LOGINAurora's POV The morning sun glared off the glass towers of Griffins Enterprises like a warning. I stepped out of the black SUV with my lawyer, Marcus Hale, close at my side, clutching the leather portfolio Xavier’s team had delivered at dawn. My heels clicked against the marble steps, and every sound felt amplified. Cameras flashed from the small crowd of reporters clustered near the entrance. Whispers rippled through the lobby the second I walked through the revolving doors. “That’s her,” someone murmured. “Daniel Hayes’s daughter.” “The secret shareholder.” I kept my chin high, but my stomach twisted into knots. The silk blouse I’d chosen clung a little too warmly to my skin, and I could feel eyes crawling over me—employees pausing mid-stride, executives pretending not to stare from the elevators. Marcus leaned in slightly. “Head up. Say nothing until we’re in the room.” Easy for him to say. He wasn’t the one who had spent the night tossing in bed, replaying Xavier’s low voic
Aurora's POV “You’re lying.” The words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them, sharp and breathless in the heavy silence of Xavier’s penthouse office. My heart hammered against my ribs like it wanted to crack them open. Thirty-two percent. The number kept echoing in my head, refusing to settle. Xavier stood across from me, leaning against the edge of his massive desk with that calm, predatory stillness he wore when he knew he’d already won. His dark eyes never left my face, tracing the shock that must have been written all over it. The city lights glittered behind him through the floor-to-ceiling windows, but all I could see was him—broad shoulders straining against his tailored shirt, the faint shadow of stubble along his jaw, the way his fingers flexed once like he was fighting the urge to reach for me. “I don’t lie to you about this, Aurora,” he said quietly, voice low and rough like velvet dragged over gravel. “Not anymore.” I shook my head, taking a shaky step back un
Aurora's POV I pulled away from Xavier’s embrace, the warmth of his arms suddenly feeling like chains rather than comfort. The hallway outside my apartment still hummed with the aftermath of Leonard Bell’s escape—distant sirens, Steve coordinating with security, the faint echo of footsteps. But all I could focus on was the man in front of me, the one who had shaped my entire world, now looking more broken than I had ever seen him. “Explain exactly what you mean by ‘protecting Carter Mills Sr.,’” I demanded, my voice low but trembling with the force of everything I had held back. “No more vague answers, Xavier. No more ‘it was complicated.’ Tell me what you did in those forty-eight hours.” Xavier ran a hand over his face, looking older than his years. The hallway light cast harsh shadows across his features. “Fourteen years ago, your father discovered money disappearing from Griffins Enterprises through several layered shell companies. The transactions were sophisticated, but they p
Aurora's POV I pressed myself harder against the cold hallway wall, the phone slippery in my sweat-dampened palm. Xavier’s voice poured through the speaker in a frantic stream of commands, each word laced with raw fear. My eyes remained locked on the slightly ajar door to my apartment, the darkness beyond it suddenly alive with threat. The voice that had spoken moments earlier still echoed in my ears like a warning from the grave. “Stay exactly where you are, Aurora,” Xavier ordered, his tone sharp and authoritative but cracking at the edges with panic. “Do not move toward that door. I’m less than five minutes away. Steve is with me. Just breathe and stay on the line. Promise me you won’t hang up.” Before I could form a reply, movement stirred in the shadowed hallway inside my apartment. Leonard Bell stepped out slowly, deliberately, both hands raised in a universal gesture of surrender. The elderly man who had visited me earlier pretending to be his brother looked different in thi
Aurora's POV I pressed play on the voice recorder for the third time, the static crackling through the small speaker like ghosts refusing to stay buried. Madam Lucy sat silently beside me on the worn floral couch in her living room, her hands folded tightly in her lap as if she were praying. She offered no interruptions, only the steady presence of someone who had been part of my life for as long as I could remember. My mother’s voice filled the cozy space once more—urgent, frightened, but resolute in a way that made my chest ache. “Daniel discovered money being moved through shell companies. He traced it back to Carter Mills Sr., our financial adviser who was so deeply connected to the early Griffins business. Daniel confronted Xavier, but he’s protecting the wrong man. If we die before he tells the police, someone needs to know… Carter Mills Sr. is stealing from us. Please, if you’re listening to this, protect Aurora. She deserves the truth.” The recording ended with a sharp cli
Aurora's POV The morning light felt harsh against my swollen eyes as I slipped out of the serviced apartment before the city fully woke. I hadn’t slept more than a few fragmented hours, the words “Ask Lucy. She knows.” burning behind my eyelids like a brand. I didn’t tell Xavier. I didn’t text Isla. This was something I needed to do alone, without another layer of protection or deflection standing between me and the truth. The drive to Madam Lucy’s house felt both familiar and foreign. The winding roads leading to her cozy cottage on the outskirts of the city had once represented safety—a place where I could escape Xavier’s intensity and breathe. Today, they felt like the path to another reckoning. My hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, knuckles pale, as I replayed the voice recorder I had imagined in my head a thousand times since discovering the faint handwriting. Madam Lucy’s garden was in full bloom, colorful flowers nodding gently in the breeze as if the world hadn’t til
Aurora’s POVWhat the fuck is the witch even doing here?“Ohh.. Aurora… You are here too?” Diana gave the most fake smile I have seen in my life.Marinette and Rose's eyes also fell on her, and they smiled.“Hi,” Marinette waved, and the witch waved back.Rubbish! I don't know why they like her.“
Aurora's POVUncle X shunned me, he sounded disgusted and disappointed. I put my head down as I walked back to my room.My sweetheart was disappointed… not me, to me, it was a massive step, at least I made it clear to him that I do not see him as my biological uncle.I laid on my bed, my heart tig
Aurora's POVI wanted to follow my plans according to what I jotted down last night, but I couldn't. I saw a beautiful opportunity to jump to number 2, which says ‘seduce Uncle X’, and that's what I am about to do. Diana wasn't home, this was my trump card.I passed by his room, and I caught him si
Aurora's POV I didn't think these two naughty girls were being serious until they appeared at my house. They came here mainly for the purpose of seeing Uncle X. They went crazy after sighting him on school grounds earlier, and being the naughty girls they were, they came to see him personally.







