The Dress

Elena walked into the dressing room, the threat echoing in her ears. *We're survivors.*

A long garment bag hung from the hook on the back of the door. *Saks Fifth Avenue.* The fabric whispered as she unzipped it. The dress was navy silk, elegant, understated, and exactly one size too small.

Seraphina had chosen it. Of course.

She stripped off her clothes, her movements jerky with anger. She pulled the dress on. It was tight across the ribs, the zipper stopping just below her shoulder blades. It was a physical constraint, a reminder that she didn't fit. That she was being squeezed.

She reached behind her, struggling with the zipper.

"Need help?"

Elena jumped. Seraphina was leaning against the doorframe, watching her. She held a phone in her hand—not her own. It was Julian’s.

"I didn't hear you come in," Elena said, her voice tight.

"You were distracted." Seraphina walked over, her touch cool as she pulled the zipper up. She forced it, the metal teeth biting into the fabric. "Suck in, Elena. Beauty is pain."

The zipper closed. Elena couldn't take a full breath.

"There," Seraphina said, stepping back to admire her work. "Perfect. You look like you belong on a cake."

She tapped the phone screen. "Julian left this on the charger. He's so careless with his security."

Elena looked at the phone. "Is there a message?"

"Oh, several. The bank. The caterers. And one from a number I didn't recognize." Seraphina smiled, a slow, predatory curving of her lips. "So I unlocked it to check."

She held the phone up. The lock screen was visible.

It wasn't a passcode. It was a pattern. But Seraphina hadn't swiped it. She had typed in a code.

**09-12-87.**

Elena’s birthday.

"Easy to remember," Seraphina said, seeing Elena’s expression. "Since it's the code for everything important. The alarm. The safe. The offshore accounts."

Elena felt the blood rush to her face. They weren't just using her name. They were using her life as the key.

"Why are you telling me this?" Elena asked.

"Because it doesn't matter," Seraphina said. "You can't change it. The biometric override is hardcoded. Even if you change the numbers, the system defaults to your birthday as a failsafe. Isabel tried to change it, you know. She tried to set it to Maya’s birthday."

Seraphina stepped closer, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"But we caught her. And we reset it. Just like we'll reset you."

She dropped the phone onto the vanity. "Wear the earrings I left on the counter. The pearls. Mother thinks they make you look... innocent."

Seraphina walked out.

Elena stared at the phone. *09-12-87.*

She picked it up. She typed in the code. It unlocked.

She opened the messages.

There was a thread with *Archer*.

**Julian:** *She's asking questions. The audit is tomorrow.*
**Archer:** *Stick to the plan. Get the signature. Then we cut the line.*

*We cut the line.*

Elena looked at the contact info for Archer. There was no name. Just a number.

**424-8890.**

The same number from the receipt in her shoe.

She looked at the earrings on the counter. Pearl drops. Tasteful. Expensive.

She picked one up. It felt heavy. Heavier than a pearl should be.

She turned it over. On the back of the setting, almost invisible to the naked eye, was a tiny, black dot.

A microphone.

They weren't just tracking her phone. They were wearing her.