Trap

**Aurora's POV**

The open-air market was packed, loud, and suffocating. People were pushing past me, vendors were shouting out prices, and all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed and hide. 

But Donald had demanded a specific type of fresh fish and vegetables for dinner, and I knew if it wasn’t exactly what he wanted, I’d never hear the end of it.

I was standing by a produce stall, mindlessly picking up tomatoes, when someone suddenly grabbed my elbow.

"Aurora? What the hell are you doing out here looking like you just buried your favorite pet?"

I turned around and saw Jasmine. She was wearing her gym clothes, her hair tossed up in a messy bun, and she was staring at me with those sharp, no-nonsense eyes of hers. 

Jasmine was the exact opposite of me loud, fiercely protective, and she never held back.

"Hey, Jas," I tried to give her a small smile, but my face felt heavy. "Just... buying some stuff for dinner."

Jasmine looked down at my oversized sweater, then up at my puffy eyes. Her expression immediately shifted from annoyed to furious. 

"Are you kidding me right now? Have you been crying again? Is it Donald?"

"No, it's not Donald, I promise," I lied quickly, looking around because people were starting to stare at us. "I just... I took another test today. It was negative."

Jasmine let out a loud, frustrated breath and snatched the bag of tomatoes right out of my hand, forcing me to look her in the eyes.

 "Aurora, listen to me. I love you, but you seriously need to wake up. You are running around acting like a maid for a man who treats you like absolute garbage. You're thirty, you're an orphan, you have no family to back you up, and he knows it. He’s completely taking advantage of how soft you are."

"He's just stressed with the firm, Jasmine," I whispered, reaching back for my bag.

"Bullshit," Jasmine snapped. "And another thing, I saw Lily’s car parked outside your house when I drove past earlier. Why is that girl always lurking around your place? I told you, Aurora, Lily is a snake under the grass. She’s fake. She talks down to you, and you just sit there and take it because you're too nice to see the bad in people."

"Lily is my friend," I defended weakly, though her comments about my weight from earlier were still burning in the back of my mind. "She was just checking up on me."

"Yeah, whatever," Jasmine rolled her eyes, clearly not buying a single word. "Just call me later, okay? If that man makes you cry one more time, I’m coming over there myself."

After finishing up at the market, I finally managed to grab a taxi to head home. My mind was spinning from what Jasmine said. Was I really that pathetic? Was I actually letting myself be stepped on?

We were about ten minutes away from my neighborhood when the taxi slowed down in a bit of traffic. I mindlessly stared out the window, and that's when my heart stopped.

A sleek, white luxury car was pulled over on the side of the main road with the hood popped open. Standing right next to it was Lily.

She looked stunning, even stranded on the asphalt, pacing around in her high heels and a tight skirt. I was just about to tell the taxi driver to pull over so I could help her, but before the words could even leave my mouth, a familiar black Mercedes SUV smoothly swept into the lane and pulled up right behind her.

It was Donald. This was the exact route he took home from the Blackwood Organisation every single day.

I watched through the tinted window of my taxi as Donald got out of his car. The second Lily saw him, her entire posture changed. She didn't look like a frustrated, stranded driver anymore; she looked completely helpless. She gave him a wide, bright smile, running a hand through her hair.

As Donald walked up to her, I noticed the way his eyes traveled down her body. It wasn't the cold, disgusted look he always gave me. 

His face was relaxed, a small, charmed smile playing on his lips. Lily stepped incredibly close to him way closer than she needed to and pointed at the engine, her arm lightly brushing against his chest. 

Donald laughed at something she said, a sound I hadn't heard from him in months, and reached out to gently pat her shoulder before gesturing toward his own car.

"Ma'am? Are we stopping or going?" the taxi driver asked, breaking me out of my trance.

My chest felt incredibly tight, a weird, uncomfortable knot forming in my stomach. "No," I whispered, my voice sounding distant. "Just keep going."

I got home, unloaded the groceries, and spent the next two hours cooking dinner with Lola. I tried to act normal, but I couldn't shake the image of Donald and Lily by the side of the road out of my head.

It was past 8:00 PM when the front door finally clicked open. Donald walked into the house, pulling off his suit jacket and tossing his keys onto the console table. He looked tired, but there was a strange, lingering energy about him.

"Welcome home Dinner is ready," I said softly from the dining room”

He didn't reply. He just walked over, slid into his usual chair at the head of the table, and waited as Lola set a plate down in front of him. I hesitated for a second, then pulled out the chair next to him and sat down.

As he leaned forward to take a bite, a sudden wave of expensive, floral perfume hit my nose. It wasn't his scent. It was Lily's.

My stomach completely turned over. I couldn't keep it in anymore.

"Donald," I started, trying to keep my voice steady. "You're late. I thought you'd be home an hour ago."

He chewed slowly, not even looking up from his plate. "I was in a grueling board meeting, Aurora. The firm takes up a lot of time, not that you'd know anything about that, since you just sit at home all day doing nothing."

"Are you lying to me?" I asked, the words spilling out before I could stop them.

Donald stopped chewing. He slowly lowered his fork and turned his head to look at me, his eyes instantly darkening with irritation.

 "What did you just say?"

"I saw you earlier, Donald," I said, my voice shaking but determined. "I was in a taxi coming back from the market. I saw you pulled over on the side of the road with Lily. Why are you lying to me about being in a board meeting?"

Donald closed his eyes for a brief second, inhaling deeply as if trying to control his explosive temper. When he opened them, he looked completely pissed.

 "Can you let me be, Aurora? Why are you even sitting here questioning me? Can you just go and let me breathe clean air for once?"

"What are you trying to say?" I asked, the tears already starting to sting the back of my eyes. 

"You haven't been home. You came home late last night, you're late tonight, and I haven't really seen you. Is it wrong for me to sit down and even want to have a conversation with my husband?"

"I just came back and I'm so tired!" Donald snapped, his voice rising. "I want to rest. I don't want to come home to a nagging wife."

"But I saw you with Lily!" I cried out, my voice cracking as the emotion broke through. "I saw you with her, and then I asked you nicely, and you lied straight to my face about it!"

*BANG!*

Donald slammed his hand down on the wooden dining table so hard the plates and silverware rattled loudly. I flinched violently, pulling back in my chair.

"Are you questioning me now?!" he roared, standing up from his seat and towering over me. 

"Okay, since you saw me with her, what then? What are you going to do about it? Are you not ashamed of yourself, Aurora?"

He pointed a harsh, mocking finger down at me, his face twisted in utter disgust.

"Look at the way you are, and look at how your friend is! Lily is perfect in every single way. She’s smart, she's educated, and she speaks with so much enthusiasm! While you, on the other hand, are just dumb, fat, and dirty! Let me be! Like, get the hell out of my face!"

Every single word felt like a physical blow to my chest. *Dumb. Fat. Dirty.* The man who had promised to love and protect me was looking at me like I was a piece of trash on the street.

I couldn't breathe. A choked sob tore out of my throat as I stood up, completely breaking down.

 I didn't say another word. I turned around and ran out of the dining room as fast as my legs could carry me, sobbing hysterically as I raced up the stairs, leaving Donald alone in the heavy silence of the house.