Chapter 23 The Web Tightens

• The gala shimmered with wealth and deception, the air thick with whispered schemes. Ethan stood near the bar, a tumbler of whiskey in his hand, his expression unreadable. The weight of the evening pressed on him, Alexander’s moves, the press, Clara’s growing wariness.
• Then Celeste appeared, slinking toward him like a cat that had spotted its prey.
• “Ethan,” she purred, slipping into his personal space, her perfume an intoxicating mix of jasmine and something darker. “You’ve been avoiding me.”