Belong

Marian's POV

I had never felt more like a project.

A team of professionals bustled around me in Aiden's massive dressing room, adjusting, fixing, and perfecting every detail of my appearance. It was overwhelming. Luxurious, but overwhelming.

Aiden had gone all out for this party, hiring top-tier hairstylists, makeup artists, and even a renowned fashion designer to ensure I looked, as he had put it, perfect. I wasn't sure if I should be flattered or annoyed.

I sat in front of a gleaming vanity mirror, wrapped in a silk robe, as the makeup artist, a woman named Lillian, examined my face like a painter studying a blank canvas. "You have great bone structure," she mused, tilting my chin slightly. "We'll enhance that. Elegant, but powerful."

That word again. Powerful.