Chapter two

Aurora stood under the shower until the water ran cold.

She’d made a list in her head:

1. She’d cheated on her husband (who’d been cheating on her for six months)

2. She’d left fifty dollars like he was a gigolo

3. She couldn’t remember his name (had he told her his name?)

4. Piagel wanted a divorce

5. Emerald was pregnant

The list kept getting longer. She shut off the water.

When she came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, her phone was ringing. Lelia.

“Are you alive?” Lelia’s voice was frantic. “I lost you at the club last night. One second you were there, the next you were gone. I’ve been calling for hours.”

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t sound fine.”

“Piagel wants a divorce.”

Silence on the other end.

Then— “Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Because of last night? Did he find out you left?”

“No. He’s been cheating on me. Six months. She’s pregnant.” Aurora sat on the bed. “He was waiting when I got home this morning.”

“Jesus, Aurora.”

“I know.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Sign the papers.” She was surprised by how calm her voice sounded. “What else can I do?”

“You could fight.”

“For what? A man who doesn’t want me?” Aurora laughed, and it came out bitter. “I’m done fighting.”

After she hung up, she got dressed. Simple clothes—jeans and a t-shirt. Not the careful outfits she usually wore to please Mrs. Blythe. Not the professional clothes she wore to look like she belonged at Aurum Group.

Just herself.

Five years was over just like her father predicted and now it’s was time to return.

She packed a bag with essentials. Then she called the one person who would understand.

“Cody.”

“Aurora?” Her brother’s voice was warm. “You okay? You sound weird.”

“Can you come get me?”

A pause. “Now?”

“Now.”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

She waited outside. Didn’t want to be in that house anymore. Didn’t want to see Piagel and Emerald on the couch where she and Piagel used to watch movies. Didn’t want Mrs. Blythe’s judgmental stares.

The Rolls-Royce pulled up exactly twenty minutes later.

Cody got out, took one look at her face, and his expression darkened. “What happened?”

“He wants a divorce.”

“Did he hurt you?”

“Not physically.”

Cody’s jaw tightened. “Get in.”

She did. The car pulled away from the Blythe residence, and Aurora felt something in her chest loosen. Like she’d been holding her breath for five years and could finally exhale.

“Tell me everything,” Cody said.

So she did. Most of it. She left out the part about the stranger. Left out the hotel room and the champagne and waking up in a bed that wasn’t hers. Some things were too raw to say out loud.

“I’ll kill him,” Cody said when she finished.

“Don’t.”

“Aurora—”

“I mean it. Don’t.” She looked at him. “I just want to go home. Can I go home?”

His expression softened. “Of course you can. Mom and Dad will be happy to see you.”

“Even though I’m a failure?”

“You’re not a failure. You married an asshole. That’s different.”

She laughed despite herself. “Thanks.”

“That’s what brothers are for.”

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IMPERIAL MAJESTY HOTEL - ROOM 4017

Kieran Miller stood at the window of his hotel room, looking down at Velloria spread out below.

His coffee had gone cold an hour ago.

She’d left. Of course she’d left. He’d expected that. What he hadn’t expected was the fifty dollars on the nightstand.

He picked up the bill and turned it over in his hands. She’d left him money. Like he was—

He laughed. Couldn’t help it.

Aurora Thompson had gotten drunk, stumbled into his room, kissed him like she was drowning, and then left fifty dollars like she’d hired him for the night.

It was the most insulting thing anyone had ever done to him.

It was also the most interesting thing that had happened to him in years.

His phone rang. “Sir, the car is ready.”

“Cancel it.”

“Sir?”

“Cancel everything today. Reschedule the meetings.”

“But—”

“Just do it.” He hung up and looked at the fifty-dollar bill again.

He’d been watching Aurora Thompson for seven years. Waiting. Planning. Last night hadn’t been part of the plan. She was supposed to leave Piagel first. She was supposed to come back to her family, take her rightful place, and then—then—he would make his move.

But plans changed.

And now he had a new problem—Aurora didn’t remember him. They’d met once, seven years ago, at a business conference. She’d been young, bright, full of ideas. He’d been immediately fascinated.

Then she’d disappeared to marry some nobody, and he’d spent five years making sure that nobody’s business succeeded just enough to keep her comfortable.

Not because he cared about Piagel Blythe. Because he cared about her.

And now she’d stumbled into his room, kissed him, slept with him, and left fifty dollars like he was a one-night stand she wanted to forget.

He should be angry.

Instead, he was intrigued.

His phone buzzed with a message from his assistant: “Aurora Thompson resigned from Aurum Group this morning. Piagel Blythe filed for divorce.”

Kieran smiled slowly.

So it was finally happening.

He looked at the fifty-dollar bill one more time, then tucked it into his wallet. He’d give it back to her eventually. When she was ready to know who he was.

For now, he had work to do.