The grand ballroom vibrated with a palpable energy as Eloise stood beside Clara, feeling the heavy weight of the night pressing down on her shoulders like an oppressive shroud. The atmosphere felt surreal, as if the recent tragedy—the violent death of a family member, an act committed by the very man who was destined to become the head of the household—had been somehow erased from the collective memory of the guests. Laughter echoed off the ornate walls, a cacophony of mirth that seemed to float above the shadows of despair, while the elegantly dressed guests moved about with an unsettling ease, as if such catastrophic events were merely footnotes in their privileged lives. The stark normalcy of it all gnawed at Eloise’s insides, filling her with a deep-seated unease that twisted like a co
