The Birth of Scorn

**Aurora's POV**

My knees completely gave out. I would have collapsed straight onto the polished marble floor of the hotel lobby if a pair of strong arms hadn't suddenly grabbed me from behind, pulling me back into the shadows of the massive pillar.

"Step back, Aurora," Jasmine whispered harshly in my ear, her grip on my shoulders like iron. 

"Do not let them see you look this pathetic. Do not give them that satisfaction. I won't let them see you look so miserable."

I spun around, my tear-filled eyes widening in absolute shock as I looked at her. "Jasmine? What are you doing here?"

"My husband was invited to this gala, Aurora," Jasmine said, her voice shaking with a mixture of anger and disbelief. "I’ve been trying to call you for the past thirty minutes. I was standing near the entrance when I saw Donald walk in with Lily, and my jaw literally dropped.

 I couldn't even believe my eyes. I was trying to call you to tell you what the hell I was seeing, not knowing you were already on your way here."

I couldn't move. I couldn't even breathe. My eyes drifted back to the center of the ballroom where Donald and Lily were finally pulling away from that disgusting, public kiss. 

Lily was giggling, her cheeks flushed with a triumphant glow as she smoothed down her emerald gown, while Donald wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her flush against his side. They looked like the perfect corporate power couple.

The pain inside my chest was so violent it felt like a physical organ was being ripped out of my body. The phones didn't tally because she used a secondary line. 

She had a burner phone. Lily, my best friend, the girl who knew every single detail of my lonely, orphaned life, had deliberately created a ghost number just to sleep with my husband.

A choking, breathless sob caught in my throat, and I felt the room tilt sideways.

Jasmine didn't waste another second. 

She practically dragged me across the lobby, keeping her body between me and the flashing cameras of the press, until she pushed open the passenger door of her car in the parking lot.

 She got into the driver's seat, immediately locking the doors, and the moment the quiet of the car settled around us, I completely fell apart.

I buried my face in my hands, sobbing so intensely that my ribs ached.

"How could they do this to me?" I choked out, my voice cracking into a million pieces. "Jasmine, what am I going to do? I can't leave him. He is all I have in this world. I don't know where to go. I honestly don't know where to go."

"Aurora, listen to me," Jasmine said, turning firmly in her seat to face me, her eyes cutting through the dark. "You need to man up right now. You have to put your things together. I know you're hurting, but you cannot leave empty-handed. You will not leave empty-handed! Even if you are leaving this marriage eventually, you have to go with some fortune. We are going to deal with him, do you hear me? You are going to take the fortune and ruin him."

"You don't understand!" I screamed, the misery completely taking over my body as fresh tears poured down my cheeks. "I don't have anybody else, Jasmine! My parents are dead. My family is gone. He is my only family left in this world! If I pack my bags right now, where do I go? Who is going to take me in? I am completely alone!"

Jasmine’s expression softened with deep pity, but she kept her voice hard as steel. 

"You are not alone, Aurora. You have me. We are going to figure this out and play this smart, but you need to stop crying. If you go back to that house looking like this, he will know you saw them. Act normal until we get everything."

I just shook my head, pressing my forehead against the cool glass of the car window as Jasmine started the engine and began driving me back to the mansion.

 The journey was a blur of streetlights and silent weeping. 

The misery was suffocating. I felt like a little girl who had lost everything all over again. The house fire took my parents, and now this betrayal had taken my future.

When Jasmine pulled up into the driveway of the dark mansion, she turned to me one last time. 

"Do you want me to come inside with you?"

"No," I whispered, my voice sounding completely dead and hollow. "I'll be fine."

The house was completely dark when I walked through the front door, but the kitchen light was still casting a dim glow across the foyer. 

Lola was sitting at the island, waiting up for me. The moment she saw me walk in, her eyes widened in shock. She took in my ruined makeup, my swollen face, and the tight dress.

"Ma'am," Lola breathed, rushing over to me. "What happened? Did you see him?"

"I saw him, Lola," I said, a fresh sob escaping my throat as I collapsed onto one of the kitchen chairs. "I saw him with Lily. They are sleeping together. My friend... my only friend is sleeping with my husband."

Lola stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth falling open. Her face contorted into total disgust, and she gripped the edge of the counter to steady herself. "Miss Lily? Your friend? Oh, that disgusting, evil snake. How could she do that to you after everything?"

"I don't know where to go, Lola," I wept openly, covering my face. "I have no family. I have no one. He is my only family, and he hates me."

Lola immediately knelt down beside my chair, her own eyes filling with tears as she looked up at me. "Ma'am, please don't say that. Whatever you need me to do, I am with you. If you need me to help you, I will stay right by your side. He is a wicked man, ma'am."

"Don't tell anyone what you know, Lola," I choked out, trying to wipe my face. "Just act normal. Please."

I dragged my heavy, exhausted body upstairs. I washed my face until every trace of black mascara was gone, and I quickly pulled my oversized sweater back on, hiding my body away again. I couldn't bring myself to get into that bed. I sat down in the armchair in the corner of the dark bedroom, pulling my knees up to my chest, completely broken.

It was almost 3:00 AM when the doorknob finally turned.

Donald walked into the room, humming softly to himself. He pulled off his tie, smelling strongly of expensive alcohol and Lily’s floral perfume. He didn't even bother to turn on the lights, assuming I was asleep under the covers.

He took two steps into the room before he finally noticed the silhouette sitting in the armchair. He jumped slightly, startled.

"Jesus, Aurora," he snapped, his voice instantly shifting back to that harsh, irritated tone. "Why the hell are you sitting in the dark like a creep? Get to bed."

I didn't flinch. I didn't yell. I just looked at him through the darkness, my heart feeling completely dead in my chest.

"Just waiting for my husband," I said softly, my voice trembling with a sadness I couldn't even hide. "How was the gala, Donald?"