If anything else happened, she couldn’t be sure Aurora would show her mercy again.
Wendy took a deep breath, her difort growing the more she thought about it.
She was the one who’d known Lucas first–how had things ended up like this?
It was all Aurora’s fault. Every bit of it.
But with Lucas protecting her, Wendy couldn’t afford to confront Aurora head–on.
Just thinking about how kind Lucas was to that woman made her burn with jealousy.
For now, though, she had no choice but to stay confined to this little room, unable to step out unless Lucas and Aurora left the house.
She inhaled deeply, silently repeating to herself–she had to endure this humiliation, she had to hang on.
Only once her brother arrived would there be a real turning point.
<b>+25 </b>Bonus
The next morning.
Aurora’s anxiety grew as online rumors continued to spiral out of control. Her mother hadn’t given her much time, and she couldn’t afford to let things drag on any longer.
If this went on, who knew how long the bacsh wouldst?
Just the sight of those posts made her angry.
None of this would’ve happened if Julian hadn’t suddenly fallen ill that day.
Unable to contain her frustration, Aurora fired off a message to Julian.
“Don’t contact me again. I want nothing more to do with you. You go your way, and I’ll go mine.”
Julian was stunned.
“Aurora, what’s going on with you?”
“What’s going on?”
Aurora let out a bitterugh. “Take a look online. You really have the nerve <b>to </b>ask me that?”
Julian<b>, </b>confused, quickly pulled up the news and saw the rumors using Aurora <b>of </b>seducing him.
“Who posted this?<b>” </b>
<b>He </b>still couldn’t wrap his head around it, unsure what was going on.
Aurora found itughable<b>. </b>“You’re asking me?<b>” </b>
“Shouldn’t you be the one who knows what’s going <b>on</b>? And now you have the nerve <b>to </be ask me? Don’t you find that a little ridiculous?<b>” </b>
Julian <b>was </b><b>even </b>more confused. “What exactly am I supposed to know?”
“Every mention of Lucas Carter in those posts is clearly about you. And now you’re standing here ying dumb?”
Aurora’s voice grew even colder.
<b>“</b><b>You </b>better keep a close eye on yourself and on <b>your </b>girlfriend.”
Her tone dropped <b>to </b>a deadly quiet<b>. </b><b>“</b>Because <b>if </b>this <b>happens </b>again<b>, </b><b>don’t </b>me me for being crude<b>. </b><b>I’ve </b><b>already </b>warned <b>you</b>.”
“Once is a mistake<b>, </b><b>twice </b>is pushing it—but three times? At that <b>point</b><b>, </b><b>we’re </b>all <b>just </b><b>sick </b>of the game. <b>Don’t </b><b>you </b>think<b>?</b><b>” </b>
She didn’t give Julian <b>a </b>chance to respond. Before he could say <b>a </b>word, she hung up on him.
He stared at his phone<b>, </b>still <b>clueless </b>as <b>to </b><b>what </b>had <b>just </b>happened<b>. </b>He hadn’t even managed <b>to </b><b>get </b><b>a </b>full sentence in.
<b>What </b>puzzled him most was <b>that </b>Aurora had suddenly brought <b>up </b><b>Tessa</b><b>. </b>
What did this have <b>to </b><b>do </b>with her?
The thought darkened Julian’s expression.
Clearly<b>, </b>this wasn’t as simple as <b>he’d </b>assumed.
And he took Aurora’s warning seriously.
Public scandals like this could do real damage to a woman’s reputation.
He used to think being tied to Aurora might be something exciting. But now, standing in the middle of this chaos, he wasn’t feeling any thrill at all.
D