Chapter 68

As I lay there napping, half-asleep, the familiar voice of my mother pierced through my dreams, pulling me back to a harsher reality.

“Aurora,” she called, her voice laced with a deep-seated worry that seemed to echo off the cold walls of the jail.

I don't know whether she worries about me or worries about me not following Ferdinand's plan.

“I don’t think we have anything to talk about anymore,” I responded, without bothering to wake up. I couldn't bring myself to look at her directly, the sting of her betrayal too fresh, too painful. She, my mother, betrayed me. In the name of family. No, it is I, myself who chose to follow her. So it is my own stupidity.

‘I should not follow her way of thinking without any facts.’

"Please, Aurora, just this once, follow what your father has arranged for you." She implored, her hands clasping and unclasping nervously. "Don't you want the three of us to be together again? The chance is finally here."

"Family?" I scoffed bitterly, finally turning to fa