Chapter 2
86%
Aurora’s POV
Tiffany leaned in closer to Shawn, her voice dropping. “But Shawn… what if Aurora finds out? Aren’t you worried about what she might do?”
Shawn chuckled coldly. “Aurora? Please. She’s nothing without me. She cut her family off for me, and now she has no one. She’s powerless. If she dares misbehave, I’ll toss her to the streets where she belongs.”
Tiffany giggled.
The gift box slipped from my hands, landing on the floor quietly, but neither of them noticed as they were moaning into each other’s mouths.
Tiffany was there the night Jasmine had her first heart attack.
She stayed up with me at the hospital, brought me food when I forgot to eat. She told me Jasmine was the light in her life.
A bitter laugh caught in my throat as I remembered her words. “Jasmine lives on inside
me.”
She hadn’t been lying.
Tears blurred my vision as I stumbled back, struggling to breathe. My world had shattered in a single moment.
I picked up the gift from the floor, tears running down my face as I walked out without making any sound.
By the time I reached the living room, my legs gave out, and I collapsed on the couch as I began sobbing.
The tears wouldn’t stop. My chest hurt, and my throat burned, that was when my phone
buzzed.
It was a picture on Instagram, posted by Tiffany.
It was a photo of Tiffany smiling beside a man as his hand gently cradled her belly.
His face wasn’t visible, but I recognized that watch instantly. I had gotten it for Shawn at our last year’s wedding anniversary.
He was kissing her stomach in the photo. “Counting down the weeks till we meet our little miracle (love emoji)”
I stared at the screen until my eyes blurred.
That was my husband, and that was my daughter’s heart, beating inside my best friend’s chest, my husband’s mistress.
I smashed the gift box against the wall and screamed until my throat burned.
My stomach twisted. I ran to the bathroom and threw up until my throat stung.
I wanted to claw my skin off. I sat on the cold tile, shaking as tears ran down my face.
Chapter 2
2/2 6.9%
14:27 Sat, Sep 27 AG.
86%
This was my fault. I should have read the contract. I should have checked what I was signing, but I had trusted Shawn blindly.
Shawn had called me a nobody. He thought I had nobody.
But he was so wrong.
I reached for my phone and dialed a number I swore never to call again.
“Hello, Father. I’m ready to marry whoever you want me to. Come and pick me up in five days, after I finalize my divorce.” I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
“Divorce? I thought you were hopelessly in love with Shawn Carter. Why the sudden change of heart?”
“He killed my daughter,” I replied. “And I want him to pay.”
My father’s voice sharpened. “I warned you, Shawn was never worthy of you. He doesn’t deserve the dirt under your feet.”
I released a bitter laugh. “I know that now. And he’ll know it too, soon enough.”
My father’s tone hardened. “Then come home, Aurora. Your brothers have been waiting. And Shawn will learn what it means to make an enemy of the Redmonds.”
A tear slipped down my cheek at the thought of my seven brothers. They were overprotective, loud, and violent. But they had always loved me, and I had thrown them all away for Shawn.
They warned me. All seven of them.
They told me he was scum, and I screamed at them to shut up.
I slammed the door in my father’s face the day I chose Shawn.
“Tell them I’m coming home,” I whispered.
I hung up and looked around the house one last time.
In five days, I would be gone, but I will make Shawn pay.
He took my daughter’s heart to save his mistress. Now I’ll rip out his world, piece by piece. That wasn’t just a threat. It was a mother’s vow.
Shawn would finally understand what happened when you crossed a Redmond.
Because my father wasn’t just any man. He was Richard Redmond, the head of the Redmond empire, the most powerful empire in America.
