The whole room fell into a tense, stifling silence. It was as if someone had hit the mute button on the entire event. All eyes shifted to one side of the hall, toward the small but intense commotion unfolding between two women—one dressed in fiery red elegance and the other in glittering gold vengeance.

Raina stood frozen, her body rigid as the weight of everyone’s gaze bore down on her. Her heart pounded in her chest like a drum, the thudding nearly deafening. Her wide eyes stared at the crisp dollar bills that now littered the floor around her feet. The stack of money Jessica had thrown at her face...