Aria's POV
As soon as Claire vanished from view, two men appeared from the crowd, moving fast—one of them missing a shoe.
They stopped abruptly, staring between Claire's retreating figure and me standing there soaked to the bone.
They were the Linden brothers—the hosts. They looked completely bewildered, like they sprinted all the way here expecting World War III only to find everything suspiciously calm.
The older Linden brother—Louis Linden recovered quickly.
With the practiced ease of someone used to handling rich people's drama, he gestured to his younger brother to escort the remaining onlookers back to the ballroom. Then he turned to me with a polite smile.
"Mrs. Carter, let me show you to a room where you can change out of those wet clothes."
Before I could respond, I felt Ai
