The Beginning

 **Tiffany’s pov**

  By the time I realized I had made the biggest mistake of my life, dawn was already creeping through the floor to ceiling windows. Golden light spilled across the rumpled white sheets, turning everything soft and warm, as though the room itself refused to acknowledge what had happened only hours earlier.

  I lay perfectly still, as my heartbeat thundered in my ears. This wasn’t my bedroom, and it

  wasn’t my apartment. I certainly wasn’t supposed to be where I woke up after promising

  myself for the last twenty seven years that I would never do something so reckless.

  Slowly, I turned my head.

  He was still asleep.

  His face was turned toward the window, the early morning sun tracing the sharp line of his

  jaw. Dark hair fell carelessly across his forehead, hiding part of his face from view. One

  powerful arm rested across the empty space between us as if, even in sleep, he expected

  me to still be there.

  Last night he had worn a silver mask, and I had worn sapphire blue. We had spent hours

  talking without exchanging names, and somewhere between laughter, dancing, and

  conversations that felt far too honest for two strangers, I had forgotten every rule I had ever

  lived by.

  I should have left after the gala.

  Instead… I ended up here, I pressed both hands against my burning cheeks.

  “Oh, Tiffany…

  ”

  This wasn’t me, I planned everything, every meeting, every deadline, and every step of

  my career. I never acted on impulse. Yet somehow, one mysterious man with kind eyes

  hidden behind a mask had completely dismantled years of careful self control in a single

  evening.

  The frightening part wasn’t that we’d spent the night together, it was that I didn’t regret it,

  not even a little. That realization terrified me, I quietly slipped out of bed, careful not to wake

  him. The polished wooden floor felt cold beneath my bare feet.

  My dress was draped neatly over the arm of a cream colored sofa, while his tuxedo jacket

  lay beside it. I smiled despite myself, at least one of us had remembered to fold our clothes.

  Last night replayed in fragments, his laugh.

  The way he listened instead of waiting for his turn to speak, how he looked at me as

  though every word I said actually mattered. When was the last time anyone had done that? I

  couldn’t remember.

  I gathered my dress and disappeared into the marble bathroom, a few minutes later I

  stared at my reflection. My hair looked hopelessly tangled, mascara had smudged beneath

  my eyes. The sapphire earrings Molly had insisted I wear were missing.

  I found one beside the sink. The other… hopefully it hadn’t disappeared forever. I let out a

  small laugh, Molly was going to kill me. She was going to interrogate me for at least three

  hours before deciding whether to kill me.

  “You did what?” she would scream.

  “I know.

  ”

  “With a stranger?”

  “I know.

  ”

  “Without knowing his name?”

  “I know.

  ”

  I groaned softly.

  There was absolutely no version of this story that made me sound responsible. After

  smoothing my dress as much as possible, I stepped back into the bedroom. He hadn’t

  moved, the room was silent except for the faint sound of his breathing.

  For reasons I couldn’t explain, I found myself walking closer, so I studied him properly for

  the first time. Without the mask, he looked… peaceful. Very different from the confident man

  who had teased me all night.

  There was something strangely vulnerable about him while he slept, his hand rested near

  the pillow, they were strong. A faint scar crossed one of his knuckles, I wondered how he’d

  gotten it. I also wondered what he looked like when he smiled without holding anything back.

  Then I caught myself, and stopped. You’re leaving, you’ll never see him again. That had

  always been the unspoken agreement, the masquerade existed because people wanted one

  evening free from expectations.

  No names, no titles, and no promises, just memories. I reached for my purse, as I did, a

  leather wallet caught my attention on the bedside table, it looked expensive, beside it rested

  a sleek silver watch that probably cost more than my car.

  So… he was wealthy. I shouldn’t have been surprised, half the guests at last night’s gala

  probably owned skyscrapers. For a brief second curiosity whispered in my ear, one glance

  inside the wallet, one look at an ID, and you’d know who he is.

  My fingers twitched, then I shook my head. No. If he had wanted me to know his name,

  he would have told me, and if I looked now… it would ruin everything. Some memories were

  beautiful because they remained unfinished.

  I picked up the hotel notepad from the desk, the pen hovered over the paper. What

  exactly did someone write after spending one unforgettable night with a complete stranger?

  Nothing seemed right. Finally, I smiled to myself and wrote the only thing that felt honest.

  “Thank you…

  ”

  I paused, then continued.

  “Thank you for reminding me that life can still surprise me”

  .

  No name, no phone number, and no invitation to meet again, just gratitude. I placed the

  note beneath the pen where he’d easily see it, my hand rested on it for a moment.

  “Goodbye,

  ” I whispered.

  Not because I was heartbroken. But because some part of me wished we’d met under

  different circumstances. I quietly opened the suite door, before stepping outside, I glanced

  back one last time. He was still asleep.

  Completely unaware that the woman he’d spent the night talking and laughing with was

  walking out of his life forever, or so we both believed. I slipped into the hallway, as the door

  clicked shut behind me.

  As the elevator carried me toward the lobby, I had no idea that twelve hours earlier, I

  hadn’t even wanted to attend the masquerade. If Molly hadn’t practically dragged me there…

  none of this would have happened.

  And if I had known the stranger behind the silver mask would one day become the man

  standing across from me at the altar… I would have run the moment our eyes met