FOUR - Cutting off the Valenmoor name

James looked like sunlight wrapped in wealth. Well-built, soft golden hair neatly styled, gentle features that made him look like the perfect boy-next-door. The kind of man people trusted at first glance.His expression, however, was furious.

“This isn't just a little scandal” he said coldly. “You’ve done more than that. You’ve turned yourself into a public joke.” His gaze raked over her slowly stopping at her neck. Disgust flashed openly in his eyes

"Do you even realize how revolting you look right now?”

He took a step closer “People are talking about how my fiancée couldn’t even keep her legs closed.” His lips curled. “Look at yourself. Covered in filthy marks like some woman dragged out of a cheap motel. And you still dare to insult your sister?”

Maribel and Rosalind nodded along eagerly, their faces filled with ugly satisfaction, as if every word James spoke pleased them deeply.

“Tell me,” James continued “what right do you have to carry the Hawthorne name? Do you honestly think someone like you is worthy of becoming Mrs. Hawthorne?”

Aurora’s hands clenched into fists, her entire body was trembling.

“James,You don’t get to speak to me in that manner,” she shot back “This engagement was decided by my father because it benefited both our families. Your family agreed to it too!”

James’s expression darkened instantly, his eyes turning cold.

“Your father?” he scoffed. “Don’t make me laugh. That agreement stood when the Valenmoor family still mattered,Now your family is broke. Everyone knows it.” Maribel’s silence confirmed his words.

He continued “ You’re an illegitimate daughter with a slut’s reputation. I’m the head of my family now. We're not compatible.” He paused. “ And truthfully,I came here today to break the engagement.”

Aurora’s chest burned as his words sank in.

He wasn’t wrong,at least not in the way this family liked to tell the story. Her mother had once been a servant in this very house. Her father had taken advantage of her while he was still married to Maribel,her stepmother, and when the truth came out, it was her mother who carried the shame, not him.

She was only two when her mother had fled, leaving Aurora behind before she was old enough to remember her face. Years later, her father had died, taking what little protection Aurora had with him. Since then, the Valenmoor name had become nothing more than a shell.

She had grown up knowing exactly what she was to them.

A mistake. A stain. Something to be tolerated, never loved.

Before Aurora could speak again, Lydia suddenly clung to James’s arm. Her eyes filled with tears instantly, her voice was trembling, as if she were the one being hurt.

“Brother James, please don’t be angry,” Lydia said gently. “my sister is just… immature. She didn’t mean to speak to you that way. Please don't think of cutting off the engagement…” Her words were wrapped in kindness, but each one was like a blade.

James’s expression softened immediately.He turned to Lydia, his anger dissolving as if it had never existed. To him, she looked fragile and pure, someone who needed protecting. “You’re too kind,” he said “You always think of others before yourself.”

Lydia then reached for Aurora’s hand, squeezing it lightly. Her face was full of false concern. “Sister, I’m really sorry about inviting him over” she said sweetly. “I only wanted to ask Brother James about an artwork he liked the last time we spent time together. I truly didn’t expect things to turn out like this…”

James watched her with admiration.He lifted his hand and gently stroked Lydia’s hair “You’ve always been delicate,” he murmured. “I’ll protect you.”

Aurora stood there, frozen. Watching them felt unbearable.

The tenderness. The closeness. The way James looked at Lydia as if she were something fragile and priceless, as if she were the only good thing in this rotten house. His voice softened only for her. His hands were gentle only with her.

Aurora had grown up beside him, eaten at the same table, walked the same halls, watched him laugh and mature right in front of her eyes yet he had never once looked at her the same way. Not even once. Not when she smiled at him. Not when she waited for him. Not when she tried.

In that moment, something inside Aurora finally snapped into place.

She didn’t belong here. She never had.

This house was not her home. The Valenmoor name was not her shield it was her cage. As long as she stayed, her stepmother’s claws would stay buried in her skin, her stepsister would keep stealing everything meant for her, and people like James would keep looking at her with disgust instead of humanity.

If she wanted to breathe, she had to do this

“I’m done,” Aurora said quietly.The room stilled for half a second.

“What the hell do you mean you’re done?!” her stepmother shrieked,l. “Have you finally gone insane, you shameless thing?”

Aurora lifted her head. Her voice didn’t shake. “I mean I’m cutting all ties with this family,” she said slowly, “And I’m breaking off this engagement.”

Rosalind let out a loud laugh “Listen to her! Acting like she has choices!” she snapped. “You’re nothing but a stain with a borrowed surname. You think anyone would want you now?”

Aurora turned to her aunt “At least I don’t live my life barking for scraps that fall from other people’s tables.”

Rosalind gasped. “You—!”

Aurora didn’t wait. She looked around the room one last time. At the woman who had hated her. At the sister who had stolen her life. At the man who had never once chosen her.

“I don’t need this family,” Aurora said. “And I don’t need your name. From today onward, I owe you all nothing.”

She turned and walked toward the door.

As she left, a strange tightness settled in James’s chest.

A memory surfaced without warning - little Aurora running after him in the courtyard, calling his name, holding out a flower with hopeful eyes. He compared it to the cold, distant expression on her face now, walking away without looking back.

Something felt wrong.

“Wait—” he started, stepping forward. Suddenly, a soft grip closed around his arm.

“Brother James,” Lydia said softly, looking up at him with pleading eyes. “Didn’t you say you wanted to see that painting I told you about? I’ll show it to you now.”

Her grip tightened just enough and James hesitated for a second, then he let Lydia lead him away.