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Chapter 7
At dinnertime, one of the maids came to inform them that Mr. and Mrs. Wyndham had reserved a private dining room at a hotel on the hillside and wanted everyone to join them.
Aurora was about to decline with an excuse, but Scarlet grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her
into the car.
The entire ride there, Aurora sat silently while Scarlet chattered endlessly, her voice saccharine,
her tone triumphant.
“Sterling, let’s go to Europe for our honeymoon, okay? I want to see the Northern Lights and go to
fashion shows–oh, and you have to take tons of pictures of me!”
Sterling chuckled indulgently. “Sure. I’ll take the best ones and hang them all over my office so I
can see you whenever I miss you.”
“You said it! When we have kids, we can look back on them together. By the way, do you want a boy like you or a girl like me?”
Their conversation flowed effortlessly, as if Aurora weren’t even in the car with them.
She kept her eyes trained on the scenery flashing by outside the window, lips pressed into a thin
line.
She remembered the day Sterling had his eye surgery–the day she’d been drugged and left
unconscious.
That day, in her sleep, she’d dreamed a beautiful lie.
In the dream, he woke up and saw her first.
In the dream, he loved no one else.
He was always by her side, planning surprises, taking her out into the world she’d never really
seen.
A
He proposed to her, down on one knee. He took her hand and walked her down the aisle.
They had a child. A home. A quiet life filled with love.
In the dream, he was hers.
But then she woke up–and everything vanished into smoke.
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She had fought so hard for that dream, only to be rewarded with betrayal, violence, and death.
Lost in thought, she was jolted back to the present by the screech of tires.
A high–pitched, metallic skid.
She looked up just in time to see a sports car barreling toward them–its brakes clearly failed.
A deafening crash followed.
The car slammed into the guardrail, throwing the vehicle into the side of the bridge.
The impact was bone–rattling.
Aurora’s head slammed against the window. Her forehead, arms, and legs all split open, blood flowing freely.
Pain exploded through her body like fire–blinding, suffocating.
She gasped for breath, her lungs aching with every movement.
Her vision, fogged with blood, caught a familiar sight: Sterling jumping out of the wreckage, holding a trembling Scarlet tightly in his arms.
The car’s side doors were crumpled inward, the trunk engulfed in flames.
Aurora bit through her lip to stay conscious.
She gritted her teeth and began to crawl.
Every movement left a trail of blood on the seat, on the floor, on the car door.
She dragged her battered body toward the front of the vehicle, inch by inch.
Just as she got outside, a blast of heat erupted behind her.
BOOM.
The car exploded.
Flames lit the night sky.
The force of the blast knocked her off her feet, sending her sprawling onto the asphalt.
She lay there, stunned, trembling.
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Her blood felt like ice in her veins.
If she’d hesitated even a second longer….
If she had blacked out from the pain…
She would have died right there. Again.
And in the five long minutes it took her to escape from that flaming wreck–Sterling never once
looked back.
Even after Scarlet was safely out of harm’s way, he never came for her.
He never even asked.
He just held Scarlet tighter, murmuring reassurances into her ear.
Aurora looked at him, her face stained with soot and blood.
Then, for the first time in a long while, she smiled–exhausted, bitter, and empty.
Every ounce of strength had left her body.
Her eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds.
Somewhere far off, she heard the shrill wail of ambulance sirens. Footsteps. Voices.
“She’s lost a dangerous amount of blood,” a nurse shouted. “She’s slipping into shock. Mr. Blackwood, if we don’t get her to the operating room immediately, she may not survive!”
“I don’t care what happens to Aurora,” came Sterling’s voice, sharp and cold. “I only care about
Scarlet. She’s hurt too–treat her first.”
Aurora forced her swollen eyes to open just a crack.
She saw Sterling’s face–tight with worry, but not for her.
Her parents arrived seconds later, pushing their way through the medics.
“Take care of Scarlet first!” her mother cried. “We raised her like she was made of glass–if
something happens to her, how are we supposed to go on living?”
“Yes, we’re the legal guardians,” Mr. Wyndham added. “If something happens to Aurora, we won’t blame the hospital. Just prioritize Scarlet’s safety.”
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They all said the same thing.
They all chose Scarlet.
Again.
Aurora felt something in her chest finally give way.
The last ember of hope. The last flicker of longing.
Snuffed out.
Darkness surged toward her, clawing at her limbs, dragging her down into the void.
It was just like the last time she died-
The same bone–deep fear.
The same unbearable silence.
And then… nothing.
Chapter 7
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