nearly caused Tucker to drown, Gloria defends him and the conversation escalates into a bitter fight. That evening, Gloria and Geoff announce they are leaving for London, charging ticket changes to Eugenia's credit card.

Eugenia's relationship with Patrick deepens. He kisses her during a private day on his yacht, and they soon become lovers. When Austin calls with an improved offer, Eugenia, following Patrick's advice, negotiates a final deal: 20 million dollars for 20 percent, with clauses allowing her to return the money at any time and to dissolve the partnership if Wylie faces criminal prosecution. Back in New York, she launches Cotton Candy, transforming her Madison Avenue store and hiring a cotton candy vendor on the sidewalk. The line sells out within a week. Eloise, fired from Balenciaga, returns to New York and throws herself into helping with the business.

As Gloria's wedding approaches, Geoff's parents, Lord and Lady Crawford, arrive with no plans for the rehearsal dinner, forcing Eugenia to scramble. Patrick hosts the dinner on his yacht, but a tropical storm intensifies into a hurricane throughout the evening. After the party, Gloria forbids the very drunk Geoff from coming home with her, citing wedding tradition. Geoff shouts that he will find another woman to sleep with. Gloria drives through flooded roads to the Maidstone Inn and finds Geoff kissing a woman in a hallway. He shows no remorse, admitting he was only marrying Gloria for the money. She throws her ring at him and calls off the wedding. Simultaneously, the wedding venue sustains structural damage from the hurricane.

That same night, Daphne goes into labor at the rented house with the hospital inaccessible due to flooding. Sofia delivers the twins by candlelight, assisted by Brad: a healthy girl followed by a healthy boy. At dawn, helicopters airlift Daphne, Phillip, and the newborns to the hospital. Gloria emerges, having slept through the birth, and quietly thanks her mother and apologizes to Brad for how she and Geoff treated him.

Eugenia's Fashion Week show is a critical and commercial triumph. Backstage, Quinn meets Eloise for the first time and is immediately captivated. The next morning, however, Eugenia reads that Austin Wylie has been indicted for selling weapons to hostile nations. She invokes the morals clause and returns the 20 million dollars. Liz leaps into action and secures 15 million from two new investors. Natasha contributes the final five million from her own funds, becoming Eugenia's partner at five percent ownership.

At Paris Fashion Week, Cotton Candy outsells the daywear line two to one. Quinn and Eloise fall in love; she shows him her favorite corners of Paris, and he moves into her apartment. Over the following months, Eloise finds a new design job in New York, Gloria finishes a novel in London, Sofia and Brad get engaged, and Patrick and Eugenia begin living together.

The following July, the family gathers in the south of France for Eloise and Quinn's intimate wedding aboard My Dream. Patrick and Eugenia hold hands as their children exchange vows; the words "for better for worse, for richer for poorer" carry deep personal meaning after the hardships they weathered. As the reception unfolds under summer stars, Patrick tells Eugenia she has made him the luckiest man in the world. She credits him with saving her, but he corrects her gently, saying she saved herself, as she always has. Gloria catches the bouquet, and the novel closes with Patrick and Eugenia returning to the celebration, at peace, their love described as a living vow.