LOGINAurora’s POV
I couldn’t believe Zoe was actually considering him. We were back in our cabin after the bonfire, the door locked, and I was pacing while Zoe sat on her bunk, looking guilty but still a little dreamy-eyed. The memory of Prescott’s hand on her shoulder and that cocky smirk made my stomach turn. “Zoe, you have to stay away from him,” I said firmly, stopping in front of her “Prescott Zane is dangerous. He’s not just a player he’s cruel. I walked in on him getting a blowjob in the bathroom like it was nothing, he didn’t even care, he treats women with disregard like toys. He called me “fatso” right after finishing on some girl’s face.” Zoe winced but didn’t meet my eyes. “I know he’s a jerk to you, Aurora. But… he was really nice to me. He listened. And the way he kissed my cheek…” she blushed. “That’s what he does!” I interrupted, my voice rising. “He charms you, makes you feel special, then fucks you and throws you away. I’ve seen it all week, he’s had at least three different girls you’re my best friend I can’t watch him hurt you.” Zoe crossed her arms, getting defensive. “I’m not stupid, okay? I can handle myself. Maybe you’re just… a little jealous because he doesn’t look at you the same way.” Her words hit like a slap. I felt my cheeks burn with humiliation and anger. “Jealous?” I laughed bitterly. “Of that? Zoe, he body-shames me every chance he gets he looks at me like I’m disgusting. I’m not jealous I’m terrified for you. Guys like Prescott don’t change. They destroy girls like us and move on without a second thought.” Zoe was quiet for a long moment, chewing on her lip the tension in the small cabin was thick. Finally, she sighed heavily. “Okay… you’re right. I saw how he treated that other girl by the dock and the way he talks to you is awful I won’t go near him again. I promise.” I let out a relieved breath and hugged her tightly. “Thank you. I just want to protect you.” The rest of the camp dragged by in a blur of activities and forced smiles. True to her word, Zoe avoided Prescott. She stuck close to me, declined his invitations, and even changed direction when she saw him approaching. I caught him staring at us a few times his expression a mix of irritation and arrogance. He tried to approach her once more, but she brushed him off politely and stayed by my side. By the final day, the tension had settled into cold silence. When the buses arrived to take us home, I felt nothing but pure relief. As I climbed onto the bus, I glanced back one last time. Prescott stood near his fancy car, surrounded by girls saying goodbye. His eyes found mine across the lot. That familiar smug smirk appeared on his lips as he gave me a slow, mocking wave. I turned away, heart still racing with hatred. This nightmare was finally over. I would never have to see Prescott Zane again. At least… that’s what I thought.AuroraMorning in the mansion felt like walking through a house that had quietly changed ownership overnight.I woke early, dressed with more care than usual, and paused at my bedroom door before opening it. Across the hall, Elena and Dominic’s suite was already quiet with the kind of occupied silence that meant they were awake. Farther down, Prescott’s door remained closed. For weeks that distance had meant almost nothing. One of us would cross it before breakfast, or after midnight, or in the thin hours where secrecy still felt manageable. Now the hallway itself might as well have been a border.I went downstairs first.Elena was in the kitchen, hair pinned neatly, pouring coffee with the calm of a woman determined to impose order on a house full of tension. She smiled when she saw me.“You’re up early.”“Habit,” I said. “Do you need help?”“Sit. Eat. Your father and Prescott are already turning the morning i
AuroraThe mansion felt different the moment we stepped through the door.It was subtle at first the extra set of keys on the console table, the soft click of another lamp left on in the front sitting room, the faint trace of Elena’s perfume in the air. Then I heard voices deeper inside the house, and my body understood before my mind finished arranging the implications.Prescott stopped beside me. His hand, which had been low at my back as we entered, fell away at once.“They’re home,” he said under his breath.Before I could answer, Dominic appeared in the archway to the living room, still in travel clothes, phone in one hand, expression carved into hard practicality. Elena was behind him, elegant even in exhaustion, her gaze moving from Prescott to me with the quick assessment of a woman who noticed atmosphere as easily as facts.“You’re back earlier than expected,” Prescott said.“We had to be,” Dominic rep
AuroraThe backlash arrived before noon.It did not come as a single dramatic blow. It came the way all of their moves came almost predictable through channels, implications, and people who enjoyed watching a polished reputation catch fire. By the time I reached my desk on Monday, two separate messages had already asked whether the Zane-Hale relationship was “under review,” and a third, from a mid-level operations manager who never spoke to me unless he needed something, offered a sympathetic smile that made my skin crawl.Prescott’s strike had landed.And Marcus was no longer interested in soft delays.Through the glass, Prescott was already on a call, jacket on, expression carved into cold focus. He had warned me the response would come harder. Still, seeing the building absorb the news so quickly made my pulse tighten. Preferred-partner removals did not remain private. They traveled.Lena stopped at my des
PrescottBy Friday morning, the soft delay was no longer the point.Marcus had used the three o’clock call to test whether I would stay quiet and had named Aurora carefully, waited for an attack and ended the line when he realized he would not get it. That told me enough. He still believed the damage could remain deniable, he still thought this was a private feud dressed in commercial language.So I did something different. Composed, but not emotional. At 8:40 a.m., I sent the formal notice that removed the Hale Group from the preferred-partner track on the west-side logistics package and transferred interim control to an independent third-party operator already cleared by legal. Effective immediately. No joint review. No continued soft timeline. The package would move without them until a full compliance and intent assessment was completed.I copied both legal teams. I copied procurement. I copied Domini
PrescottI did not wait for Marcus to make the next move.Waiting had given him the shape of a concerned friend, Mia the shape of unfinished history, and Zoe the shape of loyalty until the message logs proved otherwise. Aurora had closed one door the night before. This morning I intended to close another.I arrived before the floor filled. The forwarded note sat in a secured folder, three lines long and more expensive than Marcus had calculated.I called Hale’s office at eight. Marcus answered himself. Men who were still pretending innocence usually let an assistant take the first ring.“Prescott.” His voice was already braced. “Early for you.”“I’m pulling the joint review on the west-side logistics package. Effective today.”A pause. “On what grounds?”“A delay has been sitting on your side of the chain for nine days with no technical reason. I’m done funding the pause.”“That’s aggressive.”“No it’s not,
AuroraCutting Zoe off did not make me feel lighter right away.It made me feel clean.There was a difference. Lightness would have meant relief without residue what I felt instead was the hard clarity of a door finally shut necessary, permanent, and still aching around the edges. By the time Prescott and I sat down in the living room that evening, the confrontation had settled into something more useful than shock.Anger. Resolve. A refusal to keep absorbing damage politely.Prescott watched me over the rim of his glass, sleeves rolled up, attention fully locked on my face. “You’re quieter than I expected.”“I’m thinking.”“About her?”“About the fact that I spent weeks handing my uncertainty to someone who was counting it.” I drew my legs up onto the couch and wrapped my hands around my knees. “I don’t want to do that anymore. Not with her or with anyone.”His eyes warmed with something fierce and approving. “Good.”







