Aurora had just recovered from a serious illness and was sleeping like a log. When she woke up, it was already past nine in the morning.Her stomach was growling, so after a quick wash-up, she headed downstairs for breakfast.Before she even reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard her grandfather's laughter. Curious, Aurora descended to see who had put him in such a good mood.Just as she stepped off the stairs, she heard a familiar, deep voice. Aurora's mind went blank for a moment.Heath Fairbank?Rubbing her eyes, she looked again.Yep, still Heath Fairbank.Dressed in a dark suit, he looked a bit travel-worn. He was sitting at the dining table, bathed in the warm morning sunlight. The light seemed to gild his chiseled profile, adding a touch of warmth.Wasn't he supposed to be back in the capital?Why was he here in Seaview when she woke up?Heath looked up at Aurora. Her long hair was a bit messy from sleep, and she looked d
A knock suddenly came from outside the door. Little Fish asked, "Miss Aurora, are you in there? Your grandpa wants to know if Mr. Fairbank has left yet."Heath rubbed his temples and opened the door. "No, he hasn't."Little Fish: "Uh... Hello, Mr.Fairbank."The door closed again. Aurora sniffled and hopped out of Heath's arms.Feeling a bit empty and somewhat disappointed, he still put on a tsundere face. "We've been hugging for ten minutes. Regretting it now would be a bit late, don't you think?"Aurora, wiping her tears, stuttered, "I never... never asked you to hug me."Heath wiped the corner of her eyes and asked, "Done crying?"Aurora looked down. "Mhm..."Heath led her into the bathroom and turned on the faucet. "Wash your face. If we don't go down soon, your grandpa might think I'm up to no good."Aurora glared at him with red eyes, washed her face, and as she was drying it, Heath said, "I have a flight to X City at 1 PM."Her face buried in the towel, Aurora mumbled, "Got it."
Kieran watched the two people hugging so sweetly it could give you diabetes. He grinned mischievously and looked at his own boss, Heath, through the rearview mirror. He felt a sense of joy, as if he were about to marry off his daughter.Heath looked up and saw Kieran's smug face in the rearview mirror. With a cold expression, he asked, "Got too much time on your hands?"Kieran: "Boss, um, are you and Miss Aurora, like, an item now?"Heath: "No."Kieran Ashford: "No? Why not? You guys hugged!"Heath gave him a dismissive look: "Shut up and drive."Kieran was left speechless. Is love really this complicated? Anyone with half a brain could see these two were into each other! Why aren't they together yet? He was so close to celebrating, but after all the effort he and Lysander put in, these two still hadn't made it official?Heath glanced at Aurora's figure in the rearview mirror, the corner of his mouth curling up slightly. They weren't officially together, nor were they even dating. He
"Sophia? What are you up to?" Aurora asked."Cut the act, Aurora!" Sophia snapped back.The crowd was shocked. Was this really Aurora??People didn't care about Sophia's mood; they all gathered around Aurora, chattering away."Aurora, you've changed so much, I didn't even recognize you!""Yeah, you've turned into a goddess!""Can you share how you lost weight? I wanna be like you!""We have a graduation party after the exams, wanna sign up, Aurora?"Everyone was talking to Aurora, completely ignoring Sophia.Sophia was so mad she wanted to rip Aurora's face off, or throw water on these people!Have they gone mad?So what if Aurora lost weight?She should still be the same unnoticeable Aurora, forever in the corner, making Sophia shine.Sophia Pendleton, SHE was the school beauty!Sophia walked up to the podium, affectionately linking arms with Aurora, "Yeah, Sis, there's a graduation party after the exams. I've signed up for a violin performance. You should too."Aurora smirked inside
Cheryl paused for a moment, then burst into laughter. She pulled off her hoop skirt and yanked off her wig. Only then did Aurora see that Cheryl was a short-haired girl.After removing her heavy stage makeup, her features carried a hint of tomboyish charm, yet she looked adorably naive when she smiled.Cheryl changed into her school uniform and came out to ask her, "School's out. Ready to go?"Aurora nodded. Cheryl walked over, hooked her arm around Aurora's, and they headed out with their backpacks.Aurora was a slow-to-warm-up kind of person. Years of being an assassin had made her accustomed to loneliness and caution. But meeting Cheryl today, she found her personality irresistibly likable.Cheryl was very outgoing, and she found Aurora interesting. She chatted non-stop as they walked."Don't you regret quitting the drama club so impulsively?" Aurora asked her."I joined the drama club 'cause I wanted to try out acting. But honestly, those guys
"Who??""Who's the top scorer??""No way, I must've heard wrong!""This is some next-level stuff, huh??"The classroom erupted into chaos. Sophia shrieked, "Impossible! There's gotta be a mistake!"The teacher shot her a disapproving look. "Why is it impossible?""She must've cheated!" Sophia's face twisted as she pointed at Aurora.As soon as she said that, others chimed in."Yeah, she definitely cheated, right?""If she can get first place, so can I!""From bottom of the barrel to top of the class? Who's buying that?"Everyone was buzzing, looking at Aurora with disdain. A first place earned through cheating was worthless to them.Meanwhile, Aurora sat unfazed by the window at the back of the room, calmly watching Sophia's antics.Sophia spoke again, "Sis, cheating can get you expelled. Just admit your mistake; maybe you can still stay."Aurora turned to the teacher and smiled, "So, are you gonna expel me?"The teacher was slightly annoyed, "Aurora's past poor performance was due to
As Aurora had put it, ever since she returned to school, she'd completely stolen Sophia's spotlight.People even started threads on the school forum, urging their fellow students to vote for a new "school beauty." Sophia was utterly ignored.On top of that, Aurora consistently ranked first in mock exams, while Sophia's grades plummeted. Many guys started to openly confess to Aurora, calling her their "queen of academics."Sophia returned home in a rage, smashing things. No matter how Madeline tried to soothe her, she was losing patience with Sophia.Now, her grandpa was treating Aurora like his prized possession, even arranging a driver for her daily commute. Sophia was restricted at every turn, unable to mess with her.Aurora was living the good life, spending her days at the old mansion, waiting for the exams to end so she could go hang out with Heath in the capital.She lay on her bed, flipping through some files from Harmony Media, bored out of her mind.Harmony Media had been pro
No choice but to order takeout, Aurora and her friends sat in the dining room, celebrating her graduation with delivery food.Munching on a chicken leg, Aurora asked, "You guys got your IDs sorted?"Jay took a swig of beer and grinned, "All set, man. Carly's a top-tier hacker. Making me a fake ID was a piece of cake."Aurora blinked, "Just for you? What about the rest of us?"Jasper wiped his hands and said, "Look, we talked it over. Carly and I have too many old enemies. Staying here would be a risk for you, and we've got unfinished business. So we can't stick around."Aurora fell silent. She thought Jasper and the gang would always be with her. Just when they'd reunited, they were splitting up again.Carly chuckled, "Don't be sad. You can hit us up anytime. We're just going to take care of some stuff. We'll be back when the time's right.""When are you leaving?" Aurora asked."Tomorrow morning. We're heading to Europe to dig up some dirt on the Whitmores," Jasper replied.Aurora for