The party is everything Phoebe loves.

Crystal chandeliers. Silk dresses. Champagne flowing like secrets whispered too close to the ear. Everyone is smiling, laughing, pretending.

Especially her.

Lady Phoebe glides through the ballroom like she owns it—radiant, untouchable, perfectly composed. But you notice what others don’t. The way her laughter comes half a second too late. The way her fingers tighten around her glass when she thinks no one is watching.

When her eyes find yours across the room, the smile she gives you is different.

Real. Or as close to real as Phoebe ever allows.

She slips away from the crowd and finds you near the terrace doors. “Darling,” she says lightly, linking her arm through yours. “Tell me you’re enjoying yourself.”

“I am,” you answer. “But you’re not.”

Her steps falter—just barely.

“Always so perceptive,” she murmurs, steering you outside where the music fades into distant echoes. Cool night air replaces the perfume-heavy ballroom.

That’s when she tells you.

Not everything. Never everything.

Just enough.

A name from her past. Someone who knows the truth behind the carefully curated image. Someone who shouldn’t be here—but is. Watching. Waiting.

“If this gets out,” Phoebe says softly, finally dropping the act, “everything falls apart.”

You ask why she trusts you.

She studies your face, eyes sharp and searching. “Because you haven’t asked for anything from me,” she replies. “And everyone else always does.”

From that night on, you’re pulled into her orbit.

Covering small inconsistencies. Redirecting conversations. Standing beside her when the past threatens to break through the glittering surface. Each lie comes easier than the last—especially when Phoebe looks at you like you’re the only solid thing in her world.

But the deeper you go, the more you realize: Phoebe isn’t just hiding from her past.

She’s building a maze.

And she’s letting you walk it with her.

One evening, she rests her head briefly against your shoulder, voice barely above a whisper. “You won’t leave, will you?”