The city had forgotten Cassie Yang.
That was the first lesson.
Five years ago, she’d been a cautionary tale—the scholarship girl who dared to step into their world and was laughed out of it. Now, she was nothing. A ghost in a too-small apartment above a fabric shop, threading needles by lamplight until her fingers bled.
Cassie spat a loose thread from her lips and wiped the blood from her thumb. The mannequin in front of her wore the beginnings of a dress—black silk slashed with jagged lines of crimson stitching. *Nocturne*, she’d scribbled on the sketch. *For when the night bites back.*
Her phone buzzed. A news alert.
**ASHFORD FAMILY DONATES MILLIONS TO ARTS PROGRAM—DAUGHTER SERAPHINE TO HEADLINE CHARITY GALA.**
Cassie’s fingers tightened. On-screen, Seraphine smirked from the steps of the Metropolitan, draped in a gown that cost more than Cassie’s rent. The caption beneath read: *“Some stains never belong—so we clean them.”*
A direct quote. A slap in the face.
Cassie exhaled through her nose. Then she picked up her shears and slashed the fabric in one clean tear.
**FLASHBACK: TWO YEARS AFTER THE GALA**
“Yang.” The professor tossed her portfolio onto the desk. “You have talent. But talent without connections is *noise*.”
Cassie didn’t flinch. “Then I’ll make them hear me.”
**PRESENT DAY**
The fabric shop’s bell jingled.
“Jesus, Cass.” Mia whistled as she shoved aside a roll of tulle. “You feeding this place to a shredder?”
Cassie didn’t look up. “What do you want?”
“Aside from rent?” Mia dropped a newspaper onto the table. “A little *thank you* for saving your ass again. Jules got you this.”
Cassie glanced at the headline: **INTERNATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITION—UNKNOWN DESIGNERS WELCOME.**
Her pulse flickered.
Mia grinned. “Pack your knives, sweetheart. Time to show them what *noise* sounds like.”
With the competition's deadline looming, Cassie worked tirelessly to create designs that would not just compete but conquer. The city's elite would not forget her now.
TO BE CONTINUED
TEASER FOR CHAPTER 3
*In the shadows, where the wealthy plotted their galas and gossiped about each other, a single name was whispered like a curse. A name born from ashes and threaded with the remnants of humiliated dreams. That name was now known as... Nocturne Couture.*
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CROWN ME AT MIDNIGHT
Fantasy"Crown Me at Midnight" follows the story of Cassie, a former scholarship student humiliated and dismissed by the wealthy Ashfords. Years later, she returns as the mysterious and enigmatic designer behind Nocturne Couture, bent on avenging her wounde...
