Seraphina's Point Of View
Lydia's words sliced through the room like broken glass. Cold. Sharp. Deliberate. "Whether I introduce myself or not, it's not your business. I decide who I introduce myself to. Not everyone deserves that."
For a second, the air didn't just go quiet, it thickened. Like someone had shut all the windows and locked the oxygen outside. I felt it before I even saw it. Rose stiffened beside me. And that… that alone was enough to make something ugly rise in my chest.
Because Rose never stiffens.
She's composed in a way that borders on surgical. Calm voice. Measured movements. The kind of woman who could probably announce a building collapse without raising her tone.
But now?
Her shoulders squared. Her jaw tightened. And when she spoke, her voice wasn't loud, but it carried. "You'll stand up right now and introduce yourself," she said, each word clipped clean. "Because the boss said so. You're nothing special."
