Chapter 106

• Claire’s POV
• I was kneeling on the floor of my room, surrounded by scattered sketches, unfinished outlines, and bolts of fabric that needed to be sorted before the week ended. My fingertips were smudged with pencil lead, and the back of my neck prickled from the soft warmth of the late morning sun pouring through the windows.
• This was my safe space—controlled chaos. Paper everywhere. My hands moved almost instinctively across clean sheets as I reworked a design I couldn’t quite get right. Something about the neckline. No, maybe it was the sleeves…