Not This Time, Don Cassian의 모든 챕터: 챕터 1 - 챕터 9

The moment I came back to life, my adoptive brother Cassian had me pinned to the sofa in the study. He was ripping my shirt open.His hot lips moved past my collarbone, stopping at the valley of my breasts.My body trembled. It was instinct.This man was a drug. Even reborn, my body remembered his touch.But just as his hand reached for the clasp of my bra, the memory hit me. The dagger in my heart. His curse: If you hadn't insisted on marrying me."No!"I shoved him off, hard. I scrambled out of the study and locked the door from the outside.Leaning against the wood, I dialed Camilla’s number."Cassian's in the study. The Ortegas spiked his drink tonight. Get over here now.""What? Aurora, what are you talking about—""Ten minutes. You're the one he needs."I hung up. I heard a vase shatter inside the room.I went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face, on my neck, washing away the last of the heat.Last time, I didn't say no.That was the beginning of the end for me.Ten

Two weeks later, at the family meeting, Cassian officially announced Camilla's pregnancy.He stood at the head of the table. His eyes scanned the room and finally landed on me."Starting next week," he said, "The Foundation, the art museum, the Lakeshore properties. The clean businesses. Camilla takes the books."The room was silent.Those were the family’s cleanest, most respectable assets.Our public face. The charity galas, the press conferences, the high-society events.They were the assets I had personally dragged out of a swamp of dirty money and made legitimate. The "face of the Vitelli family."Marcello, one of the Elders, glanced at me but said nothing.Antonio’s lips moved, his eyes holding a pity I didn't want to see."Aurora will continue to handle—" Cassian paused. "The cash from Mexico. The Miami laundry. The East Coast arms deals."My nails dug deeper into my palms.That was the dirtiest part of the Vitelli empire.Drugs. Weapons. Body disposals. Every transaction had a

（Third-person POV）The party celebrating the wedding was held in the grand ballroom of the Vitelli estate.Under the crystal chandeliers, two hundred guests raised their glasses and laughed.Camilla, in a champagne-colored gown that barely showed her stomach, was radiant at Cassian's side.Marcello, the Elder, raised his glass. "To Don Cassian and the beautiful Camilla! To the future of the Vitelli family!""Cheers!"Cassian raised his glass like a machine, but his eyes were scanning the crowd.Searching for a figure with long black hair, a slender frame, always standing quietly in a corner.She wasn't there.He should have been relieved. Her presence always made Camilla insecure.So why was there this hollow ache in his chest?"Darling, what are you looking at?" Camilla noticed he was distracted."Nothing," he said, pulling his gaze back. "Just making sure everything is perfect.""Yes, it's all perfect," Camilla said, satisfied. "It's the party I've always dreamed of."Old Giovanni, a

（Aurora’s POV)I found a job in a small accounting firm in a quiet Illinois town.During the day, I did bookkeeping and taxes for local shop owners. In the afternoon, I went to a nursing home to help the elderly manage their pensions and trusts."Aurora, you're really amazing."Paul, a firefighter, pushed open the firm's door holding a bouquet of yellow daisies.He was thirty-five, a lieutenant, and a widower. His wife died of cancer three years ago, leaving him with their seven-year-old daughter, Lily.Last month, I helped him get back nearly ten thousand dollars in tax returns and set up an education trust for Lily."These are beautiful." I took the flowers with a faint smile."When you're working on the books, your eyes light up," Paul said, a slight blush on his cheeks. "You must really love what you do."My hand froze.In nine years of doing his books, Cassian had never said that to me. He would just say, "This report is well done."I was about to speak when I felt a familiar, opp

Cassian stood outside the closed door.Aurora’s words, "I don't need you anymore," were a physical pain in his chest, but he was out of words.He went back to the estate, but his soul stayed behind in that small town.He removed all restrictions on her trust fund and added a lump sum from his personal account.The next day, ten million dollars appeared in Aurora's account.Enough for her to live the rest of her life very, very well.He locked himself in the room that had once been her office.For weeks, he had come here every night, a self-inflicted ritual.He would sit in the corner chair, her chair.He would read her ledgers, tracing the different colored notes with his fingers, trying to capture any lingering trace of her.Late one night, the office door was thrown open.Camilla stood there, dressed in a silk robe, clutching a document she had snatched from Antonio."You're telling me to get out? For her?" Camilla's voice was a shriek. She lunged, her nails scratching at the worn le