In the middle of the parlor, Nana and Aurora were left standing, gazing at each other. While one was seething with anger, the other was calm, as if the eyes looking at her with deep hatred weren’t directed at her at all. The tension around the parlor was so high that it could be cut through with a knife.
Pak! Aurora’s head tilted to the side, her beautiful face stained with five handprints on her cheeks, as she looked at the angry nana. This time, her once calm face turned expressionless, and her voice almost lowered to the point of a whisper with a hint of surprise. “Can you tell me what's the meaning of this ?” she asked. Nana wasn’t done as she tried to scratch the other party's face without success. “It’s all your fault, you bitch! Bryan doesn’t want to abandon you. You always take every little thing that belongs to me. Will you be satisfied after taking everything away from me?” As she said it, her voice was hysterical. Aurora, who was slightly stunned and speechless, burst out in laughter. It was cold and lacked any warmth. When she was done laughing, she looked at Nana as if she was a dumbass, her eyes twinkling with amusement before leaning close to her and said, “It’s not my fault if you’re always interested in the breadcrumbs I leave behind and—” her voice coming in a pleasant manner as if she was cracking a joke, “Bryan did belong to me until a certain someone entered the game, but don’t worry, I don’t want already used items. Since you want it so much, you can have it. I once learned somewhere that you must give out the things that you don’t need anymore.” When she ended, she stifled a yawn and turned around to leave, but before she could make two steps ahead, she felt her scalp tingle and stepped to the side. As she moved aside, Nana swung a jar to where she was previously standing, expecting to kill her in one strike. But she didn’t expect the girl to dodge. As Aurora saw it, her eyes turned cold. She sidestepped Nana, and her hand landed on the back of her neck, making the raging Nana knocked out and fall on the floor. Afterward, she looked at the body lying on the floor for a long while before she crouched down to observe more about the girl lying awkwardly on the floor. As she tilted her head to the left and continued to observe the girl, she muttered, “Tsk, I would have preferred if he found a girl a bit more beautiful than me, but he settled for the worst one. Yet, what can I do? I was the one who got cheated. I’m looking forward to that day wh-.” Before she could finish her words, she heard a voice coming from upstairs and hastily picked up Nana in a bridal style and climbed the stairs. But before she could reach the end, she was stopped by her aunt in her black nightgown with a jug of water."What are you doing to my daughter?" she asked, her eyes narrowed, as she moved towards Aurora. Aurora looked up and answered, "She fell asleep in the parlor, so I was bringing her back to her room." As she said that, she was about to bypass her aunt. She was stopped, and her back turned slightly stiff. If her aunt observed closely, she would have seen the change, but her eyes were more focused on her daughter. She walked towards her daughter, gave a kiss on the forehead, and then left in the direction of the kitchen. Aurora breathed a sigh of relief and headed for Nana’s room on the second floor. As she stood in the hallway, she looked to the left and saw bright bulbs shining and two doors facing each other. The room on the right belonged to her aunt, while the one on the left belonged to Nana, the girl she was supposed to bring to her room. On the other side of the corridor, the light was almost off, with darkness being the only thing visible. At the end of the corridor was her bedroom. As she stood in front of the door, wondering how she was going to enter, a hand held the door handle and opened it. As she observed the hand, she immediately recognized that it belonged to her uncle. After bowing in greeting, she entered the room. As expected, the room was beautifully decorated and much larger than hers. Her room was gloomy, with only half of the light barely lit, while her cousin's room shone from ceiling to floor, making it feel like entering straight into a fairytale land. Her closet was filled with neatly folded dresses and branded shoes that shined brightly. She wondered if people would pay more attention to the shoes she was wearing or to the person wearing them. Her toilet was even more well-furnished with the daily necessities like a bathtub, toilet, and shower. But above all, it contained enough space to walk around, while she only had a shower, toilet, and a small sink. She placed the girl on the bed and tucked her in before leaving the room. As she walked from the brightly lit corridor to her room on the other end. But when reaching the front of the door she made no move to enter, she leaned her head on the door thinking about all what she has endured staying in here in this house, before I believed in the story of a prince and Cinderella expecting someone to come and save me from here, maybe my mother who abandoned who never cared to come and check on me, nor tried to call, but there was never anything not even a soul, until I grew up believing in nothing but luck. And like that she entered her room.As she entered her room, she immediately discarded the dress she was wearing and took a short bath. She then put on her old clothes that she had been wearing while waiting for the unusable dresses from her cousin. She remembered how her twelve-year-old self had asked her aunt if she could get new clothes, but what she got in response was, "Enjoy what you have been given, but do not covet for more." And so, the conversation ended like that. She made her way to her bed and climbed onto it. She picked up her phone that she had thrown earlier on the bed before leaving for the ceremony.As she took her phone, contemplating if she should call or write a message to her friend, she decided to call. After just a few seconds, the call connected and a sweet, joyful voice came into her ears, "Hey Aurora, what’s up?" Hearing her voice made Aurora’s eyes glisten with tears. Her eyes, which were calm, now glistened with tears upon hearing her friend’s voice. She met her friend when she was still in
