LOGINAurora's POV
I felt my heart sink down at that sound. I took one look at Ray and his face was totally pale and drained of colours. Was this why he didn't want me to give Damien his food myself?
Was this why Damien was working late?
No.. no. I didn't want to think about it. My marriage was already sad and failing enough, this was the last thing. The last thing I needed was amothee person in my marriage.
I took another step forward, I needed to see this myself. Ray quickly stepped in front of me again, panic flashing across his face. “M-Madam, please… you can’t go in there right now,” he said nervously.
My brows furrowed in confusion. Why was he acting this way?
“Move, Ray,” I said softly, trying to step around him but he didn't. He blocked me again.
“Master Damien is busy.” He said with a nervous chuckle.
I tightened my grip on the lunch basket in my hands. Busy? At this hour? What was he so busy with? Or who?
That little word at the back of my mind almost broke me completely. No, I mustn't think that way. Damien was still my husband and I.. his wife even if he wasn't going to acknowledge.
Another soft sound came from inside the office, it sounded like it belonged to a woman. My stomach twisted painfully.
“Move,” I repeated, this time more firmly.
“Madam please-” he tried to say but I had had enough of him trying to stop me. I pushed past him before he could finish speaking and grabbed the handle office door.
The moment I shoved it open, my entire world stopped. The lunch basket slipped from my fingers and crashed to the ground loudly at the sight of what was in front of me.
In the dimy lit office was my husband whose shirt and hair was ruffled with his tie nowhere to be found. However, he wasn't alone. I recognized the woman in his office, with bright striking brunette hair and brown eyes, Vanessa Cole, his secretary.
Damien was... he was kissing Vanessa. She sat on the edge of his desk wearing nothing but his dress shirt that barely covered her thighs while Damien stood between her legs. His hand rested around her waist intimately while her lipstick was smeared across his lips.
The sound of the fallen food drew their attention as all eyes turned on me. For a moment, nobody moved. Nobody spoke. I felt frozen, like all the air had been sucked out of my lungs.
Damien slowly pulled away from Vanessa and turned toward me. His expression remained calm and cold. He looked unbothered even.
Vanessa glanced at me before rolling her eyes lazily. “Oops,” she said with a smirk. “Damien Your wife is here.”
My lips trembled violently as I stared at them. I couldn’t breathe. This had to be a nightmare.
Damien looked toward Ray who stood frozen by the door. “I thought I told you not to allow anyone in.” He said to his assistant, totally ignoring me who stood there both hurt and in shock.
Ray lowered his head immediately. “I’m sorry, sir.” he apologised.
That was all? That was all Damien had to say after I caught him cheating?
I stared at him in disbelief, hoping for something… guilt, panic, shame...anything. But there was nothing.
Vanessa casually fixed her hair while Damien adjusted his sleeves like I had merely interrupted a meeting. My chest tightened painfully.
“D-Damien…” my voice cracked helplessly. “What is this…?”
Vanessa gave a soft laugh and hopped off the desk slowly. “Well this is awkward,” she muttered.
Ray immediately bent down to pick up the spilled food from the floor while avoiding my eyes completely. Damien finally looked at me properly. His expression hardened slightly. “Go home, Aurora.” he said to me like I was a stray dog rather than his wife. The words shattered something inside me.
I stared at him, unable to process what I was hearing. “Go… home?” I whispered. Tears burned my eyes instantly.
“You’re cheating on me…” I said shakily.
Vanessa crossed her arms and looked away impatiently like she was tired of the scene already.
“We’ll talk later.” Damien sighed softly.
Later?
My husband was standing in his office with another woman half naked in his arms and he wanted to talk later? I felt humiliated, pathetic and stupid.
Ray stepped closer carefully. “Madam… let me escort you downstairs.” he whispered to me.
I suddenly felt suffocated. I turned around quickly before Damien could see the tears pouring down my face and ran out of the office.
“Madam Aurora-”
I ignored Ray calling after me and rushed into the elevator. The moment the doors closed, I broke down completely. My body shook violently as sobs escaped my chest. I pressed my hand against my mouth trying to silence my crying but it was impossible.
Why? Why was he doing this to me? Hadn’t I tried hard enough? Hadn’t I loved him enough?
By the time I got home my eyes were swollen red. The staff looked at me worriedly but I ignored everyone and locked myself inside my bedroom. I cried until my chest hurt and curled up beneath the blankets like a child.
I kept remembering the way Damien looked at Vanessa. He looked at her like she was the most interesting thing ever and kisses her so intimately. He had never looked at me that way before. Not even once.
About an hour later, the bedroom door opened quietly. I immediately sat up at the sound. I knew who had entered the room without even seeing him.
Damien walked into the room calmly while loosening his tie. He looked completely normal. Like he hadn’t destroyed me tonight. My vision blurred with tears again. “Why?” I asked brokenly.
Damien paused and turned to look at me. I climbed off the bed shakily and looked at him desperately.
“Why are you cheating on me?” I cried. “What did I do wrong?”
For a few seconds, Damien remained silent. Then he looked at me with those cold blue eyes and spoke words that made my heart stop.
“I’m simply not interested in you, Aurora.”
