HAILEY
At first, no one reacts.
I can practically feel the confusion spreading through the room as I continue walking past table after table.
Then the whispers start getting louder.
“Where is she going?”
“Wait…”
“No way.”
“That seat is reserved—”
Dominic’s mother laughs loudly behind me.
“Oh my God,” she scoffs. “She’s actually insane.”
But I don’t stop.
My heels click softly against the polished floor while every pair of eyes in the hall follows me.
And suddenly—
I become hyper aware of everything.
The music quietly playing overhead, the weight of people’s stares, my heartbeat, the way Dominic hasn’t said a single word since I started walking.
Then finally—
“Hailey.”
His voice comes sharper this time tinged with warning and confusion. Even almost desperate.
I still don’
