Chapter 4

Elena Voss stepped into the Crystal Pavilion Ballroom with her spine straight and her stomach in knots. The space had been built for nights like this: marble floors that turned every footfall into announcement, tiered seating that forced every eye toward the central dais, and crystal chandeliers positioned to splinter light across faces already hungry for spectacle. Tonight the elite parents of St. Aldric Academy filled the tables, their whispers sharper than the champagne flutes they held.

The paternity rumor had followed her here. It always would until she killed it.

Alexander Vale walked at her side, close enough for the cameras to register possession, far enough that she still felt the chill of the contract between them. His hand rested lightly at the small of her back—public claim, private boundary. Three weeks of borrowed name had become twelve months of binding performance, and the price was climbing by the hour.

From the edge of the crowd, Margot Hale watched them both. The rival’s smile never reach

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