CHAPTER 69:

CHARITY GALA - THE AVALON BALLROOM

The charity gala shone like a perfect dream. Crystal lights. Soft music. Smiles everywhere.

For Aria, it felt like walking a tightrope in a storm.

She was wearing a midnight blue dress. Lucian had once told her it made her look like a sky full of stars. Tonight, he wasn't there to say it again. He stood across the room with Elena Voss, his face calm, closed, impossible to read.

Gabriel Thorne appeared beside her just as a waiter offered her champag