Aurora kept her eyes fixed on Nana’s laughing face while reminiscing about what happened 15 years ago. She remembered how, at that time, she considered her aunt as her mom. She remembered how she drew a little picture of their family with her aunt and uncle behind her, and Nana in front, all smiling, even though she was the only outcast with black hair. As she looked at the picture she drew, she felt proud. In her moments of happiness, she ran to her aunt, wanting to try and earn praise. Her aunt was sitting at the table in the kitchen, tightening her hand on the phone as if she had received bad news, with a cup of coffee in front of her. Little Aurora, oblivious to that, called out to her, only to be splashed with tea. She was quick to dodge, but unfortunately, it splashed on her forearm, running down to her hand. She let out some sobs, but her aunt didn’t care and said to her that she wasn’t her mom, but hers was a bitch. But what can a 5-year-old understand? After venting her ange
As she entered the store, her face, which was red earlier from embarrassment, had regained her previous color. She had a very big smile on her innocent face when she thought about how she was back in this store after weeks of absence. The store held most of her good memories. As she looked around to see if there was a change, her eyes twinkled with excitement and anticipation, and her face devoid of any makeup. But that didn’t stop her from appearing charming. While she was observing the surroundings with her twinkling eyes and her lips arched in a small smile, many were entranced by her beauty. Her hair swayed from side to side as she looked around. Men were absorbed in her beauty, while women were jealous. Even though the dress she was wearing was worn-out and easily remarked upon, it was still overshadowed by her beauty.Aurora, oblivious to her surroundings, was still standing near the door when she was fetched by a servant who brought her to her table. There she saw her best fr
As she observed Aurora eating, she knew that as Aurora tasted the food, her eyes kept glancing to the left, a proof that the food didn’t suit her. But she didn’t complain and ate the food in silence. She couldn't say anything; she remembered the day she confronted Aurora about the issue, but she just answered that food was precious. Even if you don’t enjoy it, you have to eat because others don’t get the chance to eat what you don’t like. Vicky felt deep down that it was just excuses. She didn’t get to eat warm food until she was satisfied because her aunt managed to prepare a meal that would easily satisfy the three family members, and Aurora got to eat the leftovers. But if she tried to help, that would be an additional burden placed on her. So she tried to minimize the pain she felt by inviting her from time to time.But she was far from imagining that since young Aurora had long washed away the hope that they would accept her, consider her as family. But everything was lost as tim
They started their engine and left at a moderate speed, leaving the butler behind. As they were driving on the road, Vicky moved closer to Aurora, who was looking ahead, and informed her, "We can't drive freely on this busy road. Let's go to Magnolia Corporation where we can drive at high speed to our heart's content."Magnolia is a fairly large corporation that is particularly based in motorcycle racing. Every year, international racers always come here to represent the country. Their race tracks are the best. Sometimes, children of the rich come either to bet on motor races or to race with their friends. Considering the space it takes, we can only find it at the outskirts of country M.Since both girls were in the middle of town, it took them 40 minutes to arrive at the racing track because there was no traffic jam. On their way, they stopped at a gas station to refuel their motorcycle. When they set foot at the race track, they were so amazed by the various tracks that their blood
While Vicky sped off, Aurora reduced her speed until the others were in front of her. She didn’t care about the race anymore. While still absentmindedly following the others, she didn’t notice the fact that the red reduced his speed. It was only when he was near her that she noticed it. “Hey, little one, do you think you can beat me in this race? Remember that you’re just a girl, and this place is not for girls like you,” he whispered, his voice rough and full of malicious intent. With that said, he pushed Aurora off the track.After seeing that she had fallen out of the racetrack, he placed both hands around his mouth and shouted, "Someone fell off the racetrack!" This prompted all the racers to stop. They all turned back and came in to assess the situation, putting aside their race. Everyone discussed how it happened. The red racer stomped his leg on the floor, saying, "I told you it wasn't good to have this girl with us. See the problems it's bringing us now," pointing as if he was
