Sophia
The ballroom’s chaos faded the moment we stepped outside.
The cameras, the whispers, the lights—all behind us now. The cold night air wrapped around me, but I didn’t shiver. Not when Erick placed a hand on the small of my back, guiding me toward the sleek black car waiting by the curb.
He opened the door for me like a gentleman out of another time.
I slid in, the leather seat cool beneath me. The moment he climbed in after me, he pressed a discreet button and the partition between us and the driver slowly lifted, closing us into a world of our own.
He turned toward me, his eyes scanning my face with care. “Are you okay?” he asked again as if the question held more weight than the world we had just left behind.
I smiled at him. “I’m fine. All thanks to you.”
He didn’t speak
