After Rosie left the living room, he immediately drove to Isabella's suburban villa.Although he hadn't shown much dissatisfaction earlier, Aurora's words had planted a seed in his mind. He thought, Aurora wasn't wrong - if Isabella really appreciated him, shouldn't she at least show it somehow? He'd loved Isabella for so many years and helped her countless times. He wasn't asking for much, just a word from her. All he wanted was a clear answer from Isabella.Thinking about this, Rosie became even more determined. He sped up and arrived at the villa.As he entered, a servant greeted him, "Mr. Rosie, is there anything we can do for you?"Rosie waved his hand and said, "I'm here to check on the young lady on behalf of Mr. Whitmore."He was in a hurry and brushed past the servant, heading straight to Isabella's bedroom. He knocked and immediately pushed the door open. Isabella was still playing the role of a crazy person, so she wouldn't tell anyone to come in anyway.Isabella had been s
While Isabella was away from the company, Aurora wasted no time in establishing her position and connections within the company. She even managed to snag many of Isabella's projects. Word spread around the office that Aurora was actually the second granddaughter of the Whitmore family.Soon, everyone knew that Aurora and Isabella were cousins. This made their heated rivalry much easier to understand. Surprisingly, quite a few people were secretly rooting for Aurora. After all, Isabella had spent years at Whitmore Corp throwing her weight around as the Whitmore heiress, making everyone's life difficult. Now that Isabella was gone and Aurora had taken her place, things were looking up for many employees.Even though Mr. Whitmore tried his best to keep it under wraps, rumors about Isabella's mental breakdown spread like wildfire. The office gossip mill was working overtime, claiming that Isabella hadn't left to recover at home, but because she'd lost her marbles and even hurt people.The
Dominic watched Aurora's tsundere figure walk away and smirked. He knew that if he approached her directly about a partnership, she wouldn't give him the time of day, no matter how big the deal. But if he went through another company, she'd sign the contract without a second thought. By then, it'd be too late for her to back out. For the next couple of weeks, Aurora would have to face him every day. And when Dominic Ashcroft set his sights on someone, he always got what he wanted!But just because Aurora didn't give a damn about the incident, doesn't mean others didn't notice. The very next day, rumors about Dominic Ashcroft's bold pursuit of Aurora Pendleton were spreading like wildfire throughout Whitmore Corp.When Aurora walked into the office, she immediately sensed something was off. People kept sneaking glances at her, but would look away the moment she caught their eye. Others were huddled together, whispering and gossiping. The whole vibe was just weird as hell.Aurora caught
The next day, as soon as Aurora got to the office, she was informed that her schedule included attending a celebration party hosted by Dominic Ashcroft.Aurora looked at her itinerary and felt a headache coming on. The last thing she wanted was to have any connection with Dominic!But the company's schedule was set, and she couldn't refuse. Aurora had no choice but to put on her makeup, change into a formal dress, and head to the Ashcroft Corp's celebration party with her assistant.She casually wore a plain black evening gown and applied light makeup. If it weren't for considering Whitmore Corp's image, Aurora would've shown up in jeans. She really didn't want to attend this party at all.As soon as Aurora walked into the venue, Dominic spotted her. The Olivia in his memory had changed a bit. In the past, when Olivia accompanied him to events, she'd wear a simple black dress like this, trying to keep a low profile.But now, even in such an ordinary dress, Aurora still outshone everyo
Seeing Aurora's stunned look, Dominic smiled and said, "As long as you come back to me, I promise no one will affect your position in the Whitmore family. I guarantee it."Yeah, he promised. This time he'd make sure to keep Aurora on a tight leash. He wouldn't let this girl take a single step away from him ever again. From now on, Isabella and arranged marriages didn't matter. He only wanted this woman.But to Aurora, Dominic's promises meant nothing. He had once promised to give Olivia a legitimate status, but until Olivia's tragic death, that day never came.So Dominic was just a man who would say anything and make any promise to get what he wanted. And Aurora would rather be exposed than go back to Dominic's side. Or rather, she had never really been by his side in the first place.Aurora smiled and said, "Mr. Ashcroft, even if you showed those photos to the world, it wouldn't matter. I'm not Olivia. My grandfather will believe me."Dominic smiled at her, still looking like a gentl
Aurora's wrist hurt from Dominic's grip, and his eyes were scary as hell. But Aurora didn't flinch, staring right back at him as she said, "Listen up. Isabella killed Olivia. She's been lying to you for four years! Olivia's been dead this whole time! Your ace assassin? She died in the jungles of Cambodia. There's nothing left of her body!""Where's your proof?" Dominic glared at her like a hungry wolf. "Show me the evidence! Or else..."Aurora smirked. "You want proof? Fine."She pulled out her phone, dialed a number, and put it on speaker. A clear male voice came through: "Aurora?"Dominic froze. "Jasper Bennett?"There was a long silence, then Jasper's voice came back, sounding a bit sad: "Yeah, boss. It's me."Dominic was totally lost. Jasper and the others had vanished four years ago. He thought they'd defected, but nothing had happened to hurt the organization after they left. None of Dominic's people could track them down, so the whole thing just faded away. How the hell did the
When they got home, Heathdragged Aurora straight to the bedroom and threw her on the bed. "Say that again," he demanded.Aurora, confused by his sudden request, asked, "Which part?""What you said in the garden," Heath replied.Aurora blinked and said, "That I'm loyal to you and won't marry anyone else?"Heath's face darkened. That wasn't the sweet talk he was hoping for. Aurora stifled a laugh, then wrapped her arms around Heath's neck. With a blush on her cheeks, she said, "There's only one place I belong, and that's with Heath Fairbank."Heath broke into a smile and kissed Aurora again, tenderly yet passionately.He had rushed to the party when he found out Aurora went to Dominic's event alone. He was both jealous and worried. After searching the garden, he finally found her, only to see Dominic getting handsy with her.He was furious and about to charge over when he overheard Aurora's words.She said, "I'm Heath Fairbank's fiancée."She said, "There's only one place I belong."She
Meanwhile, Dominic was sitting at the Abyss headquarters, listening to his subordinate's report.When Olivia went to Cambodia alone to for that mission, Isabella wasn't even in the US. Where was she?She took a car to another city, then flew to another country, and finally switched to a boat, eventually reaching Cambodia after all that roundabout travel. All that just to get to Cambodia without being noticed. Before that, five million in funds had gone missing. Now their people have traced it - the money went to international mercenaries. Laundering that dirty money took a hell of a lot of work to track down.But no matter how much manpower and resources were wasted, what Dominic faced now was this: the woman he originally wanted to marry had deliberately killed his childhood sweetheart, the ace assassin he'd personally trained, who struck fear into so many hearts. She died alone and miserable in some nameless Cambodian town!Dominic angrily swept all the bottles and glasses off the t