I Seek You Give

The chandelier overhead sparkled like a constellation of shattered stars, the golden glow casting a warm illusion of serenity over the grand ballroom.

The air was thick with the mingling scents of expensive perfume, champagne, and whispered ambition.

Paris was known for its elegance, but in the world of the wealthy elite, elegance was merely a mask for power.

Selene Laurent stepped through the towering glass doors, her presence a calculated storm wrapped in a fitted black gown. Every head turned-of course, they did.

The youngest self-made CEO in the city, her name was carved into the very foundation of the business world. A woman of icy resolve and untouchable prestige.

She glided past the murmuring guests, each footstep clicking against the marble floor with controlled precision.

The gala was a predictable charade-business magnates shaking hands under the guise of charity, millionaires draped in silk and jewels, their conversations as polished as the glasses they held.

Selene had attended hundreds of such events, and yet, something about tonight felt... different.

A disturbance in the air was like a pull and a whisper of something she couldn't name.

She ignored the feeling, plucking a glass of champagne from a waiter's tray without breaking stride.

"Selene," a voice purred from her left.

She turned her head slightly. Camille Devereaux, her closest confidante and most trusted advisor, stood with her arms crossed, her knowing eyes scanning Selene's face.

"You look like you'd rather be anywhere but here," Camille mused, taking a slow sip of her drink.

Selene exhaled softly, scanning the room with careful detachment. "These people pretend to care about philanthropy while discussing stock mergers and backroom deals. It's exhausting."

Camille smile. "And yet, here you are."

"Business requires presence," Selene replied smoothly, taking a deliberate sip of her drink. "People fear what they cannot touch. It's useful."

Camille's eyes narrowed slightly. "And yet, you seem uneasy."

Selene didn't answer. The feeling lingered-like an invisible thread winding tighter around her ribs, pulling, warning.

Then it happened.

A shift in the crowd. A ripple of attention toward the entrance. A whisper of a name she hadn't heard in years.

Selene's breath stilled.

She turned her head, and there-standing beneath the golden lights, draped in a crimson gown that clung to her like sin-was Aurora Sinclair.

The past didn't knock. It didn't whisper. It crashed into Selene like a wave that swallowed her whole.

Aurora.

Her first love and her first betrayal. A woman she had once sworn never to forgive and now, she was back.

The room blurred around Selene, voices fading into static. Her grip tightened around the delicate stem of her champagne glass.

It had been five years since Aurora had walked away, since she had disappeared without a trace, leaving behind nothing but broken promises and a love that had rotted into something cruel.

She should look away. She should turn on her heel and leave but she couldn't.

Aurora's golden eyes swept the room, slow, calculated, searching and then they met Selene's.

Time fractured. A second stretched into an eternity.

Selene expected regret, hesitation, something-anything. But Aurora's lips curled into a ghost of a smirk, as if she had expected this, as if she knew exactly what she was doing.

Beside her, a man stood, his placed possessively at the small of her back Selene's stomach turned ice because she knew that man.

Damian Rothschild.

Her biggest rival. Her most dangerous enemy in the business world and Aurora Sinclair was standing at his side as though she belonged there.

A slow, burning rage crawled up Selene's spine.

"Of all the people she could have returned with," Camille murmured, voice laced with sharp amusement. "She chose him?"

Selene didn't answer. Her heart shouldn't be racing. Her mind shouldn't be spinning. But it was.

Aurora and Damian, a pairing that made no sense. The past and the present colliding in ways she hadn't prepared for.

Before she could process it, Aurora was walking toward her.

Selene forced herself to remain still, to keep her expression unreadable. She had perfected the art of indifference. Aurora Sinclair was nothing more than a relic of the past.

A relic that was now standing inches away from her.

"Selene." Her voice was a soft melody laced with something unreadable.

Selene tilted her head slightly, her lips curving into a slow, detached smirk. "Aurora."

Aurora's eyes flashed with something-familiarity, challenge, something unspoken. "It's been a while."

Selene raised her champagne glass to her lips, taking a slow sip before answering. "Has it?"

A flicker of something crossed Aurora's face, but it was gone too fast for Selene to catch.

Damian stepped forward, extending a hand. "Selene. A pleasure, as always."

Selene didn't take it. "I'd say the same, but I don't make a habit of lying."

Damian chuckled, unfazed. "Ah, the famous Laurent sharp tongue." He glanced at Aurora, something smug in his expression. "I believe you two know each other."

Selene finally turned her full attention to Aurora, the past clawing at the edges of her carefully built walls. "Briefly," she said smoothly. "A lifetime ago."

Aurora's lips parted, but before she could speak, Damian pulled her closer, fingers pressing against the curve of her waist.

It was a deliberate move,Selene's fingers twitched but didn't pull away.

That fact burned more than it should have.

"You look well," Aurora murmured, her gaze lingering on Selene's face.

Selene's smirk didn't falter, but her tone sharpened. "Unlike some, I don't live in the past."

Aurora flinched-just a fraction, but Selene caught it.

Damian laughed, clearly enjoying the tension. "We should all catch up soon. It would be... entertaining."

Selene's gaze flickered between them. "I doubt you'd survive it, Damian."

His smile widened. "Oh, I do love a challenge."

Aurora shifted, her fingers brushing the hem of her dress. A nervous tick she had always had.

Selene caught it, stored it away.

Then, as if sensing her thoughts, Aurora leaned in slightly, voice just above a whisper.

"I never stopped thinking about you." Selene's pulse stumbled.

Before she could react, before she could school her features into something neutral, Aurora was already pulling away, her lips still curved into that unreadable smirk.

Then, just as suddenly as she had appeared, she was gone.

The music swelled. The conversations resumed. The world continued as if nothing had happened.

But Selene stood there, fingers curled around her glass, heart pounding in her ears.

A storm had returned to her world and this time, she didn't know if she would survive it.