Maya adjusted the measuring tape in her hand, the hum of quiet conversation in the drawing room fading as she stepped into focus. She could still feel the weight of their eyes from earlier—the whispers, the questioning glances—but she locked it all away behind the same calm professionalism that had carried her through worse.

Elias’s grandmother, Lady Margaret, rose with the help of a maid, regal despite her age.

“You’re quite young,” Lady Margaret remarked, studying Maya with eyes sharper than her kind tone suggested.

“Yes, ma’am,” Maya said with a respectful nod.

“Have you dressed women of my… stature before?”

Maya kept her posture firm. “Every design I create...