CHAPTER ONE

AURORA

Julian had no idea I was the heiress to the Sterling family.

“Aurora, I have a surprise for you tonight. Come to Nightfall Hotel, Room 420, tonight.”

“Julian…” My voice was shaky as I held the cold phone next to my ear.

My heart was pounding in my chest and my fingers trembling.

‘A surprise.’

The words rang in my mind even as he kept on speaking on the other end.

We had been together for three years. A surprise would mean a proposal. I had stumbled across the ring a few days ago when I was cleaning and had been waiting for him to ask me.

I felt my chest swell and my stomach twist in knots.

“Aurora, are you there?” his voice cut through all my fantasies at once.

“Yes… Yes,” I managed to squeeze out without sounding too excited.

“You can wear the lingerie set you bought the last time.”

He didn’t wait for a response before he ended the call.

The lingerie set I wore the last time? When I wore it to show him, he asked me to put it away and save it for a better occasion.

I dropped onto the bed and squealed into a pillow.

I was finally getting the ring.

My heart was doing all sorts of things in my chest.

I sat up in bed, my fingers hovering over my mom’s contact.

I wanted to give her the good news and prove her wrong.

I wanted to make sure she knew I had won the bet. Julian was not the jerk she thought he was. He truly loved me. If he didn’t, then there was no way he would have proposed to me.

I could finally reveal my identity to him and take him home as the Sterling heiress.

I didn’t want to hide it from him, but Mom was sure that he would cling to me if he knew I came from wealth.

Now I could prove just how much he loved me as Aurora and not because I was the Sterling heiress.

The lingerie still felt as weird as it did the first time I wore it.

I didn’t mind. After all, this was for the man I loved.

Every streetlight that passed seemed brighter than the last.

My heart danced in my chest at the thought of giving myself to Julian tonight and getting the ring.

I turned up the music on the radio and sang along, hitting the steering wheel as I felt giddy.

Everything felt perfect for the first time in forever.

Room 420.

I stopped in front of the door.

It was already unlocked and slightly ajar.

I eased off the coat and dropped it to the floor as I slipped into the room.

“Julian, I am…”

My heart stopped at the sight in front of me.

Julian was lounging on the couch. A woman, innocent and pretty, was lying on his shoulder, and they were chatting happily with Felix, my boyfriend’s best friend.

The room burst into laughter the moment I stepped into view.

The moment I heard the laughter, I felt a wave of dizziness.

My hands flew to my chest as if it was going to be enough to fully cover me.

Felix was the first to get off the couch.

He laughed, a finger pointing in my face.

“Oh, my God! Julian! You really called it. She actually came!”

Felix was so red in the face, he looked like he was ready to burst into flames.

“She actually came dressed like a cheap slut too. Damn, Julian, you really do know how to pick them. Look at those legs, perfect for spreading.”

He whistled.

Both men chuckled.

“I told you.” Julian raised his scotch glass to Felix, who clinked his against it. “She is just a dog who wags its tail at my command.”

They laughed again, downing the contents of their glasses as if it was some kind of contest.

Felix took out a card from his pocket and set it on the table that housed empty bottles and glasses.

“Here is your two million,” Felix laughed. “I guess you won.”

Tears stung my eyes, but I fought them back.

I clicked my lips together and swallowed to wet my dried-out throat.

“Julian? Explain this… what is this?” I sniffed back the tears.

“Why the tears, Aurora? Look at you standing there dressed like a desperate whore. Did you think tonight was special? That I would touch a poor, classless student like you?”

The words stung.

The realization that I was wrong about Julian.

He did care about status.

The woman finally pushed herself into a sitting position.

Her hand still looped in Julian’s.

“Julian,” she drawled in a nasal tone. “Who is she?”

Julian’s hands wrapped around her almost instantly.

He pulled her closer, and his tone shifted from the roughness I had heard to something small and sweet.

A tone I thought he only used with me.

“You don’t have to worry about her, Victoria. She is just a dog I keep. A plaything.”

“So you slept with her?” she asked with a pout, her lips trembling and tears pooling in her eyes.

“Of course not,” Julian snapped. “I would never be with her. You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved. Just look at her, do you think she befits the Prescott standard?”

“Right, right, Victoria.” Felix rushed to her side and patted her shoulders. “Julian has only ever had eyes for you. Even after you broke up three years ago, he stayed faithful to you.”

It finally all made sense.

Julian’s refusal to touch me or acknowledge me with his friends or family.

His refusal to be seen in public with me.

I had thought the man who saved me from a fire was in love with me.

In reality, I was just his plaything.

Both men turned to me.

Julian tossed the card to my feet.

“Here is your payment for being so obedient tonight,” Julian sneered. “We’re done. I only kept you around because Victoria was gone. Now go fetch your things and disappear like the disposable toy you are.”

I stared at the card at my feet and then back at them.

“Take the money, darling,” Victoria taunted, her voice filled with disdain. “It would be more than enough to buy proper clothes so you don’t walk around looking like a…”

“Enough!”

I snapped.

My entire body was trembling, the blood in my veins surging too quickly, and I was seeing red.

Felix let out a laugh and sat down.

“Oh, feisty.”

He patted his lap and threw his head toward Julian.

“It would be a waste to just hand the money over to her. Let her get on her knees and show me how she can please a man. I will pay you double if you do a good job.”

“You heard him,” Julian drawled lazily. “Go on. Make yourself useful for once.”

I bent and picked up the card.

It felt heavy against my palm.

I almost laughed. 

Three years. Three years of skipping meals so I could show up to his family dinners in a dress that didn't embarrass him. Three years of swallowing every cruel word, every cold shoulder, every night he turned away from me without explanation. I had convinced myself it was just a rough patch. That he was stressed. That he would come back to me. 

And this was what those three years were worth to him.

Not even an apology. Not even the decency to look me in the eye.

Just a card flicked across a floor and a room full of people waiting to see if I would crawl for it. 

The hurt came first, a hollow, sickening drop in my chest, the kind that steals your breath before you even know you're falling.

Then the anger came.

They laughed.

“I knew a poor student like her couldn’t resist two million,” Victoria scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

I tossed the card in Julian’s face.

“Keep it to yourself.”

I was trying to keep my voice steady to stop myself from breaking down in tears.

I had always been submissive to him, so my sudden outburst caught Julian off guard.

“Who do you think you are, daring to speak to me like that?” Julian’s tone increased.

I snatched my coat and threw it on.

I traced my eyes over his body, settling on his crotch area, a forced smirk climbing my face.

“After three years of not being able to get it up, I suggest you use the money to see a urologist. You wouldn’t want the Prescott family line to end because of your little problem.”

Julian scrambled to his feet with a loud stutter.

Both hands covered his crotch area, his face red with fury.

“How dare you…” Felix taunted.

"Let her go." Julian's voice came from me, low and tight, each word bitten off at the edges. 

"I want to see what she amounts to without me." 

I stormed out of the room without another word.

I didn’t stop until I was at the old beaten-up car I had used to stay by his side.

Why did I throw everything away for him?

I brought out my phone and dialed a number I hadn’t called in three years.

She answered after three rings as usual.

“You were right, Mom,” I said, my voice breaking. “I lost the bet. Julian is a complete jerk.”

I swallowed hard.

“I’m coming home.”