|Serena's POV|
My pulse is wildfire beneath silk and skin as I step out from behind Gryphon's shielding presence.
I don't know what I'm doing—except I do. I've always known how to perform, how to twist myself into the version of Serena they all expect: polished, composed, controlled. Not the girl who used to cry herself to sleep curled into the corner of her closet. Not the girl who once begged a monster to love her because he told her no one else ever would.
So I smile. Tilt my chin. Step forward.
And lie.
"Of course," I say softly, though my voice tastes like ash. "One dance."
Gryphon doesn't move, not right away. His jaw is so tight I hear the faint click of bone grinding against itself. But he knows. He knows he can't stop me. Not here. Not in this glittering ballroom where Dono
