I stepped deeper into the grand hall, the murmurs of the gathered crowd swirling around me like a dark tide. The chandeliers above fractured the light into jagged shards that splintered across the marble floor, flickering like brittle memories threatening to shatter at any moment. Every eye was fixed on me, their gazes sharp and questioning... as if I were some strange apparition who didn't belong in the midst of this opulence.
Lukas's shadow was at my side, a silent anchor in the storm of whispers and stares. His presence was steady, a calm amid the chaos, but my pulse was wild, drumming against my ribs like a war drum's warning. I could feel the weight of the scars on my back beneath the cold bite of the corset squeezing my ribs, yet I stood tall, refusing to let the pain betray me.
