Chapter 73 Chapter 73: Auren Draven’s Wrong Conclusion

Chapter 73 Chapter 73: Auren Draven’s Wrong Conclusion

The second I noticed Auren’s eyes fixed on Nicholus’s hand around my wrist, panic rushed through me so sharply it felt physical. My breath caught somewhere painfully in my chest as heat flooded my face. Without thinking, I yanked my hand out of Nicholus’s grip so quickly the coffee inside my cup splashed over the lid. “I—” The apology died before it could fully leave my mouth. My fingers trembled around the warm paper cup while my heartbeat pounded violently beneath my ribs. Beside me, Nicholus blinked once in surprise at the sudden movement, though the amusement lingering in his expression didn’t disappear completely. “Relax,” he murmured lightly, lowering his hand immediately. “You’re acting like I got caught proposing in public.” But I could barely hear him anymore. All I could feel was Auren watching us from across the hospital lobby.
The entire atmosphere shifted the moment the Dravens entered. Security moved subtly around them while hospital staff straightened almost instinctively nearby. Richmond Draven carried himself with the effortless authority of someone used to rooms making space for him without asking. Beside him, Auren looked colder somehow than he had the night before — sharp black coat,  For one terrible second, nobody moved. Then Richmond’s face suddenly brightened with recognition.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” he laughed warmly, stepping forward. “Nicholus Varya.” His voice instantly broke the tension filling the lobby. “You still look like trouble.” Nicholus’s grin returned immediately, easy and charming like the awkward moment seconds ago had never happened at all. “Mr. Draven,” he greeted smoothly, stepping forward to shake his hand. “Nice to know age hasn’t ruined your eyesight yet.” Richmond barked out a genuine laugh at that. “Still disrespectful too,” he replied approvingly. “Good. I’d have been worried otherwise.”
I quietly stepped backward during the greeting, lowering my gaze immediately. My wrist still burned from where Nicholus had grabbed it, though not painfully — just enough that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Or about the way Auren had seen it happen. I could feel his attention even without looking directly at him.  Meanwhile, Richmond seemed entirely amused by Nicholus’s presence. “Last time I saw you,” he continued, clapping a hand against Nicholus’s shoulder, “you were nearly thrown out of Monaco for fighting with a casino owner.” Nicholus placed a dramatic hand over his chest. “That story sounds much uglier when you remove the part where the casino owner deserved it.” Richmond laughed again. “Simon warned me you’d become impossible with age.”
“That’s actually one of my better qualities,” Nicholus replied easily. “Makes family gatherings more memorable.” His tone stayed playful, confident, effortless — the exact opposite of the panic twisting inside me. Then, like he had only just remembered, Nicholus gestured casually toward me beside him. “And before rumors start forming,” he said lazily, “I was only borrowing Sera for coffee. Elara assigned her to supervise me like I’m some kind of public threat.” My stomach tightened instantly at the attention suddenly shifting toward me.
Richmond finally looked properly in my direction, his expression polite but observant. “Ah,” he said warmly. “You must be the  Elara assistant.” I lowered my head immediately. “Yes, sir.” My voice sounded embarrassingly small compared to everyone else around me. “Good,” Richmond replied kindly. “Someone has to keep this idiot under control.” He jerked his thumb toward Nicholus, who looked deeply offended. “Excuse you,” Nicholus muttered. “I’m extremely controlled. Occasionally.” Richmond ignored him completely, but beside him, Auren still hadn’t spoken a single word.
And somehow that silence felt worse.
I made the mistake of glancing up briefly then.
Auren’s eyes were already on me.
Not angry. Not confused. Just steady. Focused in that same unsettling way from the night before when he had looked at me beside his car before leaving the mansion. His expression gave nothing away, but his gaze dropped once — briefly — toward my wrist before returning to my face again. The movement lasted less than a second, yet it made my pulse stumble violently all over again. Beside him, Richmond continued speaking with Nicholus completely unaware of the suffocating tension quietly unfolding beneath the conversation.
“Well,” Richmond said finally, adjusting the cuff of his coat, “we should go upstairs before Simon accuses us of arriving late on purpose.” Nicholus nodded easily. “Grandfather’s awake. Elara went in first.” At the mention of Elara’s name, something unreadable flickered briefly across Auren’s expression before disappearing again just as quickly. Then Richmond started toward the elevators with Nicholus beside him, their conversation continuing effortlessly down the lobby.
I moved automatically to follow them.
But as I passed Auren, he stepped aside slightly to let me through.
Close enough that I caught the faint scent of his perfume.
Close enough that his quiet voice reached only me.
“You spilled your coffee.”
I looked down immediately and realized a few drops had splashed across my fingers earlier when I pulled away from Nicholus. My face burned all over again. “I’m sorry,” I whispered instinctively, though I didn’t even know what I was apologizing for anymore.
For the coffee.
For Nicholus grabbing my wrist.
