Hailey's POV
The suite was quiet in the way only expensive spaces ever were.
It was not peaceful, it felt controlled.
The floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city, Singapore laid out below like a field of carefully arranged lights. Everything glittered, everything pretended permanence. I stood in the center of it, barefoot on cool marble, while two stylists hovered behind me like obedient ghosts.
The dress waited on its stand.
Midnight blue, liquid silk. Cut low enough to be unmistakable, structured enough to be deliberate. It clung without apologizing, the kind of gown that wasn't meant to flatter so much as announce.
I watched my reflection as they zipped me in.
This wasn't armor.
This was a challenge.
The first major gala since my return. The first time
