The gallery buzzed with low, glittering conversation.
A new installation opening —
one Serena had scrambled to arrange in under three weeks.
Sponsors circled like cautious hawks.
Reporters drifted,
hungry for something.
For anything.
Serena adjusted the strap of her black satin gown and smiled,
ignoring the pit of unease gnawing at her ribs.
Beside her, Landon lounged against the champagne bar, grinning at two young artists like he had all the time in the world.
He wasn't even trying to hide it anymore.
The flirting.
The wandering eyes.
The lazy touches that weren't meant for her.
Serena laughed brightly when she needed to.
Posed for photos with Landon's arm heavy around her waist.
Accepted congratulations she hadn't earned.
But the whispers were sharper tonight.
She heard them.
Felt them cutting along her exposed spine.
"She looks thinner, doesn't she?"
"Is he even into her anymore?"
"Malik would never—"
The name hit like a slap.
Malik.
Still in the room somehow,
even when he wasn't anywhere near it.
Serena ducked into a quieter hallway to breathe,
the noise thick and cloying behind her.
That's when she saw it.
One of the guests — a finance exec she barely knew —
laughed over something on his phone.
He tilted the screen for his friend to see.
There, on the news banner:
GRAVES HOLDINGS ANNOUNCES $250M LUXURY PROJECT IN WESTRIDGE DISTRICT.
A photo underneath —
Malik stepping out of a black town car,
suit sharp, smile easy,
flanked by city officials and other heavyweights.
No scandal.
No drama.
Just power.
Just momentum.
Just Malik,
rising clean and effortless.
Serena's chest tightened painfully.
The world moved forward —
and Malik had never once stumbled.
Meanwhile, here she was.
Gripping her clutch so hard the fake diamonds bit into her palm.
Listening to Landon's laughter echo from the next room,
flirting shamelessly with someone newer, younger, shinier.
She stayed in the hallway for another few minutes.
Let herself breathe.
Smoothed the crack before it could split wide open.
Then she slipped back into the party,
a hollowed-out smile fixed perfectly on her face.
When Landon slung his arm around her casually again,
Serena leaned into it.
Let the cameras flash.
Let the lies pile up.
Because it was all she had left to hold onto.
And if she let go now—
She might not stop falling.