Chapter 245

• I stepped back from the last rack, letting the room settle around us. The fabrics hung softly, bathed in light, and for a moment it felt as if time itself had paused. Everyone was quiet, breathing in the moment, letting it land.
• Simone spoke first. “You’ve done more than I imagined,” she said, her voice almost a whisper. “This isn’t just your project. It’s your voice, your story, finally seen.”
• Claudia nodded. “Every piece tells something we couldn’t hear before. It’s alive because you are alive, Juliana. Nothing else matters.”