Chapter Three

THOMPSON RESIDENCE

Aurora’s mother was waiting at the door when the car pulled up. She took one look at Aurora’s face and pulled her into a hug without saying a word.

“I’m sorry, Mom.”

“For what?”

“For leaving. For being stupid. For—”

“Stop.” Her mother pulled back, holding Aurora’s face in her hands. “You’re home now. That’s all that matters.”

Her father was in his study. When Aurora knocked, he looked up from his papers and his expression crumpled.

“Princess.”

She ran to him like she was ten years old again. He held her while she cried—really cried, for the first time since that morning.

“I failed,” she said into his shoulder.

“No. He failed.” Her father’s voice was firm. “You kept your end of the deal. You gave him five years. He’s the one who broke the marriage.”

“I should have listened to you.”

“Probably.” He smiled sadly. “But you’re young. You’re allowed to make mistakes.”

“I made a big one.”

“Then make sure you learn from it.”

“I’m sorry—“

“Shhh, it’s okay, my happiness is that you’re back —to me, that’s all that matters. “His voice was filled with encouragement.

“Thanks Dad”. Aurora kissed his cheek, tears still streaming down her face.

“You’re always welcome princess. Now I’m fulfilled.” He said, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead .

“I love you dad.”

“I love you more.”

🪝🪝🪝🪝

That night, the family had dinner together. Aurora sat between Cody and her mother, picking at her food, her body present but her mind quite far away from the table.

“So,” her father said, setting down his fork. “What do you want to do now?”

“About what?”

“About Piagel. About Aurum Group. About your life.”

Aurora was quiet for a moment. After taking a deep breath “I want to destroy him.”

Cody grinned. “That’s my girl.”

“He thinks I’m just a manager who got lucky. He doesn’t know I’m the reason Aurum Group exists at all. I pulled strings. I used our family connections without telling him. Every major contract they landed? That was me.”

Her father nodded slowly. “And now you want to take it away.”

“I want to take everything away.” Aurora met his eyes. “The X-City project. The auction next week. I want to announce that the Thompson family is revoking our support. I want to watch his company collapse.”

“That’s cruel,” her mother said softly.

“Good.”

Her father smiled. “Then we’ll make it happen. But Aurora—once you do this, everyone will know who you are. The media, the business world, all of Velloria. You won’t be able to hide anymore.”

“I don’t want to hide.” Aurora straightened. “I’m done hiding.”

“Then we’ll host a banquet.” Her father stood. “One week from now. We’ll introduce you properly. The Thompson heir. And we’ll make sure Piagel Blythe knows exactly what he lost.”

Later, Aurora stood in her room, looking at herself in the mirror. The girl who’d left this house five years ago had been naive. Hopeful. In love.

She vividly remembered kneeling down in her father’s study for twelve hours begging him to let her get married to Piagel, he rebuked her and almost threatened to disown her if she tries to downgrade her status to his level.

But she never gave up, she cried for days, refused to eat or go to work . She did all these to be with Piagel— because he had rescued her from assault six years ago in alleyway one dangerous night.

So she thought— after few days, her father gave in but not without striking a deal with her. She can only be with him as someone with Zero identity and if after five years, she is taken care of properly, she will accept him.

But if treated badly, she was to return home. Now she’s back.

The woman looking back at her now in the mirror was harder. Angrier.

Better.

Her phone rang, she glanced at the screen before picking it up.

“Hey girl, what’s up?.” Leah’s happy voice could be heard at the other end of the call.

“I’m good and you?.”

“I’m ecstatic, you are finally out of that shabby marriage and back home, my princess.” She squealed on the phone, Aurora had to pull the phone away from her ears to avoid her ear drums getting blocked.

“Me too.” She manage to say, a settling smile rest on her lips.

“So what’s your next plan?.”

“Destroy them all.”

“That’s my girl, please include me in your revenge plan, I can’t wait to see that disgusting smile wipe off his smuggled face.” Leah giggled, already imagining a scenario in her head.

Aurora’s phone buzzed before she could reply. A text from an unknown number: “You left something in my room.”

Aurora’s blood went cold. She stared at the message, heart pounding.

“Hello, Aurora, are you there?.”

Another text: “Just wanted to make sure you got home safely.”

“Um—yes. Can I call you back later.” She quickly hung up before Leah could respond.

She stared at the number, she should delete it. Block the number. Pretend last night never happened.

Instead, she typed: “I’m fine. Sorry about the confusion.”

The response came immediately: “No need to apologize. Are you okay?”

She stared at the question. Was she okay? No. She was a mess. Her marriage was over. She had cheated on her husband (who had been cheating on her). She had left money for a stranger like he was—

“I’m fine,” she typed. “Please forget last night happened.”

“I don’t think I can do that.”

Aurora’s hands shook. She turned off her phone and set it face-down on the nightstand.

She couldn’t think about the stranger. Not now. Not when everything else in her life was falling apart. He should be the least of her worries, now was the time to focus on getting herself back.

But that night, when she closed her eyes, she remembered—strong hands. Gray-green eyes. A voice asking if she was sure.

And for just a moment, before sleep took her, she wondered who he was.