I didn't move.
I couldn't.
The music was still pounding, lights flashing red and blue across the dance floor, but none of it mattered anymore. Everything narrowed into a single point—him.
The man who looked exactly like Rome Hariston.
We stared at each other from across the room like the world had been paused mid-breath. It wasn't dramatic in a cinematic way. It was worse. Quiet. Heavy. The kind of stillness that presses down on your chest until breathing feels optional.
His body stiffened the moment he recognized me. I saw it, the way his shoulders went rigid, the way his jaw clenched like he was holding something back. Surprise flickered across his face first. Then Shock and Disbelief.
Like he couldn't believe I was real.
I hated that look.
My fingers trembled around the glass in my hand. I hadn't realized how dizzy I was until I tried to shift my weight and the floor tilted beneath me.
"Sylvia?" Amie's voice reached me, muffled, distant. "Hey… you okay?"
I didn't answer.
