Chapter 5

Aurelia Dickerson POV:

Javier cradled Bambi, his back to me, oblivious to the silent storm raging in my heart. He was gone, absorbed into her manufactured fragility. The sound of their whispered comforts, her feigned sobs, twisted a knife in my gut.

He turned, leading Bambi out of the room. He didn't even spare a glance for me, his final words hanging in the air like a curse. "I'll be back to check on you later, Aurelia. Try to get some rest."

Rest? After everything? The nerve of him.

The door clicked shut, leaving me alone in the oppressive silence of the hospital room. My eyes burned, but no tears came. There was only a cold, consuming emptiness, punctuated by the relentless throbbing in my broken hands.

I stared at the pristine white lilies, his symbolic peace offering. They seemed to mock me, their fragile beauty a stark contrast to the brutal reality of my life. With my good hand, I reached out, my fingers clumsy. I plucked a single bloom and tore its petals, one by one, scattering them over the white sheets. Each falling petal was a piece of our shattered marriage, our broken trust.

Then, I reached for my phone. It lay on the bedside table, a small, dark rectangle. I stared at it, a plan slowly forming in my mind, cold and precise. I needed to act. Now.

My thumb hovered over the screen. One number. Brian Moore. The rival CEO. The man who had sent that cryptic message, offering help, claiming a debt.

I hesitated. Could I trust him? After Javier' s betrayal, trust was a foreign concept. But what choice did I have? I was broken, isolated, and utterly alone. Javier had seen to that.

My resolve hardened. This wasn't about trust. It was about survival. It was about justice.

I pressed the call button.

Just then, the door creaked open. Javier. He stood there, his eyes narrowed, a suspicious glint in their depths. He hadn't left after all. He was testing me. Waiting for me to make a move.

My phone, still ringing, slipped from my grasp, clattering onto the floor. My heart leaped into my throat.

He had caught me.