CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
The grand hall, festooned with silken banners and fragrant blooms, falls into a hush as I step onto the dais. The crowd's excitement, which had been bubbling like a potion over flame, turns to a simmering concern. My heart pounds, not with wedding jitters, but with a dread that tightens around my chest like a vice.
"Everyone," I begin, my voice surprisingly steady, "the celebration... our celebration is on pause." Murmurs of confusion ripple through the gathered guests as I steady myself. "Vee is missing."
Gasps and whispers swell in the room, and a few cries of dismay punctuate the somber news. It takes every ounce of resolve not to let my knees buckle beneath me. Vee, with her strawberry blonde hair that always caught the sunlight just right, who had been pushed a
