Chapter 15 Ethan
AURORA POV
It's Lia's birthday today.
And thank God I finally found a fake millionaire to play my boyfriend.
Thank God for Ella. She was my only friend from the old cafe, and when she visited me yesterday and heard the mess l'd made with my "millionaire" lie, she didn't laugh. She helped. She offered her older brother, Ethan.
Apparently he didn't mind pretending to be my boyfriend for one night.
Which is how I ended up fighting my way into the tightest red dress I have ever worn.
The red corset gown hugged my waist so tightly it pushed my breasts up higher than I liked. The thin spaghetti straps barely held everything in place.
I'd spent two hours at my sewing machine earlier, desperately adjusting the corset so my plus-sized frame wouldn't burst the seams.
The tightness at the waist pushed everything up, my chest sitting higher than it had any right to, a generous amount of cleavage on display that I was trying very hard to make peace with. Except for the amount of skin showing I actually liked it. It was probably the most gorgeous thing I had ever worn in my life. The kind of dress that made you stand differently.
I had curled my brunette hair, --still not used to seeing it-- letting the waves fall down my back, adjusting some to the front to hide the hearing aids. My boss had made me change my hair for reasons I still couldn’t figure out and I hated that it looked this good on me because it made it harder to be annoyed about it.
I got off work early today because of the party. I didn't want to leave Liam, his nightmares had been getting worse and he hated watching me go every evening. Alexander had been away for days. Traveling to wherever men like him traveled to without telling anyone when they’d be back. Liam was suffering through those nightmares alone every night and it cost nothing, nothing to be present for your own son. But that was none of my business.
I couldn't think about the
"King of the Penthouse" right now. I had my own demon to face.
My phone buzzed on the vanity. Ella.
I slipped my hearing aids in properly so I could hear her clearly before answering.
"Hey, Ella," | said. "You didn't tell me my boobs would practically fall out of this dress."
She burst out laughing.
"Well not all of us are blessed with bigger boobs. Some of us are stuck with tiny lemons."
I laughed despite my nerves.
Ella had never made my weight an issue. Unlike Katherine, who used to suggest surgery every time I complained about gaining a few pounds.
Back then I was too blind to see the difference.
"Don't get me started," I told her. "You know I'd trade places with you any day."
I bent down and grabbed the only pair of black stilettos I owned from under my bed. They were a
little tight now. I winced as I shoved my feet in. I really should have bought new shoes instead of spending my last twenty dollars on a watch for that jackass, Steve.
"I'm almost done," I said, checking the time.
Twenty minutes left. I grabbed a red lip gloss and mascara, applying them with a shaking hand. "Is Ethan picking me up?"
"Uhm... about that." Ella's voice dipped. "He told me to tell you to go ahead. He's still trying to fix the car, and he doesn't want to waste money on an Uber. He'll show up late and tell everyone he was just rounding up a big meeting at work. It'll look more 'millionaire-ish, right?"
My stomach dropped into my tight heels.
Walking in alone?
Walk in alone. Walk into that room full of people who had never been kind to me, with Steve and Katherine already there, and walk in alone.
My hands went damp immediately.
“Okay,” I said. Because what else was there to say.
“Ethan will be there Rory I promise. He won’t leave you hanging.”
“I know,” I said. “Thank you Ella. Genuinely. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“You deserve it,” she said simply. “Go have fun. I’ll update you about Ethan.”
I hung up and stood in front of the mirror.
I looked different. Not dramatically, not in a way that changed anything fundamental, but the evidence was there. The dress. The hair. The chocolate brown made my eyes pop against the red silk. The red lip gloss catching the light. I looked like a version of myself that had tried and it showed.
You've got this Aurora.