"Bella."
The voice was low, rough, almost urgent. Bella turned, startled, and her wide eyes relieved when she saw him.
"Alan," she said with a small smile, relieved to see a familiar face in the sea of familer strangers.
Alan's eyes, however, weren't soft. They were sharp, stormy, fixed not on her but on the man beside her. Giovanni.
"What are you doing here?" Alan asked, his tone clipped, his tall frame blocking part of the light as he towered over them.
Giovanni chuckled smoothly, tilting his glass, unbothered by the tension in Alan's voice. "What am I doing? Nothing at all. Just having a pleasant conversation with Isabella. Isn't that right, Bella?"
Bella blinked nervously between them, then nodded, offering a faint smile. "Y-yes, we were just talking."
Alan's jaw clenched. He didn't say another word. Instead, he stepped closer, his hand sliding around Bella's wrist in one swift motion.
"Alan—!" Bella gasped, her eyes widening in shock as he pulled her away.
