~JASMINE'S POV~
"Well, well, well… who do we have here?"
The sound hit like a splinter under my skin. My shoulders stiffened before I even turned around, my eyes landing on Daniel Heart, my cousin. Uncle Vale's golden boy.
He stood a few feet away, framed in the doorway like some smug ghost from a past I didn't care to revisit. His gaze swept over the bags in my arms, pausing just a second too long on the black satin gown draped over one.
"Spending the family fortune, Jasmine? Or is this Frost's black card I'm seeing in action?"
I took him in slowly, deliberately. Tall, polished, tailored to perfection. The kind of man who could walk into a boardroom and convince them to sell their souls if he wasn't already in possession of them.
But the smile… that smile was too smooth. And the eyes? They didn't just watch; they measured.
"Daniel," I said flatly.
Sophia leaned close enough for me to catch the faint scent of her champagne lip gloss. "Oh, this'll be fun," she murmured.
