What If I Said I Will?

The crushing weight of Winston's expectant gaze held Preston frozen. The heavy silence in the grand banquet hall stretched, tight as a drawn bowstring. No one dared to breathe. Preston's knuckles remained stark white, his jaw locked in silent panic as he stared at the priceless emerald bracelets resting in the velvet box. He was paralyzed between Serena's pleading eyes and his grandfather's silent