The big day had finally arrived.

Zoe woke before the sun had fully risen, her heart racing with excitement and nerves. The soft morning light spilled through her bedroom windows, and she fought to calm the fluttering inside her chest. After a light breakfast, she left with her mother for the luxurious Palácio dos Cedros in São Paulo. The air there was perfumed with fresh jasmine, and the timeless beauty of the palace’s architecture seemed to whisper of romance and history. It was there, in that