LOGINOn the day of her wedding, Aurora Stanley opens the door to her bridal suite and finds her billionaire fiancé in bed with her sister. Feeling humiliated and heartbroken, she never makes it down the aisle because her fiancé arranged a fatal accident. But fate isn't done with her. She wakes up three years earlier, before the engagement, the betrayal, and even her death. This time, she decides to plot their destruction. To take revenge, she joins forces with the one man her ex fears, Lawrence Astor, who is cold and dangerously powerful. But when love becomes more dangerous than revenge, will Aurora rise as the queen of the game, or become its final sacrifice?
View MoreAurora’s Pov
I stood outside the bridal suite in my wedding dress, holding the doorknob with a shaky hand. My heart was beating too fast, and my palms felt sweaty even though the room hall was cold. I could hear faint laughter from the other end of the hallway, the sound of people getting ready, the smell of flowers and perfume mixing in the air. It was supposed to be the happiest day of my life.
I looked down at the white fabric and fixed the small fold near my waist. It fit perfectly. Dad had said it made me look like Mom, that made me smile a little. Everything was perfect. The hotel, the guests, the ceremony waiting downstairs. I had even written a small speech to say later.
“Mrs Aurora Damien,” I whispered, just to hear how it sounded.
I laughed quietly, It felt strange but good. My heart warmed up thinking of Damien. He had been my calm place since college, always knowing what to say when I panicked, always looking so sure of himself. I trusted him with everything. He even helped me handle things for Dad’s company after Dad fell sick last year.
I thought about Seraphina too. My sister had been so excited about this day. She had helped with the dress, the flowers, everything. She said she wanted me to be the happiest bride in the world.
Everything felt right.
I wanted to surprise Damien before the ceremony. I could already picture his face lighting up when he saw me in the dress. He always said, “You’ll make a beautiful bride, Aurora.”
I smiled again and pushed the door open slowly.
The room smelled like the same perfume Seraphina wore. It was faint but strong enough to notice. My eyes caught the messy bed first, the tangled white sheets, and the movement under them. My steps froze.
At first, I thought maybe someone had made a mistake. Maybe the room wasn’t his but then I saw Damien’s jacket on the chair, the same one he wore when we came for the rehearsal dinner. My chest started to hurt, a tight feeling spreading inside me.
Then I saw him.
Damien was in bed and he wasn’t alone.
Seraphina was beside him, her long brown hair spread over the pillow. His arm was around her. My brain didn’t understand it for a few seconds. My throat felt dry. My hands shook so much I almost dropped the small flower I was holding.
“Damien?” My voice came out small.
They both turned their heads. For a moment, they both looked surprised, but not like they were caught doing something wrong. It was like they didn’t care that I saw them.
Seraphina sat up first, pulling the sheet halfway up her chest. She looked at me the same way she did when we were younger and she’d taken something of mine.
Damien didn’t say anything. He just stared. Then something changed in his face, the soft smile I always knew disappeared, replaced by something I had never seen before. His eyes looked cold.
I stepped back. My chest burned. “What…what is this?”
Seraphina smiled slightly. “You weren’t supposed to see this yet.”
I shook my head fast. “You’re my sister.”
“I still am,” she said. “That doesn’t change anything.”
Damien got up slowly, not bothering to hide that he didn’t care. “You shouldn’t have come here, Aurora.”
I stared at him. “You’re supposed to marry me.”
He walked closer, his bare feet silent on the carpet. “You already did what I needed.”
My heartbeat grew louder in my ears. “What do you mean?”
He gave a short laugh, and it didn’t sound kind. “You really thought I wanted you?”
I couldn’t move. My whole body went cold. “Damien, stop. You’re scaring me.”
He looked down at me like I was a stranger. “You already signed everything. The company documents, the transfer papers. All I needed was your trust.”
My eyes widened. My mind ran through the week before. He had told me to sign some documents for Dad’s company. He said it was just to protect the shares while Dad was recovering. I didn’t even read them properly. I trusted him.
“You tricked me,” I said quietly.
He shrugged. “You made it easy.”
Seraphina got out of bed and walked over to him, touching his arm. She looked proud. “We didn’t want to hurt you, Aurora, but someone had to be in control. You never had what it took.”
I wanted to scream. I wanted to hit her, to pull her hair, to ask her why, but my body wouldn’t move. Everything in me felt broken.
“You planned this,” I said slowly. “Both of you.”
Damien didn’t answer. His silence said everything.
My eyes filled with tears, but I blinked fast. I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of seeing me cry. “You can have everything,” I said. “I just want to leave.”
Damien stepped closer, his tone sharp now. “No. You’ll stay quiet. You’ll smile through the ceremony, and after today, you’ll disappear quietly. Don’t make me deal with you another way.”
My stomach twisted. He sounded like a stranger, not the man I loved.
“You wouldn’t,” I whispered.
Seraphina laughed softly. “He would. You don’t know him like I do.”
That laugh made something inside me snap. I turned and ran. My shoes hit the floor too fast, my breath coming in short bursts. I could hear Damien’s voice calling my name but I didn’t stop. I didn’t care who saw me. I just wanted to get out.
