Chapter 106
Chapter 106
Chapter 106
“Shadows Closing In”
Tiffany’s POV
The night was thick with silence, the kind of silence that presses against your ears until every thought in your head feels louder, sharper all at once, Tiffany sat in the dimly lit room, her fingers drumming the mahogany table in restless rhythm. The others trickled in one by one, summoned by her at her every command.m she gave out.
Alex entered first, his sharp eyes scanning the room like he owned it, a storm brewing beneath the surface of his expression.
Vanessa followed, her expression unreadable, though Tiffany could always sense that her loyalty was woven more from convenience than conviction. Then Peter came last, dragging his feet, his brow furrowed in the kind of hesitation Tiffany despised ever since he agreed to what they had always wanted.
Aurora been gone.
When they were all seated, Tiffany leaned forward, her voice low, laced with venomous triumph
“Aurora is pregnant.”
The words dropped like a blade slicing through the air, the air felt heavier as everyone didn't know what to say.
Alex froze, his pupils contracting as the truth sank in. Then, almost instantly, his jaw clenched, a bitter laugh escaping his throat.
“Pregnant…” His tone was flat, but the tremor in his voice betrayed the storm within. “So that’s it. That’s the final nail. She was never mine. Never will be.” His fists curled on the table until his knuckles whitened. “I gave her everything—time, loyalty, devotion, and she still chose Dominique after everything. So it was always Dominique.” His lips twisted into a snarl. “Fine. Then let her choke on the consequences of her own actions.”
Tiffany smirked. She had expected nothing less from Alex. His hatred, now sharpened into something unhinged, was exactly the fuel she needed to keep pushing.
Vanessa only raised an eyebrow, feigning indifference. But Peter, Peter’s eyes widened with something close to horror.
“She’s… pregnant?” he whispered, disbelief thick in his tone.
“Yes,” Tiffany hissed, her words deliberate, each syllable dripping with satisfaction. “And that changes nothing. We strike harder. Now more than ever, because this is the perfect to deliver the decisive blow..”
Peter leaned back, shaking his head. “No. Tiffany, listen to yourself. She’s carrying a child. Do you understand what that means? This isn’t just Aurora anymore. That’s an innocent life,that knows nothing about any fight. You want blood, fine, but don’t drag the unborn into this fight.”
“She chose her fate the moment she betrayed me, the moment she decided that our enemity runs into blood spill” Tiffany spat, slamming her hand against the table. “And if the child is Dominique’s, then it’s no different than her. It carries his blood, his corruption. Killing her now is killing two birds with one stone. She suffers, and so does he, and so those the unborn.”
Peter pushed back from his chair, his disgust plain. “You’ve lost it. I was angry with Aurora, yes. I wanted to see her break, wanted her to feel the pain she caused us all. But not like this. Not at the cost of an unborn child, who is oblivious of the fight brewing over its head”
“Coward,” Tiffany snapped. “You think you can just walk away? You’re already neck-deep in this. You’ve stood with me through every plan, every step. Don’t think for a second you can abandon me now.”
Peter rose to his feet, his voice steadier than she’d ever heard it. “I’m done, Tiffany. Done with your madness, done with this vendetta. Hate Aurora all you want, but I won’t be part of this anymore. I won’t become the kind of monster that kills children, all because I was rejected and I couldn't come to fact that I won't be accepted.”
For a moment, the silence between them was thick with danger. Tiffany’s face twisted with rage, but before she could lash out, Peter turned his back on her and walked toward the door. His footsteps echoed in the hollow space like a sentence being written.
“Walk away, Peter, and you’ll regret it, I promise you” Tiffany shouted after him, her voice trembling with fury.
He didn’t turn. The door closed behind him with a sharp finality.
The room crackled with tension until Alex leaned forward, his voice dark, smooth, laced with something feral.
“Let him go. We don’t need him.” His eyes burned with fire as they locked on Tiffany’s. “I’ll have enough. In fact, I’ll be more than enough. Aurora destroyed me the moment she gave herself to Dominique. Let me destroy her in return as a way of paying her back.”
Tiffany’s rage slowly melted into a smile, cold and sharp. “Good. Then we strike soon. And when we do, Aurora will wish she had never been born.”
The decision hung in the air, poisonous, deadly and final.
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Damian’s POV
The news hit him like a blade to the chest. Aurora. Pregnant.
The words echoed through Damian’s mind as he stood frozen in the grand hall of the Blackwood estate. Every breath was heavy, every heartbeat dragging against his ribs. She was carrying Dominique’s child. Not his. Never his.
So he never had a chance.
For days, he had forced himself to bury his feelings, to play the loyal shadow, the friend she could lean on. But now the truth felt like a cruel joke, tearing apart the last scraps of hope he had clung to.
He didn’t wait. His feet carried him to her chambers before his mind could catch up.
Aurora was seated near the window, bathed in pale moonlight, her hand resting instinctively over her stomach. She looked up when he entered, her eyes soft but wary, as though she had been expecting this moment.
“Damian,” she said quietly.
He swallowed, forcing the words out past the knot in his throat. “It’s true then? You’re pregnant for him?”
Her lips parted, then curved into a small, sad smile. “Yes. I am.”
Something inside him cracked, but he held himself steady, forcing a bitter laugh. “And it’s his.”
“It’s Dominique’s,” she whispered, her voice tender, but firm. “My love belongs to him, Damian. It always has.”
His chest tightened. The rejection wasn’t new, she had turned him away before but this time it felt different because it felt like it was her final, irreversible decision. A wall he could never climb, no matter how much he bled trying to.
“I’ve been your safe place,” he said, his voice breaking despite himself. “Your shield when you needed one, your comfort when everything else fell apart, even when Dominique was so bad to you. But you never gave me a chance, Aurora. Not once. You never let me show you the love I had for you.”
Her eyes shimmered with guilt, her voice soft. “And I will always be grateful for you, Damian. You’ve been my protector in this house, my anchor when I was drowning. But I cannot give you what you want. My heart was never mine to give, it’s always been his.”
The words stung like acid poured over an open wound.
He stepped back, his jaw tight, his heart burning with a mix of love, rage, and unbearable grief. “Then this is the end for me,” he whispered, turning toward the door. “But I want you to remember, Aurora, you were never fair to me. You didn't give me a chance.”
Her lips trembled, but she said nothing. Because there was nothing to say.
He walked out before the sound of her soft sobs could chain him back. Each step down the hall echoed with the weight of everything he had lost, everything he would never have.
Halfway down the stairwell, his phone buzzed. He glanced at it, irritation etched into his features. An unknown number.
He almost ignored it, but something in his gut compelled him to answer.
“Damian Blackwood,” he said curtly.
A voice on the other end, low and urgent, sliced through the silence.
“We need to meet. Now. It’s urgent. And it concerns Aurora.”
Damian froze. His grip on the phone tightened. He didn’t recognize the voice, but the way it spoke, calm, commanding, and worried. It ignited his instincts.
“Who is this?” he demanded.
“You’ll know when you see me,” the caller replied. “San Andreas warehouse. Midnight. Don’t be late.”
The line went dead, as fast as it came.
Damian stood motionless, the cold weight of the call pressing into his bones. The shadows were closing in, and he knew deep down, this was only the beginning of the storm to come.
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