SOPHIA
“STOP!”
The microphone screeched, the sound cutting through the ballroom like shattered glass.
Everyone froze.
A woman in a red dress stood just beyond the stage, her hand wrapped tightly around a mic she must have snatched from a nearby server.
She looked about my age, maybe a little older. Beautiful, in a messy way that screamed desperation and defiance.
“Jace. Remember me?” she asked. Her voice was shaking but loud enough to carry through the room. “I’m pregnant. I had no way to reach you until tonight.”
My heart stopped.
I turned to Jace for an explanation but he looked pale.
Silence rippled through the room like a sudden pressure drop.
The cameras started clicking again, and murmurs rolled through the crowd like thunder in the distance.
Jace took one step forward.
