We found a dress.
The paparazzi didn’t make it easy. Their cameras flashed like strobe lights as Williams pushed us back into the SUV. Shouts followed us down the street. Questions, wild guesses, accusations—all of it blurred together into noise.
Inside, the doors slammed shut. Silence fell, broken only by the hum of the engine. Williams checked the rearview mirror. “Seat belts buckled?”
Mine was already locked tight across my chest. Beside me, Linda clipped hers in place with a neat click. She smoothed her hair as if nothing outside had happened, then turned to me with a faint smile.
“Have you thought about hair and makeup yet?”
“Constantly,” I said, my voice dry as dust. “It’s the only thing I think about these days. A girl has to keep her priorities straight.”
Linda’s smile sharpe