The tension was heavy among them. Sky, who heard the voice, felt a chill running down his spine. What she said was true; with her skills, an accident on her side was something impossible, which means that one of his friends must have pushed her away. But when he tried to guess, there were two that came to his mind: Weber, the brown one, had a fierce sense of competition but would not stoop low to the point of committing these types of mishaps. That left him with the red one, Jack, since he has a difficult personality to deal with and is also a bad loser. It can only be him since he must have felt threatened by both girls’ talent and decided to take care of the black one since she appeared to be the smallest and easiest to bully, but he must not have expected her to come back in such a way. He was still processing what happened when Vicky signaled him that they continue. He approached and asked, still surprised by what she said."How heartless can you be? You still want to continue th
Sky watched as the girls disappeared from his view before taking out his phone and making a call. "Find Jack Thomson and bring him to me," his voice as cold as ice, different from when he was talking to both girls. That was all him; he can smile and laugh with you, but when you step on his bad side, then he will become merciless, especially because he is from that family.As both girls left the Magnolia Corporation in haste, they reached the milk shop. It was already forty-five minutes past three, and the butler was already present, waiting for them. They parked right in front of him, got down from their bike, placed the helmet on the back of their bike, and walked towards the butler with a contented smile hanging on their lips.The butler bowed and smiled, “Welcome, Miss Vicky and Miss Aurora. Was the outing fruitful?” Vicky answered and started narrating what happened, except for the part where Aurora got into a little mishap. The butler nodded while listening attentively with great
Michael looked at her with interest. You’re probably the first girl to see a torture scene as just a normal show. He continued to watch Aurora as she slowly began falling asleep with a smile, before turning his attention back to the scene. The smile that danced on his lips disappeared as swiftly as it appeared. "There are still seven left, what are you waiting for?" he said. The men let out cruel grins as they looked at their victim, and one of them picked up the clamp and proceeded to remove the remaining nails.After thirty minutes of torture, the victim was already unconscious. Michael called, "Halter." A man emerged from the shadows and stood near Michael with a tablet in hand and eyeglasses. He slightly bowed and answered respectfully, "Yes, master." If it hadn’t been for his master calling, no one would have noticed him. Michael gave his order, "A room," and Halter immediately left to carry out the command. With the years he had spent working under Michael as his secretary, he k
Aurora continued wandering aimlessly in search of something, looking left and right. But she decided to return to the bartender. When she turned around, she didn’t recognize where she was. There were people everywhere, and she was growing tired. She just wanted to sleep.Aurora navigated all around the nightclub in search of her friend, but with no results, until she started opening door by door, taking a peek for one or two minutes and then closing it back, mumbling, "She is not here." She walked down the corridors while smiling; she was already feeling sleepy until she stopped and tilted her head to the side, before smiling to herself, "I’ll just check a few more rooms, and if I don’t find her, I’ll switch to the one where I can sleep." Well satisfied with her decision, she immediately continued her search.Eventually, she opened a door and peeked inside. All the men’s eyes in the room immediately snapped to her. The room itself was barely lit, but it was enough to differentiate the
The first thing Aurora did when entering was to block her ears because the noise was overwhelming. On the other hand, Vicky seemed to enjoy the atmosphere. She immediately grabbed Aurora's hand and brought her to the bartender, who quickly prepared two glasses of vodka. However, the glass served to Aurora was more diluted. As Aurora carried her glass with a doubtful look on her face, Vicky immediately explained, "Since you're not used to alcohol, a small dosage will suffice. Taste it, it’s really delicious." On her words, Aurora took a sip, and her eyes lit up. It was sweet with a hint of alcohol, and she immediately drank the contents of the glass, earning a glare from Vicky. "Even though it’s diluted, it still contains alcohol, so drink it moderately." Aurora nodded, but when another glass appeared, she immediately drank it in one go.Vicky, who missed the scene, didn’t know that Aurora had already downed two other glasses and was letting out little hiccups, which were immediately d
