Chapter 105
Chapter 105
Aurora’s Pov
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It had been a week since Aurora moved into Marcus’s estate, and honestly, the two weeks she’d originally requested might actually not be enough time to execute her plans.
She sat in the guest house bedroom, looking around at the luxurious space that was supposedly her temporary accommodation. The room was beautiful, decorated with expensive furniture and artwork, with a king-sized bed and an ensuite bathroom that was bigger than most people’s bedrooms. But it wasn’t the penthouse. It wasn’t where Marcus lived. And that’s what bothered her.
The truth was, Aurora didn’t actually need a place to stay. That whole sob story about her mother’s death and not being able to stay in the family estate because of traumatic memories? Complete bullshit.
Their estate was massive, sprawling across several acres with more rooms than anyone could count. There were entire wings her mother had never even visited, let alone died in. And honestly? Aurora hadn’t even been that close to her mother. They’d had a cordial relationship at best, the kind of distant politeness that existed between wealthy family members who saw each other at holidays and charity galas but didn’t actually know each other.
But Marcus didn’t need to know that. The grief card had worked perfectly, gotten her exactly what she wanted, which was access to Marcus’s life again. Close enough to remind him of what they used to have. Just close enough, everything was for the plot, as they say.
Aurora stood and walked over to the full-length mirror, examining her reflection with a critical eye. She looked really good today. Her blonde hair fell in perfect waves past her shoulders, her makeup was flawless, and the outfit she’d chosen, a cream-colored cashmere sweater and designer jeans, managed to look both casual and expensive at the same time.
She thought back to how things had started with Marcus, back when they were young and stupid and thought love was simple.
They’d met about four or five years ago through family connections. Her father’s company had business dealings with Thorne Dynamics, and they’d been seated next to each other at some boring event. Marcus had been charming, attentive, genuinely interested in what she had to say. And he was gorgeous, obviously. Rich, powerful, with that brooding intensity that made women want to crack through his walls.
Marcus had really liked her back then. She’d been his first love, she was pretty sure. He’d pursued her with a single-minded focus that was flattering and a little overwhelming. Flowers every week, surprise dates, thoughtful gifts that showed he actually listened when she talked. He was sweet and devoted. Exactly the kind of boyfriend most women dreamed about.
But Aurora had liked someone else.
There had been this other guy, someone she’d met at a club in London during one of her trips abroad. He was exciting in a way Marcus wasn’t. Dangerous. Unpredictable. The kind of man who made her heart race for all the wrong reasons and made you feel like you’ll go insane every time.
So she’d cheated on Marcus. Multiple times, actually. She’d sneak away when Marcus thought she was with friends, make up excuses about work trips or family obligations, and spend weekends with this other man who made her feel alive in ways Marcus’s steady devotion never did.
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Chapter 105
Eventually, the guilt became too much. Or maybe she just got bored of juggling two men. Either way. Aurora had initiated the breakup, but she’d done it in the worst possible way. She’d just ghosted Marcus. Stopped answering his calls, blocked his number, avoided places she knew he’d be. When he’d finally cornered her at a mutual friend’s wedding, she’d told him coldly to move on and left him standing there.
Then she’d run off with the guy she’d been cheating with, convinced he was her soulmate or whatever romantic nonsense she’d been telling herself at the time.
It had taken exactly three months for that fantasy to implode.
Turned out her exciting, dangerous man had a fiancée. A whole other woman he’d been planning to marry the entire time he was sleeping with Aurora. When she’d confronted him about it, he’d laughed in her face and told her she was fun but not wife material.
That had stung. A lot.
She’d come back to New York with her tail between her legs, humiliated and alone. And eventually, after some time had passed and she’d worked up the courage, she’d reached out to Marcus to apologize.
She hadn’t expected him to forgive her. Definitely hadn’t expected him to agree to meet her for coffee. But he had. And when she’d apologized, actually said the words and meant them for once in her life, Marcus had accepted it with that same quiet grace he seemed to approach everything with.
They hadn’t gotten back together. That ship had sailed and Aurora knew it. But they’d settled into something like friendship. Or at least civility.
And then one night, about six months after that coffee meeting, they’d run into each other at a bar. Both a little drunk, both lonely, both remembering what it used to be like when things were good between them.
They’d had sex that night. And a few times after that over the years, whenever their paths crossed and they both needed something familiar and uncomplicated.
Aurora knew she’d been Marcus’s first real love. The first woman he’d actually opened up to, let say the parts of himself he kept hidden from everyone else. And even though she’d broken his heart, even though she’d hurt him in ways that clearly still affected him, she knew he had a soft spot for her.
She could see it in the way he looked at her sometimes when he thought she wasn’t paying attention. In the way he’d agreed to let her stay here even though it was clearly making his new wife uncomfortable. In the small kindnesses he still showed her despite everything.
Aurora was part of the reason Marcus didn’t date much anymore, didn’t interact with women the way other men his age did. She’d damaged something in him, made him wary of trusting people with his heart.
And honestly? She regretted it. Not enough to have prevented it from happening, but enough that she’d spent the last few years thinking about what she’d thrown away.
Marcus was a stable loyal man. The kind of man you built a life with, not the kind you got bored of and discarded. She’d been stupid to choose excitement over substance, and she’d paid for that mistake.
But now she was back. And this time, she wanted her man back for real.
Sure, there was the small complication of Elara. His wife. The woman who was currently living in the
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Chapter 105
penthouse that should have been Aurora’s if she hadn’t fucked everything up years ago.
But that poor-looking wannabe girl is no fit for Marcus at all. Aurora had seen the way Elara looked at expensive things, like she couldn’t quite believe she was allowed to touch them. The girl was out of her depth, playing in a world she didn’t understand, with a man she definitely didn’t deserve.
Aurora applied her lipgloss carefully, making sure it was perfect. Then she sprayed some perfume, the expensive kind that lingered in a room long after you left. She grabbed her purse and stepped out of the guest house, her heels clicking against the stone pathway as she made her way toward the main building.
She wasn’t going to the penthouse though. She had somewhere else to be.
She was going to visit Penelope. And she had some news that might very much interest her.
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