Chapter 5: The Last Goodbye

Aurora stood quietly outside the hospital, clutching the ultrasound image to her chest. The tiny heartbeat on the black-and-white scan was the only thing giving her strength.

"You still have me," she whispered, gently rubbing her stomach.

A cool breeze swept across the parking lot as she hailed a taxi. Before she could get in, her phone rang.

The caller ID made her heart skip.

Damian Blackwood.

For several seconds, she simply stared at the screen.

Her thumb hovered over the answer button.

Then...

She declined the call.

Some conversations came too late.

---

Inside Blackwood Manor, Damian lowered his phone.

"She rejected my call," he muttered.

Ethan, standing nearby, remained silent.

Damian rarely called anyone twice.

Yet after a few moments, he dialed again.

This time...

The call went straight to voicemail.

He sighed heavily.

"I need to find her."

Ethan carefully chose his words.

"Sir... are you looking for your ex-wife because you miss her..."

"...or because you're afraid she was innocent?"

The question lingered in the air.

Damian didn't answer.

Because he didn't know.

---

Meanwhile, Aurora arrived at her parents' home.

Her mother greeted her with a warm smile.

"How did the appointment go?"

Aurora handed her the ultrasound picture.

Her mother stared at it, tears filling her eyes.

"My grandchild..."

She wrapped Aurora in a tight embrace.

"We'll protect this little one together."

Just then, Aurora's father walked into the living room carrying an old wooden box.

"I've been saving this for years."

He opened it.

Inside were legal documents, property deeds, and family records.

Aurora looked at him in confusion.

"Dad?"

He smiled sadly.

"Your grandfather wasn't a poor man."

"He built a successful textile company before selling it."

"I invested the money wisely."

Aurora blinked.

"I don't understand."

"You've spent years believing we were barely getting by."

"We let you believe that because we wanted you to grow up valuing hard work instead of wealth."

He pushed a folder toward her.

"Everything here belongs to you."

Aurora stared at the figures.

Millions.

Her hands trembled.

"You... you're serious?"

Her father nodded.

"I hoped you'd never need it."

"But now..."

"It's time for you to rebuild your life."

Aurora looked at her parents with tears in her eyes.

For the first time since leaving Damian...

Hope returned.

---

Across the city...

Vanessa paced nervously inside her apartment.

Her private investigator had just arrived.

"I destroyed the fake messages," he reported.

"But..."

Vanessa narrowed her eyes.

"But what?"

"The security footage still exists."

Her face turned pale.

"What?"

"I couldn't access Blackwood Holdings' backup servers."

Vanessa slammed her hand onto the table.

"Find another way."

"If Damian sees that footage..."

She couldn't finish the sentence.

Everything she had worked for would collapse.

---

Later that evening...

Damian entered Aurora's empty bedroom once again.

Everything remained untouched.

Her favorite books.

A framed photograph of their honeymoon.

A knitted scarf she had made for him during their first winter together.

He picked it up.

It still carried the faint scent of her perfume.

A memory flooded his mind.

Aurora laughing as she wrapped the scarf around his neck.

"Now you'll never catch a cold," she had teased.

Without realizing it...

He smiled.

The smile disappeared almost instantly.

What had he done?

His gaze fell on the wedding ring she had left behind.

He picked it up.

It felt heavier than gold.

At that moment, his phone buzzed.

It was Ethan.

"Sir..."

"I traced the anonymous number."

Damian's heart pounded.

"And?"

"It belongs to someone employed by Blackwood Holdings."

Damian's expression darkened.

"Who?"

There was a brief silence.

"It's registered under a fake name..."

"...but the payment records lead directly to Vanessa Sterling's personal assistant."

The room fell silent.

Damian slowly closed his hand around Aurora's wedding ring.

The first crack in Vanessa's perfect lie had finally appeared.

He looked out the rain-streaked window and whispered words he never thought he would say.

"Aurora..."

"If I've wronged you..."

"I'll make it right."

But hundreds of miles away, Aurora stood on the balcony of her parents' home, watching the same moonlight.

She gently placed a hand over her unborn child.

"I'll never go back."

Not this time.

End of Chapter 5

Cliffhanger: Damian orders Ethan to secretly investigate Vanessa, unaware that she has already discovered the investigation—and is preparing a dangerous plan to silence the only witness who can expose her.