For running.
For being looked at like that.
Auren’s gaze lingered on me for one long unreadable second before he answered quietly,
“You apologize too much.”
The words followed me just as I tried to step past him toward the elevators. My fingers tightened harder around the coffee cup while my pulse still hammered painfully from the moment he had seen Nicholus holding my wrist. Richmond and Nicholus had already started walking ahead through the lobby, their voices fading into the distance beneath the low hum of hospital noise and security movement around us. But Auren hadn’t moved. He stayed standing directly beside me near the entrance,  his dark eyes fixed on me with that same quiet intensity that always made me feel too seen.
Then his gaze shifted briefly toward Nicholus disappearing down the hallway.
“What exactly is going on between you and Nicholus?”
The question hit me so suddenly I froze.
I turned toward him immediately. “What?”
His expression didn’t change.
“What,” he repeated evenly, “is going on between you and him?” His tone stayed calm, but something colder sat beneath it now. Controlled. Sharp. “Because from where I was standing, that didn’t look like a maid accompanying someone for coffee.” His eyes flicked once toward my wrist before returning to my face again. “It looked personal.”
Heat rushed instantly into my chest — not embarrassment this time.
Anger.
“There’s nothing going on,” I answered quickly. “Mr. Nicholus asked me to go downstairs with him because Miss Elara was with her grandfather. That’s all.”
Auren stared at me for a long second.
Then he gave a quiet nod like he was humoring me.
“Right.”
Something about that single word snapped painfully inside me.
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked sharply before I could stop myself.
For the first time, his expression shifted slightly.
“It means Nicholus doesn’t behave like that unless someone encourages him,” he replied calmly. “And it means you looked very nervous for someone supposedly uncomfortable with the attention.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“You think I wanted that?”
“I think,” he said slowly, “that people usually know exactly what they’re doing around men like Nicholus.”
The accusation landed hard enough to make my chest ache.
I shook my head once, stunned. “You barely know me.”
“No,” he agreed quietly. “But I know men like him. And I know girls who suddenly become very interested in wealthy families when money is involved.”
The second the word money left his mouth, my stomach dropped. I understood immediately where this was going.
And suddenly I couldn’t breathe properly anymore.
Auren’s gaze stayed fixed on me while his voice lowered further. “Your brother owes people a dangerous amount of money, doesn’t he?” he asked evenly A pause. “So tell me honestly, Sera… is that what this is?”
I looked at him blankly. “What?”
“Honey-trapping Nicholus.” The words came out calm and brutal at the same time. “Getting close to him because you need money.” His jaw tightened slightly. “Wouldn’t be the first time someone tried.”
For one horrible second, I genuinely thought I had misheard him.
Then the shock turned into pure anger so fast it burned through me.
“You think I’m prostituting myself to verya family?” My voice came out sharper than I had ever spoken to him before, loud enough that a passing nurse glanced briefly in our direction. “You think I’m throwing myself at Nicholus because my brother has debts?”
Auren’s expression hardened slightly at my tone, but he didn’t back down.
“I think desperate situations make people do ugly things.”
“Oh, fuck you,” I snapped before I could stop myself.
The words shocked even me.
But not nearly as much as the look he had just given me.
I stepped closer without meaning to, my hands shaking around the coffee cup. “You stand there acting like you understand everything because you have money and security and people cleaning up your problems behind you,” I said angrily, my voice trembling now. “Meanwhile you look at me for five minutes beside a man flirting with everyone that breathes and suddenly decide I’m some gold-digging whore trying to trap him?”
Auren’s jaw tightened instantly.
“I didn’t call you a whore.”
“No,” I shot back bitterly. “You just implied it instead.”
Silence crashed heavily between us.
I could hear my own heartbeat pounding violently in my ears now.
“You know what’s funny?” I continued before he could speak again. “I spent the entire morning trying to get away from him because he made me uncomfortable.” My throat burned painfully. “And somehow I still ended up being blamed for it.” I laughed once, sharp and humorless. “That’s incredible, honestly.”
Auren’s eyes narrowed slightly then, something uncertain flickering briefly across his face for the first time since this conversation started.
“He grabbed your wrist,” he said slowly.
“Yes,” I snapped. “After I tried to leave.”
Something shifted subtly in his expression then.
Not guilt exactly.
But hesitation.
Like pieces of the situation were no longer fitting together the way he first assumed.
Still, he said nothing.
And somehow that made me even angrier.
“You don’t know anything about me,” I said again, quieter this time but far more intense. “You hear one thing about my brother’s debt and suddenly you decide what kind of person I am.” My eyes burned now, humiliation mixing painfully with fury. “Do you know how disgusting that feels?”
Auren finally spoke again, his voice lower now.
“You could’ve stopped him.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“Stopped him?” I repeated. “You think I control men like Nicholus?” My laugh came out hollow and furious. “You really do live in a completely different world than normal people.”
