After the quiet dinner, Aurora gently stacked the empty plates and set them aside, while Grayson leaned back in his chair, his gaze still caught on the remnants of candlelight flickering across her face.
She had no idea what that simple gesture had done to him.The food had been good—he didn’t say it aloud, but he didn’t need to. Aurora saw it in the way he finished every bite. The cake was a little uneven, but the first bite had stayed on his tongue longer than it should have, because it tasted like something he'd almost forgotten.The kind of warmth that feels like.. home. A place he didn’t believe existed for a man like him.****After they left the dining room, Aurora hesitated outside their bedroom door. Grayson noticed and tilted his head, silently questioning her.“I, um… I have one more thing,” she said softly, her fingers curling slightly as they always did when she was nervous.She walked toward the glassAll eyes turned to the source of the voice.Aurora blinked in surprise.“Julian?”He stood by the door, holding a basket of fruit and a bouquet of white lilies. His gaze fell on her worn-down, pale appearance as she sat weakly on the bed.Then his sharp gaze shifted back to Natalie, his expression turning dim.The moment of silence stretched on.But Natalie broke it with her scornful scoff.“Oh, great. Now it's the young master of the Collins family,” she smirked, then turned back to Aurora. "You know what Aurora, I really admire how you easily seduce men.”Julian’s expression turned cold as he looked over Natalie.“I would’ve asked if I'm exactly facing the real Ms. Smith, as the person I'm talking right now is completely the opposite,” Julian
Morning didn’t arrive in golden streaks or gentle warmth.It came with sterile light seeping through half-closed blinds, bathing Aurora’s skin and creating a halo.Her body felt anchored to the bed—not by pain or sedation, but by something heavier, like her soul was still trying to return to her.Her hand was warm.That’s what she noticed first.When her eyes finally opened, the first thing she saw was Grayson.He looked like he hadn’t moved from his seat in a long time.He sat by her bedside with his fingers still wrapped around hers, head slightly bowed, while his other hand rested on his knee. He looked nothing like the Grayson Moore the world knew—the cold, untouchable billionaire with steel in his veins.No, the man beside her looked... wrecked.His jaw was unshaven. His eyes were shadowed and swollen from lack of sleep. His suit was wrinkled, his tie loosened, and his shoulders were hunched like the weight of the world had finally become too much to bear.He had been there. The
Grayson stormed down the hospital hallway like a king of execution—ready to punish the one who dared to cross him. His fists were clenched the entire time, jaw firmly locked, and his entire body was burning with one single need—To see the woman who had pushed the timid Aurora over the edge.The moment he reached the door to Natalie’s private suite, he didn’t hesitate or even bother to knock. He shoved it open so hard that the hinges groaned sharply.Natalie sat on the bed with her legs dangling over the edge, scrolling through her phone as if nothing had happened.As if the blood staining the halls of his life didn’t matter.She looked up, startled by the harsh sound. But her eyes lit up as she quickly set her phone aside and rose.“Grayson,” she called out, soft and trembling—putting on the same pitiful expression she always used when trying to win him over. “You came to see me..”She took a step forward, reaching out as if throwing herself into his arms like she always did.But she
A phone call came just as Grayson was about to shut everything off. He had been standing by the window of his office for what felt like hours, lost in thought, and trying to steady the war inside his chest.When his phone buzzed again, he didn’t bother checking the screen at first. He was ready to silence it altogether.But the name that flashed on the screen made him curious.The call was from Edith.He answered it subconsciously. “What’s the matter?”Edith's voice cracked on the other end. Shaking and barely coherent.“Sir—it’s Aurora. She fell… down the staircase. There was a fight. I—she’s unconscious. There’s so much blood… I don’t know if she’s—”Grayson didn’t hear the rest. His heart had stopped beating the second Edith said Aurora's name.He didn’t ask further questions. Didn’t even have time to grab his coat. He left the office in a blur, and hurried himself to the underground parking.A dreadful thought flashed through his mind.No.. Not her.The ride to the hospital was a
The silence in the estate was deceptive.Aurora could feel the weight of it pressing down on her as she wandered the hallway near the east wing, where sunlight slanted softly through the open space of the big terrace—painting everything in a golden hue that felt too gentle for what was coming.She hadn’t eaten anything since morning. Her thoughts were too tangled to allow her appetite room.Natalie’s return had shaken her more than she wanted to admit. And though Grayson had barely said a word to her since, his silence was a language she’d come to understand. But last night—the things he said…Her fingers curled over the edge of the railings of the balcony, knuckles turning pale. She couldn’t pretend those moments didn’t happen. And yet this morning, he’d walked Natalie back to her room like nothing had changed.Aurora bit down hard on her lip.She didn’t want to be angry. But she was.She didn’t want to feel jealous. But she did.And she hated that all of this was making her fall f
The door shut behind Grayson with a thud, but the echo followed him all the way down the hallway.He didn’t look back.Because if he did, he might see Natalie’s face again—shocked and speechless.And he couldn’t afford to feel sorry for her right now.No matter what, she had been his fiancée for a long time. But he had made his decision.He got into his car in silence and drove straight to the city, his grip on the steering wheel was too tight the entire ride. His mind wasn’t blank—it was chaotic. A thousand thoughts circling with no order, no beginning, no end.By the time he stepped into his private office at Sunnydale's headquarters, the silence that greeted him was both a relief and a curse.He tossed his coat onto the couch and yanked his tie loose, the tension in his chest refusing to fade.The breakup had been long overdue—but that didn’t make it any easier.Eight years. Eight years of shared history. Of expectation. Of being told what kind of man he was supposed to be—and what