Elena’s Point Of View

For a split second, the words didn’t feel real. My brain scrambled, tripping over itself, as if reality had bent into some impossible dream. My chest rose and fell, breath trapped halfway between panic and disbelief.

This had to be a dream. It had to. My mind grasped for logic, maybe I fell asleep on Lexy’s plush couch while flipping through gowns, maybe the boutique had slipped into one of those vivid nightmares where desire and fear tangled too tightly.

But the ...