Chapter 3

"Miss Aurora," my maid whispered, her face pale. "There’s been an incident. Sienna was shot in the firefight last night."

I almost dropped my teacup.

"What? Is she okay?"

"I heard she took a bullet for the Don. She's at the family hospital."

I dropped everything and drove straight to the hospital.

Whatever was going on with Caspian, Sienna used to be my best friend.

I pushed the door open. Sienna was lying in a sterile white bed, her left arm bandaged. She was pale, but awake.

"Sienna!" I rushed over. "Are you okay? What did the doctors say?"

"Just a graze. No bone damage." She gave a weak smile. "Aurora, you came."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I was about to ask her more.

"Are you happy now, Aurora?"

Caspian's cold voice came from behind me.

I turned around, confused. "What?"

He stood in the doorway. His suit still had fresh blood on it. His eyes were like knives.

"You made a scene yesterday. It distracted the guards, the perimeter fell, and the Bratva breached our compound. Sienna wouldn't be in this bed right now!"

His words hit me like a hammer.

"I... I didn't..."

"You didn't what?" He mocked. "Did you really think your little stunt wouldn't have consequences, Aurora? Now look. Sienna almost died because you acted like a child."

I was stunned.

What did my breaking off the engagement have to do with the shootout? The Bratva attacked over a dock dispute. Everyone knew that.

But in his eyes, everything was my fault.

"Caspian, stop." Sienna weakly defended me. "Aurora didn't mean to."

But Caspian kept staring at me with those dark, bottomless eyes.

"Do you always need the world to revolve around you? Aurora, do you think holding the title of fiancée makes you the queen of the underworld? Without the family's protection, you are nothing!"

The room fell dead silent.

My eyes burned, and hot tears spilled over.

Seeing my tears, his face softened slightly. He reached out to wipe them away.

"Just grow up, okay? Stop making everyone else pay for your feelings."

I turned my head, dodging his touch.

I took a step back. "Mr. Rinaldi, we are done. Please don't speak to me like that ever again."

Caspian flared up instantly. He practically gritted his teeth. "Aurora, are you done with this bullshit?"

Even Sienna looked at me with disapproval from her bed. "Stop being so stubborn, Aurora."

I looked at the two of them and suddenly found it hilarious.

They were so alike. So self-righteous. So condescending. They never saw my words, my feelings, or me as a person.

I gave a bitter smile. "I'm not being stubborn, Mr. Rinaldi. I'm just stating facts."

With that, I walked out.

For the next two weeks, Caspian gave me the cold shoulder.

He didn't even come back to the penthouse. He moved back to the family estate.

We were like strangers. We nodded politely at family gatherings and went our separate ways.

But the rumors about him never stopped.

Like how he flew in the best medical team from Europe just for Sienna's recovery.

Or how they purged the family traitors together. It was so brutal that it shook the entire underworld.

"Aurora, what's going on with you and Caspian?" a friend asked over the phone. "Word on the street is the engagement is off."

"It's nothing. Just a disagreement," I brushed it off.

"A disagreement? That's Caspian Rinaldi! Women would kill to marry him. Are you insane?"

I hung up and kept sorting my paperwork.

I threw myself into work these days. I wanted to be so busy I couldn't think about anything else.

One afternoon, I was reviewing a massive offshore investment contract.

Sienna showed up at my office door.

Her arm wasn't in a sling anymore. She looked like she was healing well.

"Aurora." She linked her arm through mine like old times. "You're fighting with Caspian, so you're icing me out too?"

I pulled my arm away and kept reading. "I'm busy, Sienna."

"You two are so stubborn." She sat across from me. "I'm here to give you an out. Just be the bigger person and apologize first, okay? You were the one who brought up the breakup. Of course Caspian's pride took a hit."

I finally looked up at the face I used to know so well.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you always take his side?" I asked calmly. "We knew each other first. And I didn't do anything wrong. But you always act like you're throwing me a bone. Like I should thank you for your mercy."

Sienna's smile stiffened. "Aurora, what are you talking about?"

"The truth." I closed the file and looked her in the eye. "Ever since college, you've latched onto power. You let everyone else fight your battles while you reap the rewards, don't you?"

Looking at her, I felt nothing but coldness. She was a total stranger to me now.