“Sera—”
“No.” I shook my head sharply. “Don’t.” My grip tightened harder around the coffee cup until the lid cracked slightly beneath my fingers. “I don’t care what kind of woman you’re used to being around, Mr. Draven, but don’t ever stand there and look at me like I’m something dirty trying to sell myself for money.” My voice dropped lower then, shaking with anger. “Because I would rather starve than beg someone like Nicholus for anything.”
For the first time since the conversation started, Auren looked genuinely caught off guard.
Not by my words.
By the anger behind them.
And before he could answer again, the elevator doors at the end of the hallway slid open with a soft metallic sound, breaking apart the suffocating tension between us before either of us could speak another word. I stepped backward immediately, still breathing too hard, my fingers crushing the paper coffee cup in my hands while anger burned violently beneath my skin. Across from me, Auren stood completely still beneath the hospital lights, though something in his expression had changed after everything I had said. Less certain. Less cold. But it didn’t matter anymore. The humiliation still sat heavily in my chest like something sharp and unbearable.
Then Nicholus leaned halfway out of the elevator casually, one hand holding the metal door open while Richmond remained waiting inside behind him. “Alright,” Nicholus called lazily toward Richmond over his shoulder, “go ahead before the doors murder me. I’ll survive thirty more seconds without supervision.” Richmond shook his head with obvious amusement from inside the elevator. “That’s exactly the kind of sentence that usually causes problems around you.” Nicholus grinned. “Relax. I’m in a hospital. Worst case scenario, medical help is nearby.” Then his attention shifted fully toward us standing alone near the lobby entrance.
His brows lifted slightly.
“Well,” he drawled slowly, stepping out of the elevator completely now. “This looks intense.” His eyes moved between me and Auren carefully, amusement flickering beneath the observation immediately. “Did I interrupt something, or are both of you always standing around looking emotionally devastated together?” He shut the elevator doors behind him with one hand before walking toward us casually, expensive shoes echoing softly against the polished hospital floor. “Because from over there,” he added lightly, pointing toward the elevator behind him, “this absolutely looked like the beginning of a scandal.”
I said nothing.
Couldn’t.
My throat still burned too badly from anger.
Nicholus noticed immediately.
The teasing ease in his expression faded slightly as his gaze settled properly on my face now — on the tension in my shoulders, the crushed coffee cup in my trembling hand, the obvious fury I was trying and failing to hide. “Sera?” he asked more carefully this time. “What happened?” Then his eyes narrowed faintly before shifting toward Auren beside me. “Why does she look upset?”
For one dangerous second, silence hung between all three of us.
I waited for Auren to say it.
To repeat every disgusting accusation directly in front of Nicholus now.
To tell him he thought I was trying to trap him for money because of my brother’s debt.
But Auren spoke first before I could even open my mouth.
“She spilled coffee on herself,” he said calmly.
I blinked.
Nicholus looked unconvinced instantly. “That’s it?” he asked flatly, glancing between us again. “Because she looks like she’s two seconds away from committing homicide, not cleaning a coffee stain.” His eyes dropped toward the crushed cup in my hand. “Sera?” His voice softened unexpectedly beneath the usual flirtation. “Did someone say something to you?”
Again, before I could answer, Auren did.
“She’s overwhelmed,” he replied evenly. “You cornered her downstairs after she already told you she was uncomfortable.”
The words hit the air hard.
Nicholus froze just enough that the shift became instantly noticeable as his expression lost all amusement as he looked toward me again properly now, replaying the café conversation inside his head. Every joke. Every flirtatious comment. Every time I tried to leave. “...Oh,” he said quietly after a second. Genuine realization flickered across his face for the first time all morning. “Sera.” He rubbed one hand slowly against the back of his neck before exhaling under his breath. “Fuck.” Then he looked directly at me. “I thought you were just shy.” His voice stayed lower now, stripped almost completely of the cocky teasing from earlier. “I didn’t realize I was actually making you uncomfortable.”
I swallowed hard but stayed silent.
Because if I spoke right now, I might scream.
Nicholus studied my face for another long second before giving a small nod to himself, like he finally understood something important far too late. “Alright,” he muttered quietly. “That’s my mistake then.” His jaw tightened slightly beneath the lazy charm he usually wore so easily. “I pushed too far.” Then his gaze shifted briefly toward Auren beside me. “And apparently got called out for it.” A humorless laugh escaped him softly. “Damn. That’s embarrassing.”
Beside me, Auren said nothing.
But I could feel his eyes on me again like he was still replaying every angry word I had thrown at him minutes earlier.
Meanwhile Nicholus looked back toward me carefully, far more serious than before. “Sera,” he said again, quieter now, “I’m sorry.” The apology sounded awkward coming from someone like him, unfamiliar enough to feel genuine. “I was joking around too much and didn’t notice you were actually trying to get away from me.” He gave a faint shake of his head. “That’s on me.”