Chapter 16 16

• I smoothed the satin of my dress, the lace train billowing slightly behind me. Every touch, every movement of the fabric felt like a reminder of what was about to unfold. My heart was hammering, not with excitement, but with a suffocating dread I couldn’t shake.
• Alessia watched me with her arms folded across her chest, her eyes sharp but filled with something unspoken. "Who sent you in here, Isabella? Lorrenzo?"
• "No," Lara spoke from behind me, her voice low and bitter. "Your mother. She wants to make sure you understand what's expected of you tonight."