Lena's POV
The dress was hanging on the wardrobe door when I woke up.
Black. Floor length. The kind of thing that doesn't announce itself loudly because it doesn't need to — the cut did all the talking, clean and precise and expensive in the way that never displays a price tag. Beside it on the dresser, a small box. Inside the box, a pair of earrings. Simple, dark stones set in gold.
A note beneath the box, in handwriting I hadn't seen before but recognised immediately — controlled, minimal, exactly as you'd expect.
Tonight. Seven o'clock. Wear this.
I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the dress for a long time.
No explanation. No context. Just the dress and the earrings and the time, the way you'd brief someone on an assignment rather than invite them somewhere.
I found Mara
