Outside the Park Avenue entrance of Sotheby's looked like a small-scale riot.
The paparazzi were swarming the velvet ropes, their camera flashes strobing so rapidly it looked like a continuous lightning storm. The second Diana's private transport pulled up to the curb, the press pool went feral.
Aria stepped out of the car first, her black, obsidian-glitter gown catching the relentless flashbulbs. She offered the cameras a perfectly poised smile before turning to help Diana's driver pull the wheelchair out of the trunk.
"Make way!" the security guards bellowed, shoving the barricades back as Aria wheeled her fuming sister-in-law through the gauntlet of shouting reporters.
The moment they breached the gold-trimmed glass doors of the auction house, the chaos instantly vanished.
