The sound of soft jazz playing over the Meridian Crown's audio system felt entirely out of place against the suffocating, ice-cold terror that had gripped VIP Booth Four.
For a full ten seconds, no one dared to breathe.
Liv's face cycled through shades of chalky white and blotchy, burning crimson. Her lower lip trembled as her brain frantically tried to process the catastrophic reality crashing down around her. The girl she had patronized outside the campus gates, mocked for walking to lunch, and ridiculed for allegedly wearing fake high fashion was the sister of the undisputed titan who now held total economic dominion over Veyra.
"A-Aliya..." Liv stammered, her voice cracking into a high-pitched, pathetic squeak as she forced a grotesque, trembling smile. "I... we were just joking! You know how high school reunions are, right? Everyone likes to tease and blow things out of proportion! We didn't mean any of it..."
