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Chapter 8
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Shawn’s POV
For a moment, the entire room was dead silent. Several eyes turned toward the delivery
man.
“Delivery for Mr. Shawn Carter, from Ms. Aurora Redmond!” The man repeated again.
Excitement instantly filled the air.
“Ohhhh!” someone exclaimed. “His wife sent him something special!”
“No wonder she hasn’t shown up yet,” another guest said brightly. “She must have prepared a surprise!”
“That explains it!” another voice said. “Aurora always thinks ahead.”
Relief flooded through Shawn. The tension in his body melted. Of course. Aurora must have been planning this all along. She was simply setting the stage for something grand. He straightened up as a wide grin spread across his face. “That’s my wife,” he said loudly.
The whispers changed immediately from doubt to admiration.
“See? She never fails him.”
“That woman is remarkable.”
“What a clever surprise!”
“I knew Aurora would never let him down.”
Shawn’s grin widened.
Tiffany, however, stiffened beside him with a frown on her face.
“Open it!” someone called from the back.
“Yes, let’s see what your wife sent!”
“It must be something incredible!”
The chants grew louder, until everyone was watching with expectation.
Tiffany faked a smile. “Shawn,” she murmured in his ears, “maybe don’t open it now. It’s private. A gift between husband and wife-”
He shook his head. “Nonsense,” he whispered back. “Aurora knows how to make an impression. She probably arranged this to make an entrance. This is exactly what she wanted.”
If only he knew how right he was.
The crowd began clapping to urge him. “Open it! Open it! Open it!”
Shawn chuckled and raised the envelope slightly in his hand.
“She always knows how to surprise me,” Shawn said confidently to the crowd, “Let’s see what my darling wife has prepared.”
Even Kane had stepped closer, grinning like he knew it was something big. “Aurora is a
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thoughtful woman,” he said. “I can only imagine what she’s done for you this time.”
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Shawn opened the envelope, grinning. Was it the documents to a car? Or a building? Or something more?
Everyone was silent as he pulled out the contents of the envelope.
The first thing he saw was a photograph.
He froze.
The smile faded from his face. His breath caught in his throat. His eyes widened as the image stared back at him.
The crowd leaned forward, eager for his reaction, they were completely oblivious to the storm that had just exploded inside him.
Shawn’s fingers shook as he held the photograph, and the color drained from his skin.
The whispers began again.
“What is it?”
“What did she send?”
The murmurs reminded Shawn that he had an audience. At that moment, he panicked.
He shoved the photograph back into the envelope too quickly. His hands shook, but the hasty movement made other contents slip out, scattering on the floor.
The first thing that slid out were the incriminating photographs. His eyes widened in horror.
The atmosphere shifted as the pictures dropped to the floor facing the crowd.
The guests around began murmuring instantly.
“Is that Aurora’s best friend and…Mr. Carter?”
Shawn hurriedly tried to shove them back into the envelope, but the damage was done.
Shawn’s chest tightened. “It’s not what it looks like,” he said, his voice shaking.
He hadn’t noticed that other documents had fallen out.
Gasps went through the hall as the crowd stared at the document before them.
Shawn froze, his throat tightening as the bold words on the document stared at him.
Divorce Agreement.
For a moment, Shawn didn’t move. His mind went blank as if someone had switched it off. Slowly, he picked it up with shaking hands.
Signed divorce papers. But… how?
He blinked rapidly. When… when did he sign this?
Suddenly, the memory hit him. Tiffany had been calling him urgently from the other room, while Aurora kept insisting that he signed a document. He had signed hurriedly without glancing through the document, just to get her off his back.
His chest tightened as he finally realized what he had done. He had signed his own
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marriage away, without even knowing.
Aurora had played him.
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Suddenly, he remembered her smile this morning after Tiffany had knocked over that precious picture frame. Aurora hadn’t shouted. She hadn’t even frowned.
She had just smiled and said softly, ‘Don’t worry, go ahead. I’ll clean it up.
Now, it all made sense.
Shawn wasn’t paying attention to the whispers all round. His mind raced as he stared at the document before him.
“Divorce papers?” Someone muttered.
“Did Aurora… send him divorce papers on his birthday?”
Another scoffed. “Serves the cheating scum right.”
Shawn’s ear rang.
Just as he tried to steady himself, his eyes darted back to the floor where another set of papers had slipped out. He bent quickly, his fingers trembling as he picked them up.
Divestment Agreement.
He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He read the lines again, as his lips parted in disbelief. It was stating that a major shareholder had withdrawn their investment from his
company.
Shawn scoffed aloud, shaking his head. “This… this is ridiculous.” He snorted. “Aurora’s playing some kind of trick. She doesn’t even have money in my company-”
He cut himself when his eyes landed on the signature at the bottom.
Not Aurora Carter.
But Rory.
Shawn froze. His heart skipped, his palms went cold.
Rory.
For years, “Rory” had been the faceless, anonymous investor who had poured millions into Carter Enterprises. This investor had been his lifeline during severe market crashes.
But Rory… was Aurora?
Shawn’s throat tightened. His vision blurred as he stared at the pages.
“No,” he muttered, shaking his head frantically. “No, this must be fake. A sick joke. Aurora cannot be Rory, it’s impossible-”
Before he could finish, the doors to the room burst open. His assistant was sweating, looking very pale as he rushed in, with a tablet in his shaking hands.
“Mr. Carter!” the man called out frantically and desperately. “Sir–we’ve gone bankrupt!”
My Husband Took My Daughter’s Heart. So I Took His Empire
