Alessia's Pov
As I returned to my room in Luca’s mansion, the familiar mix of exhaustion and unease weighed on me. The events of the day had left me emotionally drained, from Madam Claudia’s sharp critiques to Luca’s unsettling warning about Andrea. I closed the door behind me and exhaled deeply, letting the quiet of the room soothe my frayed nerves.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand, pulling me from my thoughts. I picked it up, the name on the screen making my heart skip a beat.
Andrea.
I hesitated for a moment before opening the message.
"How did the gown hunt go, princess? Let me guess—Claudia had a lot to say about your choices, didn’t she?"
I could almost hear his teasing tone, the playful edge in his words contrasting sharply with the tension that had followed me all day. My f
