Page 60 of The Devil's Canvas

"None that you need."

Harrison looks me over, assessing. I don’t react. I don’t blink. And he doesn’t like that.

"So, Ophelia," he continues, clearly deciding I’m irrelevant. "Are you here to celebrate your sister? Or steal the spotlight?"

Ophelia finally smiles, slow and razor-sharp. "Funny," she says. "I was just about to ask you the same thing."

Dorian laughs outright, clapping Harrison on the back. "I like her."

I smirk, brushing my fingers along Ophelia’s spine. "You should," I murmur. "She’s unforgettable."

Ophelia tilts her head, eyes steady, lips curving into something that might be a smile. Or a warning.

"Enjoy your night, gentlemen," she says, all sugar and steel.

And just like that, we walk away.

The red carpet is a storm of flashing cameras and murmured conversations, but there’s a shift—a sharp, cutting wave of laughter coming from the barricades.

"Wow. She really showed up with him."

"I guess desperate times call for desperate measures."

"You think she’s trying to make Dominic jealous? Because it’s not working."

"Please. She’s just pissed that Melanie got everything and she got him instead."

The laughter ripples through the group, loud enough to be heard, loud enough to be intentional.

Ophelia stiffens—not noticeably, not enough for the cameras to pick up on, but I feel it. The smallest hitch in her breath, the way her fingers curl into the fabric of her dress before she forces them to relax.

I turn my head slightly. Just enough to look at them.

Five of them, clinging to the barricades like leashed animals let out to bark for the night.

They look exactly how I expected—too much foundation, too much entitlement, too much time spent living through someone else’s success.

"She’s so embarrassing," one of them scoffs. "Like, we get it. Dominic left you. Move on."

"She’s not moving on. She’s acting like she is."

"Right? And we all know why. Melanie said it herself—Ophelia was always a shadow. She doesn’t fit in. She never did."

A smirk.

"I mean, even Ashton Mercer was shocked Dominic was with her first. He couldn’t believe she had him before Melanie."

More laughter.

"And now look at her—desperate for attention, trying to make him jealous. It’s pathetic."

They still don’t see me. They will.

The blonde in the center— the leader, the one who thinks she’s untouchable—keeps going.

"Melanie is the reason Dominic is successful. Ophelia is the reason she’s miserable."

That’s when Ophelia reacts. Not much. Just a tiny, sharp inhale. And that’s all it takes. I turn fully now, slowly, deliberately, letting my gaze drag over them like I’m peeling back their skin.

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