The silence stretches between us like a blade drawn across silk. Clara's mother stares at me with the kind of look reserved for insects discovered in expensive wine. Her perfectly manicured fingers tremble slightly—the only crack in her porcelain composure.
"You're lying." Her voice cuts through the night air. "Clara would never—"
"Tell her, Clara." I keep my arm wrapped around her waist, feeling the rapid flutter of her pulse against my ribs. "Tell your mother about us."
Clara's breath catches. For a heartbeat, I think she might bolt. But then something shifts in her expression. The desperate fear transforms into something sharper. More determined.
"It's true, Mother." Her voice grows stronger with each word. "Aiden and I have been together for months."
"Impossible." The older woman's face contorts with disgust. "You're an heiress to one of Jiangnan Province's most powerful families. You wouldn't soil yourself with this... this nobody."