As Aurora left a few minutes later, unbeknownst to her, someone passed by, picked up the red camellia she had left behind, and left the rooftop with it.In the crime scene, the hall was buzzing with noise, the air filled with tension, visible fear, and the scent of blood. There was a heavy commotion as people shouted, faint-hearted individuals collapsed, and the door to the hall was crowded with people trying to flee. But there was a sector around the hall where a man, sitting in the mezzanine, stared down at the scene with a cold face, reflecting how bored he was. He had a brief trace of excitement when he saw the man’s head being shot, but it quickly disappeared as the victim's body fell to the floor. His glassy blue eyes stared at the body lying in the pool of blood with coldness, as his hands rested on the armrest. He lifted his right hand to lean his head on it, and his blonde hair fell to the side.When a man approached him with the camellia, he took it and began feeling the pet
She placed one knee on the ground as she picked up her weapon and placed it in a black backpack. She got up with the bag on her back and walked out of the house, but she immediately went back in, remembering that she still had her bandage on. She removed her leather jacket and took off the bandage. She then flexed her arm to feel the pain, but she winced; her hand was still not completely recovered. She would still need more days for it to be fully healed, but that wouldn’t stop her from attaining her objective. She put her jacket back on and left the house. She looked at the time, only to see that it was 9 PM. Since her destination was not far from her house, she decided to walk, enjoying the night breeze. Her clothes blended with the dark shadows of the night, and her blue eyes reflected no emotions; they were rather calm but sparkled like jewels in the dark.The street was less crowded considering the fact that it was already night. She walked straight until she reached a street
They reached the destination after more than thirty minutes of travel. They arrived at Rendal Street without too many problems, thanks to the lack of traffic jams. As they drove around the street, there were little to no people walking around, making it a more peaceful place to stay. They stopped the car in front of a house. The front was not really eye-catching, but when they entered, it was beautiful; the decoration was simple but suitable for living in. Vicky assured herself that she would guide Aurora to all the rooms of the house. There were two rooms, each with a bathroom, a kitchen, a parlor, and a veranda. Later on, Vicky left, saying she had some things to take care of, and Aurora was left alone in an unfamiliar environment. She walked towards her bedroom to have a closer look at it. It was almost empty; there was only the necessary furniture. She went to check the wardrobe, only to see that it was filled with dresses, and the other was filled with shoes. Her hands brushed
Shadow is her secret identity, but the fact that she refused all the blind dates has disappointed her parents. However, she can’t explain anything, and that really must be what frustrates her. Aurora doesn't know the feeling of knowing so much but being unable to tell the truth because of the fear of losing someone or disappointing them. The only family she had didn't care about her, so she cannot pretend to know what it feels like. She silently held onto her friend’s hand without saying anything; they both stayed silent. Sometimes, they don’t need words to convey what they feel; it is sufficient to feel each other’s presence. Aurora got up and looked at her friend beside her. “I’m thinking of leaving the house tomorrow; I want to buy a house.” This announcement caused Vicky, lying on the side, to get up immediately. She looked at Aurora in shock, opened her mouth, and then closed it. After a few minutes.“Why are you not fine here?” she asked, aggrieved, but Aurora shook her head a
Vicky dragged Aurora to the car, and they left the hospital. It didn't take much time for them to reach the Greyhart mansion, since it was located near the outskirts of the city. They arrived in front of a gate, which automatically opened. They drove and parked the car right in front of the mansion, then got out and entered. The scent of polished wood filled the air, and the entrance was softly illuminated by the glow of the chandeliers. When they entered the mansion, the butler was waiting for them at the entrance. When he saw both of them coming, he bowed respectfully in greeting and said, “Welcome back, Miss. Greetings, Miss Aurora.” They nodded in response and entered, with Aurora a step behind as they walked.As they entered, they came across a woman who was old, almost the same age as her aunt, but more elegant. Her brown hair fell down on her shoulders, and she was giving orders to the servants, her back facing the entrance.She was dressed simply, but it didn’t mask her elegan
As she got out of the bathroom with a towel on her hair, she came across Vicky, who was waking up. She went and sat on her bed and tended to her wet hair. Vicky, who had just woken up, got up from her seat and immediately walked towards Aurora while yawning. She took the towel away from Aurora’s hand and started drying her hair for her. “Let me do it; I’m not sure you will do a perfect job,” her voice still drowsy. Aurora pouted but said nothing, and they fell into a comfortable silence, Aurora relishing in the care her hair was receiving. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh of enjoyment; she really felt comfortable. “I received word from the doctor that we can leave, so I’m taking you today. From now on, you’re going to be staying with me.” Her voice was smooth, but Aurora, hearing the news, was about to interject, “But d—” She was cut off by Vicky. “Remember this: I am not asking for your opinion; I am just informing you that if I don’t have an eye on you at all times, the ne