Shattered Illusions

The phone rang for the third time in ten minutes and Aurora Santini wanted to throw it against the wall. Instead she took a deep breath and answered with her most professional voice.

"Santini Imports, this is Aurora speaking."

"Where the hell is my shipment?" The voice was loud enough that she had to pull the phone away from her ear. "I was promised delivery three days ago and I've got nothing!"

Aurora pulled up the client file, fingers flying across the keyboard. Behind her she could hear Victoria's heels clicking across the marble floor of what used to be her father's office. What should have been her office.

"Mr. Chen, your container was held up at customs. We've been working with our broker to resolve the documentation issue and..." Aurora paused as Victoria's voice cut through the air like a blade.

"Aurora, when you're finished playing secretary perhaps you could remember that some of us have real work to do."

Heat rose in Aurora's cheeks but she kept her voice steady. "Mr. Chen, let me transfer you to our shipping department."

The line went dead mid-transfer. Aurora stared at the phone. That was the fourth call today that had mysteriously dropped when she got frustrated.

"Having technical difficulties?" Victoria stood in the doorway wearing a designer suit that cost more than Aurora made in three months. At forty-five, Victoria Santini looked like she'd stepped out of a magazine. Perfect blonde hair, perfect makeup, perfect everything. Everything Aurora's father had fallen for after her mother died.

"Elena will be joining us for the quarterly review meeting this afternoon. I trust you'll have all the reports ready?"

"Of course." Aurora had been preparing those reports for weeks. She knew this business better than anyone, and had been working here since she was sixteen. But Elena, who had spent four years shopping through college, would somehow get credit for Aurora's work.

"Try to remember that we're family here. We all want what's best for the company your father built."

The words stung because they used to be true. Before Victoria came along, before Elena became the golden child, before Aurora became an outsider in her own life.

Twenty-five years old today and what did she have to show for it? A tiny apartment she could barely afford, a job where she did all the work but got none of the recognition, and a boyfriend who had been distant for months.

The rest of the day crawled by. Elena swept in at two o'clock, all smiles and air kisses. During the meeting she sat there looking pretty while Aurora presented every detail of their quarterly performance. When clients complimented the thorough analysis, Elena graciously accepted their praise.

"Thank you so much. I really tried to dig deep into the numbers this quarter," Elena said with a modest smile that made Aurora want to scream.

By six o'clock Aurora was exhausted but she pushed through. She had dinner to cook and a relationship to save.

Marcus lived in a high-end apartment complex across town. Aurora used her spare key to let herself in, arms full of grocery bags. "Marcus? I'm here early but I wanted to surprise you with dinner."

The apartment felt different. New furniture she'd never seen before, expensive pieces that weren't Marcus's style. A woman's jacket hung over the sofa. Designer. Not hers.

Aurora's heart started beating faster. She heard sounds from upstairs. Laughter. A woman's voice.

The grocery bags slipped from her fingers. Her feet carried her upstairs even though her brain screamed at her to leave. The bedroom door was cracked open. Through the gap she could see Marcus's shoulders, and could hear Elena's distinctive laugh. Could see her stepsister's legs wrapped around the man Aurora had been planning to marry.

But what made her stomach turn wasn't just seeing them together. It was the necklace Elena wore. Aurora's grandmother's necklace. The only piece of jewelry Aurora owned that meant anything. The one thing Victoria hadn't been able to take away.

Until now.

Aurora pushed the door open. "Well this explains a lot."

Marcus jerked away so fast he nearly fell off the bed. Elena just smiled. Like she'd been expecting this moment.

"Aurora!" Marcus grabbed for his pants. "This isn't... I can explain..."

"How long?" Aurora looked between them.

"Three months," Elena said when Marcus stayed silent. "Maybe four? Time flies when you're having fun."

Four months. Aurora thought back over Marcus's sudden working late, his distraction, the way he'd stopped touching her.

"Why?" The word came out smaller than she intended.

