Untangling a Heart From the Past

On his way to get his marriage license with Aurora Bowman for the 99th time, Xavier Stafford had been so desperate to avoid marrying her that he sped up and crashed into a large truck. It had been a serious crash, following which Aurora and Xavier had been rushed into the ER.Ten minutes later, Aurora lay on the ice-cold operating table, covered in blood, as the doctors induced labor to deliver her baby at seven months. When she came to, the surgery had ended. She cried when she was told the baby hadn't survived.The doctors had told her to recuperate, but she was so worried about Xavier that she went against their orders and snuck to his hospital room to see him. However, she arrived at the door to hear laughter coming from within."I've got to hand it to you, Xavier. You risked your life just to get out of marrying her. But she was pregnant with your child, you know. According to the doctors, labor was induced, and she delivered a stillborn baby boy. Are you sure you won't regret

Ethan frowned. "What's with the sour face? It's not our fault you couldn't protect your baby.""Ethan, don't say that about Rory. I'm sure she didn't mean to lose the baby," Xavier said, shielding Aurora."Fine, keep defending her, see where that gets you," Ethan sneered, cocking his eyebrow."Rory's my fiancee. Of course I'll defend her," Xavier countered, turning to stroke Aurora's hair.At that moment, realization hit Aurora.Xavier had defended her like this countless times in the past, and it was always after Ethan admonished her or put her down. Looking back, if Xavier had truly been protective of her, would his friend Ethan pick on her and tear her apart mercilessly?The only reason she could think of was that Ethan and Xavier had colluded to manipulate her and make her pay for taking Violet's place in the Bowman family.She suddenly found all this to be a farce. Squeezing out a smile, she said, "I should go get some rest in my room."…Aurora slept for a long time. She

Xavier quickly dropped Violet's hand and hurried over to Aurora. He grabbed her hand as his heart thundered beneath his ribcage. "Rory, what are you doing here?" he asked. "How long have you been standing there?"Aurora's lips trembled as she tried her hardest to keep her tears from falling. She clutched the hem of her blouse with feeble fingers and lied, her voice cracking, "I accidentally bumped my head. I was going to clean up in the restroom, but this restaurant is so big that it took me a while to find one."Anyone who paid close attention would have noticed something was off about Aurora, but Xavier merely heaved a sigh of relief and didn't probe further. He shot Violet a meaningful look, indicating that she should leave, then led Aurora over to the sinks."I've only been gone for a short while, and already you've hurt yourself this badly?" he chided, gently cleaning the gash on Aurora's forehead.Then, he retrieved a Band-Aid from the shelf and carefully stuck it over her

Agony seized Aurora, its fiery grip unrelenting. She licked her chapped lips, her expression bitter.So, the pictures of her that had spread like wildfire online and the press that had harassed her earlier were all Xavier's doing. And he didn't even plan on letting her pay her last respects to the orphanage director who'd watched her grow up. Xavier truly never loved her at all.A short while later, Xavier entered the room again. He put on a look of relief when he saw that Aurora was awake. "Oh, thank goodness!" he exclaimed. "I thought we'd miss out on getting our marriage license if you didn't wake up in the next two days."Aurora's head dipped slightly as she snorted inwardly. Xavier wasn't worried that they'd miss out on getting their marriage license; he was worried she'd screw up his 100th attempt to avoid getting married.She slid the engagement ring off her finger and placed it in Xavier's hand. "This is the ring you gave me when you proposed. I'm returning it to you no

In the past, Aurora would be thrilled whenever Xavier suggested that they get their marriage license. She'd either pick a new outfit or cling to him the entire night, refusing to let go.However, Aurora had been scarily calm the last few days. Save for the odd questions and removing her engagement ring last night, she'd been largely indifferent toward their upcoming marriage."She's not coming. She's been playing along with us these last few days," Xavier concluded, straining to get the words out of his mouth.The journalists somehow grasped the whole situation. Frowning, they said pointedly, "What, so we waited here for nothing? What a waste of time!"They held out their phones toward Ethan and added coldly, "Even if she doesn't show, you still have to pay us for our time, Mr. Bowman. No excuses."Ethan was in a daze as he lifted his phone, scanned the journalists' QR codes, and wired them the payment. Just then, the headline of a news article popped up on his screen, and he clic