Chapter 171 THIS IS NOT OVER
AURORA'S POINT OF VIEW.
I was fifteen at the time.
And that was when I realized, begging had always been my place. My mind flashed back again without warning.
I was thirteen again, standing in the living room with shaking hands, my mother beside me, her shoulders stiff with as much dignity as she could muster. Morgan sat in my father’s arms, sobbing dramatically while her mother added fuel to an already chaotic fire.
“She pushed me,” Morgan had cried. “She said she wanted me gone….I told you she hates me.”
It had been a lie, and everyone knew it.
I remembered looking at Dad that night, begging him silently. He’d seen everything. He’d known the truth. And he’d said nothing.
He’d simply wrapped an arm around Morgan’s shoulders when she started crying harder, reminding me yet again that my mother and I only had each other. Just three weeks ago, Kai had watched, probably in silent approval, as Morgan poured expired yoghurt all over my hair. She’d yelled in the courtyard while everyone watched;
“Itty bitty piggy! Look at the daughter of a deposed queen……Aurora’s mother is a whore, everyone! A whore with cancer.” Everyone present had laughed, while I’d knelt crying. The only people who had not laughed, but watched on in silence, were Kai, Lucien, Sloane, and the other horsemen.
However, silence to me was still endorsement. When I could not take it anymore, I stood up and ran out of there in tears. That memory shattered something inside me now.
Because this… this couldn’t be real.
Kai and I barely spoke three words to each other before today. He was always the quiet one amongst the horsemen…and reportedly, he was the most dangerous. So I stayed the hell away.
Morgan’s expression twisted, her lips curling as she looked between Kai and me. “You’re pathetic,” she spat. “Begging already, sister?”
“Morgan,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “Please. You know how my father is. You know what he’ll do. Please…..”
Kai stepped forward abruptly, positioning himself between us so I was shielded from her view.
“Enough,” he said, his voice sharp now, warning laced through every syllable. “You don’t get to talk to her like that, Morgan.” He turned to me. “I told you I would deal with her, baby….you do not need to beg her for anything anymore. I’ve got it covered. We do not need to hide our love any longer.”
“What love?!” I hissed, frustration clawing at me. “I barely speak to you, Mercer! We are not dating….we never dated!”
“Baby.” He grabbed my hands, his eyes filled with so much love and devotion, I would have believed we were together, that I was the crazy, lying one and not him. “Why don’t you trust me? I swear to you, Morgan will never harm you again. Now we can be together… we can be free finally! I do not have to marry her anymore.”
He announced, and then it felt like someone had chimed a heavy tolling bell. My mind spun with blank spots. I felt exasperated. So I turned to the crowd instead. If they believed me, maybe Morgan would too, and mom can be saved.
“Have any of you ever seen me with Kai?” I asked. “You…” I summoned the courage to speak to Lucien, the blue eyes Adonis who held onto his girlfriend with a possessive grip that made me stare with longing anytime I saw them. “Please tell Morgan this is not true….Kai and I don’t know each other.” I sobbed.
Sloane stepped forward, but just before she could speak, I could see Lucien pull her back softly. She turned to him with a shocked gaze, and with one silent communication with their eyes, she turned back to me with a sad expression before looking away.
“I did see you with him, Aurora,” Lucien said, making me stare at him in… panic. If Lucien confirmed this lie, there was no way to save me. “We invited you to The Spot last week, on Thursday, and there we played poker. For the first time in a long time, Kai actually slept over too, and I thanked you for it before he drove you back home.”
“That’s a lie!” I hissed, running back to Morgan. But it was too late……she, as everyone else, believed him. My fate was sealed.
Morgan let out a strangled sob at once. “You’ll regret this,” she whispered, backing away slowly, her gaze never leaving his face. Then she looked at me….really looked at me…..and something dark, sinister, and calculating slid into her expression.
“This isn’t over,” she promised softly. “Not for you.”