I raised my glass, smile never wavering. “Forgive me. I got a bit emotional. Let’s get back to the reason we’re here.”
I turned to the room.
“To Elara and Adrian. May your future be as perfect as tonight looks.”
Applause broke out, hesitant but polite.
I turned to leave the stage.
But Elara caught up, her cheeks flushed with something far less innocent than champagne.
“Selene,” she said, loud enough for half the room to hear, “if you don’t need the Vale, then what’s with the diamond necklace on your neck? Are you going to say you bought that with your scholarship too? And the couture gown you’re wearing—wasn’t that paid for by Mrs. Vale?”
I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I turned and looked at Adrian, still standing offstage, silent as stone. “Adrian,” I asked, my voice calm, “would you mind?”
His silence told me everything. He wasn’t about to take Elara away from her little performance.
I laughed—soft, bitter. I’d thought stepping aside for him and Elara would be enough. That if I gave them their perfect little fairytale, they’d let me go in peace.
But no. Some people couldn’t let go without trying to shred you first.
My gaze swept the room before finally settling on Elara. Even with layers of makeup, she couldn’t quite mask the jealousy burning in her eyes.
“So what?” I said coolly. “Mrs. Vale thought I looked good in this dress and gifted it to me for my graduation party. Is that a crime?”
Elara’s lips curled. “You said you didn’t need the Vale to support you. So why not prove it? Leave everything they ever gave you before you call yourself modest. Otherwise, aren’t you just another hypocrite?”
I simply reached for the necklace around my throat and unclasped it and handed it to her.
Then, without flinching, I pulled at the zipper of my gown. The fabric slipped off my shoulders and floated to the floor.
Gasps rippled through the room.
Beneath the couture gown, I’d worn a simple nude slip. I had worried the dress might be too revealing and had layered for comfort. Now it felt like armor.
“This,” I said quietly, “I bought for myself. I assume I’m allowed to keep it?”
Elara’s eyes narrowed, but she shrugged. “Sure.”
Then she gestured toward my shoes. “What about the heels?”
I slipped them off. Walked to the edge of the stage. And kicked them gently toward her.
“Are you satisfied now?”
“Very,” she said, linking her arm through Adrian’s. “Babe, I’m tired. Can we call it a night?”
Adrian looked at me for the briefest moment. His expression unreadable. Then he nodded. “Of course, babe.”
The hosts had vanished. The guests were leaving in murmuring waves.
I stood barefoot on the stage, my head high.
Elara might thought she’d won, that humiliation would break me.
But the truth? I felt… free. Elara could have her crown. It had never fit me anyway.
In front of everyone, I had severed my final tie to the Vale. And that was the only closure I needed.
Just as I stepped into the warm night, a sleek black car slid to a stop at the curb. The passenger window rolled down.
“Selene Moray?” a voice called. A man’s, low and smooth. His face half-shadowed by streetlight.
“I’m Elias Knight,” he said. “Would you mind having a word with me?”
I blinked. The Elias Knight? The one from the Southern mafia?
In my past life, I’d only heard his name once—when I tried to broker a deal and was shut down without a second thought. Why was he here now?
“I’m… not exactly dressed for a business talk,” I said lightly. “Maybe another time?”
“There’s a new dress in the backseat,” he said, unfazed. “Get changed. There’s a bar just around the corner. I can buy you a drink there.”
He insisted.
So I smiled. “Sure.”
