Chapter 93
Chapter 93:
Smoke Before Fire
Aurora & Tiffany POV
Aurora’s POV
“I’m tired, Dominique.”
My voice didn’t rise. It didn’t need to. It was low, even, but it trembled with something far worse than anger, resolve, determination.
Dominique turned from the map sprawled across his desk, eyes catching mine with a sharpness that once would’ve made me falter. Not now. Not anymore.
I am tired of cowering at the sight of anyone, I lack no more fear.
“Tired of what?” he asked slowly, trying to understand what I meant.
I took a step forward, then another, until there was only silence between us, the silence could split the air in half.
“Of being the bait,” I said. “Of being the pawn. Of being used by men with too much power and not enough soul, of been the one everyone uses to climb up.”
His jaw clenched. I pressed on.
“All my life… people have controlled me. My father gambled away everything, including me. “Victor Peterson molded me into a weapon. I was a child, but he didn’t care. Everyone who’s ever claimed to love me only did so when it benefited them. I was never a daughter. Never a woman. Just a convenient tool. Even my father James, every descion of his life has affected me more than it has to him.”
Dominique didn’t speak, and I saw something flicker in his eyes, regret? Pity? Worry?.
No. I didn’t want any of it, the pity, worry, regret. I don't want it from anyone.
I stepped closer, until my voice was a shadow just below a whisper. “I’m not that girl anymore, I had stopped been that girl.”
“This is the mafia, Aurora,” he finally said, voice low but firm. “You’ve been thrown into a world where emotion is weakness. Where any misstep, any show of softness can get you killed. You want to write your own story? That’s fine. But know the ink here is blood, and it's either your blood or theirs.”
“Then I’ll bleed, if it means it's needed. ” I said, my voice darker now, colder. “But it’ll be my blood on my terms. Not theirs. Or else I would rewrite my story with thier blood.”
Dominique took a step forward. “I’ll fight for you. I’ll keep them from you. Whatever storm is coming, I’ll stand between it and you, I'll not let it come close to you ”
“No,” I said firmly, shaking my head. “That’s the problem. Someone is always standing in front of me, shielding me, deciding for me. You, Don Vito, my father… everyone has tried to write my story, I'm tired of it.”
“Can't you see it, I'm tired Dominique”, my voice breaking.
I took one last look at him, this man I once feared, then loved, then feared again. “Not this time, Dominique. I’m writing the ending. Even if it’s in ash and blood, I would.”
And I walked out.
I didn’t look back.
This time, I won't look back.
I closed the door behind me, not softly, not loudly, but with finality. Let the past echo behind it.
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Dominique’s POV
She left me in silence.
Cold silence.
The slam of the door was soft, but it echoed like a gunshot peircing my heart.
Aurora wasn’t the same woman I met months ago. There was a steel in her now that chilled me. A shadow behind her eyes that hadn’t been there before.
A part of me is sad that I had contributed in bringing out this part of her, somehow it was my fault.
And now, there's nothing I can do, than I hope that her rage doesn't consume her.
I stared at the space she’d just vacated, then at my trembling hands.
This world this war it was changing her.
And I didn’t know if it would break her… or make her unstoppable.
She said she wanted to write her own ending.
But I feared what kind of ending she’d write if she let the darkness consume her.
Still, I knew this much: wherever she went, however far she fell or climbed, I would go with her. To the edge of hell, if need be.
Even if she never looked back.
I'll stand by her……
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Tiffany’s POV
The mountain air was thinner here.
Or maybe it was the weight of my rage pressing on my lungs.
Adam sat across from me, brows furrowed, arms crossed. He was the only one brave, or foolish enough to meet with me now.
“You’re planning to attack her?” he asked slowly, disbelieving. “Tiffany, she’s in the Blackwood estate. That’s not just any home, it’s a fortress surrounded by killers. You’ll be putting yourself directly between Damien and Dominique. Those men are ruthless”
“I don’t care.”
My voice came out too calm, too composed.
He blinked. “You should care. They’re dangerous. They’ve protected her this long, and they’ll keep doing it. You go after Aurora, and you’re digging your own grave, faster than you should be.”
“I’m already in the grave,” I hissed, leaning in. “She ruined everything. She took what was mine. My place. My legacy. My name., Everything”
“She didn’t take it,” Adam said, trying for patience. “It was never yours, besides you've Peter now”
I smiled.
A slow, dangerous thing.
“You still haven't understand the full gist, it's not about Peter. Its about who writes the final chapter of our long heated story. I’m going to make sure she chokes on everything she thought she earned.”
He stood. “You’re spiraling, Tiffany.”
“I’m ascending,” I corrected. “With or without you.”
He opened his mouth to speak again, then stopped. I could see the fear in his eyes now. The realization.
I meant every word.
“If it costs me everything,” I whispered, “even my last drop of blood, I’ll see her burn, I'll make sure she burn.”
I turned away before he could argue.
The mountain was cold.
But the fire in me burned hotter than ever.
And this time, there would be no mercy.
I would have the final laugh.
Even if I had to drag Damien and Dominique down with her, I would.
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