Willa’s chest heaved rapidly as she struggled to draw breath into her suddenly constricted lungs. Her perfectly manicured reality—the one where she was the successful, highly-connected socialite taking pity on her poor, destitute friend—had been thoroughly, brutally dismantled in the span of five minutes. She looked at Casper—the man she had spent years dismissing as a pathetic, penniless loser who couldn't even afford a decent suit—and saw only a cold, unfathomable abyss staring back at her.
"I... I didn't mean anything by it," Willa stammered, her voice shaking so violently it was barely recognizable. Her previous arrogance had evaporated completely, leaving behind a pathetic husk of a woman desperately trying to save face. She pressed herself harder against the wall, trying to put as m
