Chapter 27: Red Carpet Reckoning
The elevator doors slide open on the seventy-eighth floor of Lockwood Tower, and the sound hits first—low hum of conversation, clink of champagne flutes, camera shutters snapping like distant gunfire. The grand ballroom is already alive: crystal chandeliers throwing light across black ties and evening gowns, waiters gliding with trays of caviar and vintage Dom Pérignon, a string quartet playing something elegant and forgettable in the corner. Every eye turns when we step out.
Bella’s hand is in mine, steady as steel. She doesn’t flinch under the stares. The emerald gown catches the light like deep water, the slit flashing just enough leg to remind everyone she’s not here to be overlooked. Her chin is up, shoulders back, the small swell of her pregnancy hi