Elena laughed. "Why do you think so? Marcus is going places, Aurora. He's got ambition, connections, and money. What do you have? A dead-end job at a failing company and an apartment in the worst part of town."

"I love him." Aurora hated how pathetic she sounded.

"Love doesn't pay the bills, sweetie."

Marcus finally found his voice. "Aurora, I never meant for you to find out like this. I was going to talk to you. After your birthday. I didn't want to ruin it for you."

Aurora almost laughed. "Well mission accomplished there."

Elena sat up suddenly. "Oh that's right. It's your birthday, isn't it? Did you know, Aurora, that Marcus told me all about your little insurance policy? All those recordings you made, all those photos you took of his business dealings. Very thorough of you."

Aurora's blood turned to ice. She'd been collecting evidence for months, storing it on her phone as protection. "You went through my phone."

"Marcus did actually. While you were sleeping. Amazing what people keep on their devices these days."

Aurora looked at Marcus and saw the truth in his face. The guilt. The calculation. "You bastard."

"Aurora, you don't understand the position I'm in. The people I work with, they don't tolerate loose ends."

"Loose ends. Is that what I am to you?"

Before Marcus could answer, Aurora heard the front door open downstairs. Victoria's voice calling out.

"Elena? Are you ready to go?"

Victoria appeared in the doorway carrying a leather briefcase. She took in the scene without batting an eye. Like it was exactly what she'd expected to find.

"Aurora. I was hoping we could avoid this unpleasantness."

"You knew." Of course Victoria knew. Of course this was all planned.

"Sweetheart, sit down. We need to discuss some things."

"I'll stand."

Victoria sighed and opened her briefcase. "Aurora, there have been some discrepancies in your father's estate planning that have come to light. It seems there was an error in the original will. You were never meant to be the primary beneficiary."

She pulled out thick legal documents. "The correct version leaves the majority of his assets to Elena."

Aurora felt the world tilt. "That's impossible. I was there when Dad signed his will."

"You were there when he signed a will, yes. But not the final version. And there's more, Aurora. It seems you've been embezzling from the company. Moving money into personal accounts, falsifying records."

"I never... I would never..."

"The evidence is quite damning. Of course, we're willing to handle this as a family matter. No need to involve the authorities. But you'll need to step away from the company immediately."

Aurora looked around the room. At Marcus who couldn't meet her eyes. At Elena who was practically glowing. At Victoria who had just methodically destroyed her entire life.

"You planned this. All of it. The affair, the will, the embezzlement charges. You've been planning this for years."

"We've been protecting what's ours," Victoria said simply.

"What was mine?"

"What you never deserved." Elena's voice was sharp now. "You think because your father felt guilty about your mother dying that you deserved his whole life? His business? His love? You were nothing but a reminder of his first wife. A burden he was too guilty to get rid of."

Each word hit like a physical blow but Aurora stood perfectly still. "And you? What are you but a cheap replacement? A poor copy of what he really wanted?"

Elena's face twisted with rage but Victoria held up a hand. "Enough. Aurora, you have twenty-four hours to vacate your apartment and turn in your company credit cards. After that, any further contact will be handled through our attorneys."

Aurora looked at each of them one more time. "Fine. But this isn't over."

"Oh sweetie," Elena called after her. "Yes it is."

Aurora walked out without looking back. She got in her car and sat there, hands shaking as she reached for her phone.

She scrolled to her father's old lawyer. The call went straight to a disconnected number message.

Even that safety net had been cut away.

She looked up at Marcus's apartment building and noticed that all the lights had gone out. Not just in his unit but in the whole building. Street lights flickered and went dark one by one down the entire block.

Aurora didn't notice. She was too busy staring at the text message that had just appeared on her phone from an unknown number.

"Happy Birthday, Aurora. Your real life starts now."

She blinked and the message was gone. Like it had never been there at all.

But the feeling that someone was watching her, that something was about to change forever, that feeling stayed with her as she drove away from everything she'd ever known.