Then, the mall rose before us, a city of glass and steel. The parking structure was a cavernous hive of luxury vehicles.
But the true destination was inside, where the rest of them waited. Emma and Sarah practically glowed with excitement, not just for the shopping, but for the meeting—the tangible manifestation of the constellation of women that now orbited my life.
This was more than a shopping trip; it was a gathering of the court.
And I, in my godly skin, was ready to hold court.
*
The VIP lounge at La Cherry Mall was a temple of hushed luxury like I remembered it the first time I was here with Madison and my family when I signed the deal with Charlotte. Plush velvet, panoramic city views, the quiet clink of champagne flutes—but the true opulence was the electric silence that fell as we entered.
Every woman in the room turned, and the very air thickened under the weight of their collective gaze, all fixed on my transformed state.
