C16 Sixteen

CIARA

The velvet emerald dress clung tightly to my waist, leaving my collarbones completely bare. As I stood in front of the full-length mirror, my knuckles were white against the edge of the wood. The door didn’t just unlock—it swung open with a violent, heavy thud that made the glass panels rattle.

Hayes stood in the frame. He wore a sharp, pitch-black formal suit