The keys felt heavy in my hand as I stood outside the house, the old Victorian with its wraparound porch and climbing roses, the same roses my mother used to tend every morning before breakfast. I hadn't been here in years, not since before everything fell apart, not since before my parents died and Gregory stole everything. I'd driven past it a few times since moving back to Sacramento, but I'd never stopped. I'd never been able to bring myself to walk up those steps and open that door.But now it was mine again.The court had awarded it back to me, along with everything else Gregory had stolen. It had taken months of legal battles, endless paperwork, and more sleepless nights than I could count. But it was finally done. The house was mine. My parents' house. My childhood home.I unlocked the door and pushed it open. The smell hit me first, old wood and dust and the faint trace of lavender that always lingered in the air, the same lavender my mother used to dry and hang in the kitche
Weeks passed and slowly things began to change.I didn't notice it at first, not consciously. I was too busy with work, too busy with Arya, too busy trying to put my life back together after the trial. Gregory was gone. The case was over. I should have felt free. I should have felt relieved. But I didn't. I just felt... empty. Like I'd spent so long fighting that I didn't know what to do with myself now that the fight was over.The days blurred together. I'd wake up, get Arya ready for school, go to work, come home, make dinner, put Arya to bed, and then sit in the dark living room staring at the wall until I was tired enough to sleep. It was a routine, a safe one, one that didn't require me to think about anything beyond the next task. And for a while, that was enough.But then there was Damien.He kept showing up. Kept trying. It was subtle at first, almost invisible. Flowers on my desk at work, nothing extravagant, just a small bouquet of daisies or a single rose in a simple vase.
Damian sat in his office, staring at the stack of paperwork on his desk without really seeing it. His mind was still back at the hospital, still replaying the image of Eleanor in that bed, still hearing Vanessa's voice screaming at him through the door of her apartment. He rubbed his face with both hands and tried to focus. He couldn't.The door burst open without warning.Vanessa stood there, disheveled and desperate, her hair a tangled mess and her clothes wrinkled like she'd been wearing them for days. Her eyes were red and wild and her hands were shaking as she stepped into the room."Vanessa." He stood up. "What are you doing here?""I came to talk." She slammed the door behind her, the sound echoing through the office. "I came to make you understand.""Understand what?""That you can't just walk away from me. That you can't just throw me away like garbage."He walked around his desk, keeping his distance. "We talked about this. It's over. I told you—""I don't care what you told
It was finally the dash of my case with Gregory.I sat in the courtroom, my hands clasped together on the table in front of me, my palms sweaty, my heart pounding so loud I could hear it in my ears. The room was packed with people I didn't recognize, reporters with their notepads, Gregory's family sitting on the other side of the aisle with their eyes cold and their faces hard, and I didn't look at them because I couldn't, I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing me scared.Caleb sat beside me, calm and steady, his hand resting on the table like he wasn't nervous at all, and he leaned over and whispered, "You ready?"I nodded, not trusting my voice.Gregory sat at the defendant's table, his expensive suit pressed and his hair perfectly combed, looking like he didn't have a care in the world, like he'd already won. I wanted to scream at him, wanted to make him feel even a fraction of the fear he'd made me feel all these years.The judge entered and we stood and the proceedings b
THIRD PERSON Damian stood in the hospital corridor, his back against the wall, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead and the smell of antiseptic burned his nose and he couldn't stop staring at the door that led to his grandmother's room. His mind was a mess of fear and anger and guilt, all of it tangled together until he couldn't tell which was which.The doctor came out a few minutes later, her face tired, her voice measured. "Mr. Sinclair. Your grandmother is out of danger."He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "But?""She's in a coma. Her heart gave out and she's been through a lot. We're hopeful she'll wake up, but it could be a week. Maybe longer.""A week?""At least. Her body needs time to recover. We're doing everything we can."He nodded, his jaw tight, his hands clenching into fists inside his pockets. "Can I see her?""For a few minutes. She's stable."He walked into the room and the sight of her hit him like a punch t
THIRD PERSON Caleb showed up at Aurora's office unannounced the next morning, his face tired, his eyes carrying the guilt he'd been holding onto for weeks. He stood in the doorway, his hands in his pockets, and he looked at her like he wasn't sure if he was welcome."Aurora.""Caleb." She didn't move from her desk. "What are you doing here?""I heard about the charges." He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "You finally did it."She stared at him. "How did you hear?""Word travels fast in legal circles." He walked toward her desk but didn't sit. "I came to apologize."She leaned back in her chair. "For what?""For how I handled things with Gregory's case. For not telling you what I was doing. For putting you in danger." He looked at her, his eyes earnest. "I was so focused on winning, so focused on taking him down, that I forgot you were the one who had the most to lose. I'm sorry."She didn't respond. She just looked at him. She remembered the way he'd looked at her in t
Aurora's POV Damien’s hands paused briefly against his shirt buttons. For one foolish second, hope filled my chest Maybe he felt guilty. Maybe somewhere deep down, there was still something between us.Then he continued unbuttoning his shirt calmly.“Love,” he repeated coldly. “Is the last thing
Aurora's POV The next morning, I woke up with a pounding headache. My eyes burned painfully from crying all night. For a few seconds, I stared blankly at the ceiling, silently hoping everything that happened yesterday had only been another terrible dream. But reality settled in quickly.Damien che
Aurora's POV"You may now kiss the bride"I heard the priest say. I excitedly looked at those beautiful piercing blue eyes that stared at me, they belonged to my husband, Damien. He had a small smile on his face as he leaned down to kiss me. I could hear people cheer on in the background, my parent
AURORA The plumbing man showed you around seven, a short man with a mustache and a tool belt that sagged on his hip. He nodded at me when I opened the basement door and walked past like he already knew where to go. He must've been fixing things for the Bayers seeing how familiar he was with the pl







