One Last Night.

Liana Blake.

The Imperial Crown Hotel was already crowded when we arrived. The entire ballroom had been transformed into something out of a dream.

Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting golden light over the room. Soft music filled the air while masked guests moved between tables covered with champagne and expensive food.

Everyone looked mysterious behind their masks.

Cassian placed his mask over his face before looking at me. “You’re supposed to wear yours too.”

I smiled. “I know.” I put mine on.

He held out his hand again. “Come on.”

We stepped into the ballroom together.

Almost immediately, several people turned toward us. Even with his face partially hidden, Cassian still attracted attention.

A waitress approached us carrying a tray of drinks. “Champagne?”

Cassian picked up two glasses and handed one to me. “To your graduation.”

I raised my glass. “To my graduation.”

Our glasses clinked and we took a sip.

The drink was sweet, and we finished the entire glass.

“Come on.” He took my hand and led me toward the dance floor, and as the music changed to something slower, his arm settled around my waist.

I placed my hand on his shoulder and we swayed lightly to the music.

For a moment, everything else disappeared.

There was no mansion.

No mother.

No plane ticket.

No Rosewood City.

No keys to the apartment.

Just Cassian.

The man I had loved for five years.

I tried desperately not to think about the fact that this might be the last time I would ever dance with him.

“You’re quiet tonight,” he murmured.

I smiled faintly. “I’m just enjoying this.”

“Good.” He looked down at me. “Then keep smiling.”

I nodded.

I wanted to memorize everything one last time: the warmth of his hand, the sound of his voice, the way he looked at me like I was the only one present in the room.

Everything.

I opened my mouth to speak, but suddenly his whole body stiffened. His steps faltered right in the middle of the dance floor. The relaxed look on his handsome face vanished into a harsh scowl of confusion. His fingers clenched tightly around my waist, his knuckles turning stark white.

“Cassian?” I gasped, my voice spiking with panic. I grabbed his shoulders, staring up at him with wide eyes. “Cassian, what is wrong? Are you okay?”

He didn’t answer right away. His jaw clenched, and his breath came out in hot, ragged gasps smelling faintly of the champagne we had shared. His knees buckled underneath him, his weight dropping forward.

“Whoa—!” I cried, throwing my arms around his shoulders to catch him before he fell onto the marble floor.

“Liana…” he groaned, his voice thick, heavy, and slurred. His eyes rolled underneath his silver mask. “My head… everything is spinning… I can’t breathe…”

“Cassian! Look at me! Stay with me!” Panic clawed at my chest. The sweet taste of the champagne turned icy cold in my stomach. Had someone slipped something into his drink?

“Come on, lean on me,” I cried, gritting my teeth as I hoisted him up, letting his massive weight lean against my side. I dragged him away from the crowded dance floor toward the quiet hotel hallways.

My arms shook, but sheer terror kept me moving. Finally, I pushed open the door to his private suite upstairs—the one he had checked into earlier when we arrived here because he planned on staying the night here with his girlfriend after the ball was over.

We stumbled inside and kicked it shut. I half-carried him to the king-sized bed, dumping him onto the mattress. He groaned, rolling onto his back, his chest heaving. His silver mask slipped off, clattering against the nightstand, revealing a face flushed red with sweat.

“Cassian, stay right here! Let me call a doctor!” I stammered, my hands shaking as I pulled out my phone.

Before my thumb could press the screen, a heavy hand shot out. His fingers wrapped around my wrist with a crushing grip.

I gasped, looking down. Cassian’s eyes were half-open, glazed over from whatever drug had poisoned him. He looked utterly helpless.

“Liana… please…” he whispered, his voice cracking painfully.

My heart hammered against my ribs. “What is it? Do you need water? Medicine? Tell me!”

“Stay… stay here with me…” He swallowed hard, staring at the ceiling with unseeing eyes. His fingers trembled against my wrist, rubbing circles into my skin. “Don’t leave me alone… I need you… Can you help me? Please… just tonight… be with me…”

For one brief, crazy second, my breath caught. A hot wave of shock and wild hope rushed through my veins. Did he mean…? Was he finally asking for me? My mind raced, imagining all my hidden desires bursting into the open. Did he want us to finally cross that forbidden line?

And then his lips parted, and he muttered a name into the quiet air of the room.

“…Ella.”

The name dropped like a heavy stone onto my chest, crushing every ounce of hope into dust.

Ella.

Not Liana. He was calling out for Ella, his glamorous girlfriend. Even when completely out of his head, his traitorous heart still belonged to another woman. He only wanted me because he was weak and hallucinating, mistaking me for someone else.

Tears welled up in my eyes, hot and bitter. A sharp sob caught in my throat. Even on my last night before being banished forever, I was still just a substitute. A second choice.

“You’re calling for her,” I whispered, my voice trembling as fresh tears tracked down my cheeks. “Even now… you still want her, don’t you?”

He didn’t hear me. He was too far gone, groaning in agony. “Ella… where are you… please…”

The pain in my chest was so brutal I thought my heart would stop. I wanted to run out of that room forever, pack my bags, and catch the morning flight to Rosewood City.

And yet… my feet remained glued to the floor.

My inner obsession—that fierce, burning love I had harbored for five years—began to twist inside my mind into something dark and unhinged. Tomorrow, I would be gone, forced to live out my days watching him love someone else. I had nothing left to lose.

Why not? A dark voice whispered inside my head. If he cannot tell who is standing right in front of him, and if he is begging for a woman tonight… why couldn’t it be me? Just for tonight, why must it always be Ella?

My breathing turned shallow. My hands shook as I looked down at the bed, then toward the nightstand where his silver mask rested next to Ella’s identical velvet mask—the one she had dropped earlier that evening.

A wild thought took control of my brain. I didn’t care about the consequences anymore. I didn’t care if it was wrong or if he would hate me tomorrow. I needed to know what it felt like to be chosen by him, even if it was built on a lie.

Slowly, my shaking hand reached out toward the nightstand. My fingers brushed against the cool fabric of Ella’s mask; she was supposed to join us for the ball, but she never came. I picked it up, holding it tightly in my palm.

Cassian groaned again, tossing his head restlessly. “Ella… please… come here…”

Hearing him call that name in delirium, I didn’t say a word. I kept my lips pressed tightly together, refusing to let out the sobs tearing at my throat. I did not respond. I did not give away my identity.

Instead, with trembling fingers, I reached over to the wall switch and clicked it down.

Instantly, the bright overhead lights snapped off, plunging the bedroom into absolute, pitch-black darkness, hiding my tear-stained face and ensuring the room was dark enough to keep up the heartbreaking illusion until the very end.