ALINA
My hands trembled so violently that the box nearly fell from my fingers.
The beeping filled my ears like a countdown to death. My breath hitched.
I tried to suck in air, but my lungs wouldn't cooperate. The room was shaking around me.
The words on the note blurred before my eyes, but they were already burned into my memory.
I staggered backward, knocking into my desk. My knees gave out and I sank to the floor, the cold tile biting through my dress.
Was this real? Was this actually happening?
"Alina!" Ethan's voice sounded miles away. "We have to move now!"
But I couldn't move. I couldn't even blink. My whole body felt frozen in place, locked in that moment with the ticking sound of death.
I had just tried on the most beautiful dress of my life.
And the
