Chapter 75 Chapter 75
"Mumma?" Aurora's soft voice broke the silence, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"Yes, baby?" I whispered, my eyes meeting hers in the reflection in the mirror.
"Why are you wearing a big white dress today?" she asked, tilting her head to the sides. Her brow was furrowed in confusion "Is it for a party?"
She was dressed in a matching miniature version of my dress, looking like a doll. I swallowed down the lump in my throat.
"It’s for the wedding, Aurora. Remember? We talked about this." I told her.
She went quiet for a moment, her small fingers tracing the intricate embroidery on my sleeve while I looked at myself in the mirror. The ivory silk of the gown draped over my frame like a cold, beautiful shroud, and the lace around my throat felt like a collar, making it hard for me to breathe.
"Mumma..." Aurora's tiny voice once again grabbed my attention. "I don't like this house anymore" she pouted and looked up at me with those tiny teary eyes that melted my heart. "It doesn't feel the same. AD... AD, he smiles at me but his eyes look... Angry. I am scared of him"
She held my arm.
"Mumma, he doesn't like me"
My palms started trembling and beads of perspiration formed on my upper lip.
She was only a child.
I had no answer to her questions or to how she was feeling. She once again looked up at me.
"Mumma," she licked her lips "When are we going to meet Mr. Stranger again?"
And my heart stopped beating.
"He is a good man, Mumma. Trust me. When will he come?"
"I... I don't know, Aurora," I managed to say through a cracked voice.
"But he's coming, right?" she persisted, her lower lip beginning to wobble. "AD said this is our home now forever. Does 'forever' mean we'll never see Mr. Stranger again? Does it mean AD will become my daddy'?"
I remained silent because I had nothing to say. When Aurora isn't happy here then what's the point of doing all this?
"Mumma, you are crying," Aurora whispered, reaching up to wipe a tear with the tip of her tiny finger.
"I am just tired, baby," I lied, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.
Suddenly I heard footsteps and I already knew to whom they belonged. My body stiffened and Aurora's hold around my dress tightened. She senses it too.
Adrian was already here!
"Aurora, AD is coming. You know what you need to do right?" I asked her and she nodded.
"Wait for mumma, okay?"
She nodded again with solemn expressions, looking far too mature for a girl her age.
The door to the room clicked open and the scent of lilies filled the room before he even stepped inside.
My breath caught in my throat when I saw him dressed in a black tuxedo that fit him perfectly. His hair was swept back and there was a smile on his lips that didn't reach his eyes.
He looked evil.
His gaze traveled slowly from my veil down to the hem of the gown and then over to Aurora. Aurora shifted more towards me.
"Beautiful," he breathed, the word made my skin crawl.
He walked toward us, slowly and deliberately. He stopped in front of Aurora first, kneeling so he was at eye level with her. He reached out and adjusted the silk ribbon in her hair.
"Just look at you" he murmured in a honey-dipped voice "The most perfect flower girl I have ever seen" he chuckled and pinched Aurora's cheeks. "You are going to lead the way for your mother today, Aurora. You’re going to show everyone that we are finally a family. Yes?"
Aurora swallowed and stayed still as a statue. Adrian didn't seem to notice, or perhaps he simply didn't care.
He stood up, shifting his attention entirely to me. Suddenly the air became too thick and heavy. I couldn't breathe when he stepped into my personal space. The heat from his body radiated through the thin fabric of my dress.
"Cynthia," he mumbled, blinking up at me "I have dreamt of this moment since the night I first saw you. I told you I would give you the world, didn't I? Look at you. You look like a queen."
His hand moved towards my face to tuck a stray lock of hair behind my ear, and I instinctively took a half-step back. I made it look like I was merely adjusting my veil, turning my head toward the mirror, as if I didn't notice what he was up to.
Even the thought of letting him touch me disgusted me to the core.
Adrian’s hand froze in mid-air. His smile didn't waver but his eyes darkened. He slowly lowered his hand, his fingers curled into a fist at his side.
"Still playing the shy bride?" he asked in a calm yet dangerous voice "It’s a bit late for that, don't you think?" He asked and I remained silent
He sighed heavily.
"Nevertheless, in less than an hour, there will be no more distances between us" he smirked "and then I will do everything, I have been dreaming of for so many years"
I kept looking at my reflection to avoid his gaze.
He checked his watch once before announcing, "I am going out in the garden. The guests have arrived and you are expected to be there in fifteen minutes"
I looked down.
"Fifteen minutes, Cynthia" he leaned down and whispered in my ear, "I don't want you to mess up today. We wouldn't want to frighten Aurora on such a happy day, would we?"
Bastard!
He reached down and scooped Aurora up into his arms. She let out a small, startled gasp, before her hands instinctively clutched his shoulders for balance.
I didn't want my baby to go with him but I didn't have any other options.
"Come on, little one," Adrian said, turning toward the door. "Let’s go see the flowers. We will wait for Mumma together."
Aurora looked back at me over his shoulder, with wide and pleading eyes, her small mouth forming a silent "O." I felt a sob rise in my throat, but I forced it down, nodding to her once to stay calm, to wait, to breathe.
"Fifteen minutes, Cynthia," Adrian repeated from the doorway, his eyes locking onto mine in the mirror one last time.
The silence that followed was deafening. My hands reached out for my stomach.
Fifteen minutes.
I have fifteen minutes to make or break everything.