The elevator took too long so I ran down the stairs, almost tripping over my dress. My heart felt like it was breaking apart.
When I reached the lobby, people turned to stare. Someone called my name, maybe one of the wedding planners, but I didn’t stop. I pushed through the glass doors and ran out to the parking area.
I threw the small bouquet on the ground and opened my car door with shaking hands.
My breath came out rough. My chest hurt, i couldn’t believe what I had seen. Every memory of Damien, the dates, the laughs, the small gifts felt fake now.
How long had they been doing this? Did everyone know except me?
Tears blurred my vision, but I didn’t care. I started the car and pressed the gas hard.
I just needed to get away from that hotel.
As I drove down the long road, I wiped my face with my hand and gripped the steering wheel tighter. My thoughts wouldn’t stop spinning.
How could Seraphina do that to me? We grew up together, shared the same room, told each other secrets. I had trusted her more than anyone.
Maybe that’s why it hurt so much.
I thought about Dad and how he’d feel if he found out. Maybe that’s what they wanted, to take everything before he even knew.
My hands trembled as I turned the wheel. I could still hear Damien’s voice in my head saying, You already signed everything.
I felt sick.
The road was quiet, only a few cars ahead. I pressed the pedal harder, wanting to get as far away as I could. My veil flew out of the window as the wind caught it, but I didn’t care.
Then I felt it, the pedal under my foot went loose.
The car didn’t slow down.
I pressed again, harder this time, but nothing happened.
“What…no, no, no,” I muttered, pressing it again and again. My heart jumped into my throat.
The car kept moving faster down the hill. My hands shook as I tried to turn the wheel, but the tires screeched.
“Come on, stop!” I shouted.
The sound of my heartbeat filled my ears. The world outside blurred.
Something was wrong. The brakes weren’t working.
Aurora's Pov I barely slept knowing that Seraphina had tried to break into Father's safe deposit box. Lawrence arrived at my house at seven in the morning with Marcus and a full security team."Ready?" He looked serious."As ready as I'll ever be."We drove to the bank in separate cars. Lawrence didn't want us arriving together in case someone was watching. Marcus rode with me and kept scanning the streets for any signs of surveillance."Do you really think Seraphina will try something at the bank?" I asked."I think she'll do whatever it takes to stop you from seeing what's in that box. We need to be prepared for anything."The bank was a private institution that catered to wealthy clients. It was the kind of place where discretion was guaranteed and security was taken very seriously.The manager met us in the lobby. He was an older man in an expensive suit who looked like he'd been working there for decades."Miss Stanley, Mr Astor. Please follow me."He led us downstairs to the va
Marcus's Pov I'd been working for Lawrence Astor for three weeks now and it was the best decision I'd ever made. My sister needed that kidney transplant and Lawrence had kept his promise. She was scheduled for surgery next month and the doctors said her prognosis was excellent.But more than that I finally felt like I was doing something that mattered. Damien Scott had used me for years and made me feel like I was just another tool in his arsenal. Lawrence treated me like a person, like someone whose skills and intelligence actually had value.Right now those skills were focused on digging through Victor Stanley's financial records. Lawrence wanted to know everything about the man and his business dealings and I was the one tasked with finding it.I started with his old emails. Victor had been meticulous about keeping records and his email archive went back almost fifteen years. Most of it was standard business correspondence but buried in the middle I found something interesting.Mo
Aurora's Pov The threat Lawrence received should have scared me but instead it made me angry. They thought they could intimidate us into backing down. They thought we would stop digging just because they sent a scary email.They were wrong.I'd already died once because I was too trusting and too passive. This time I wasn't going to let fear control me. This time I was going to fight back.Lawrence wanted to move slowly and carefully but I knew that giving them time was dangerous. Every day we waited was another day they could use to cover their tracks or plan another attack.So I decided to force their hand.I pulled up all the information Lawrence had given me about Gerald Foster and the shell company Meridian Holdings. Then I put together a carefully worded press release about Scott Industries' connections to suspicious offshore accounts and anonymous business entities.I didn't name Foster directly, I didn't provide enough detail for anyone to trace it back to our investigation b
Lawrence's Pov The forensic analyst confirmed what I'd suspected. The photo of Victor Stanley wasn't doctored. It was real and recent which meant someone had either taken a picture of Victor within the last month or they'd staged something so convincing that even experts couldn't tell the difference.I was in my office reviewing the report when my tech team leader walked in."Mr. Astor we traced the number that sent Aurora the photo.""And?""It's registered to a burner phone but we tracked the purchase location and payment method. The phone was bought with a credit card linked to a shell company.""Which shell company?""Meridian Holdings. It's registered in Delaware and the only listed officer is a lawyer named Gerald Foster."I pulled up Foster's information. He was a corporate attorney who specialized in setting up anonymous business entities. His client list was confidential but I had ways of finding out who he worked for."Did you find any connection to Scott Industries?""Yes.












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