Chapter 153
Marcus’s POV
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15 VONCTIO
Marcus woke up with his head pounding and his mouth tasting like cotton mixed with chemicals. For a few seconds he had no idea where he was or what had happened.
Then it came back in fragments. The bar. Aurora showing up. The drink she’d bought him. The room spinning. Aurora’s hands on him, her voice in his ear saying they should go somewhere private.
And then nothing.
Marcus sat up too fast and immediately regretted it as the room tilted sideways. He was in a hotel room. An expensive one based on the furniture and the view of Central Park through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
He looked down at himself. Still fully dressed. Shoes still on. Wedding ring still on his finger.
His phone was on the nightstand. Marcus grabbed it and saw it was 6 AM. Dozens of missed calls from Elara, from Dante, from his assistant. Text messages filling the screen.
But it was the news alert that made his blood run cold.
THORNE CEO SPOTTED WITH EX-GIRLFRIEND AT LUXURY HOTEL
Below it was a photo. Marcus and Aurora in the hotel lobby, her arm around his waist, him looking disoriented and barely standing. The timestamp said 11:47 PM.
“No,” Marcus whispered. “No, no, no.”
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He opened his recent calls and saw he’d called Elara at 11:52 PM. He didn’t remember making that call. Didn’t remember anything after leaving the bar.
The bathroom door opened and Aurora walked out wearing a hotel robe, her hair wet from the shower.
Marcus was on his feet immediately despite the dizziness. “What the hell did you do?”
Aurora stopped, her eyes widening. “Marcus, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”
“What did you do to me? What was in that drink?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, she denied.”
“Don’t lie to me!” Marcus’s voice was sharp enough to make her flinch. “I know I was drugged. I know nothing happened between us because I’m still fully dressed and I can barely remember anything past the first sip of that vodka tonic you handed me.”
Aurora’s face crumbled. She sank down onto the edge of the bed, her shoulders shaking. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to do it.”
“Do what? Spell it out for me, Aurora. What exactly did you do?”
17:01 Mon, May 11 M…
Chapter 158
50 ущест
“Penelope gave me the pills. Said they’d just make you relaxed, make you more open to talking. She said we needed compromising photos, something to make Elara doubt you one more time before the shareholder meeting.”
Marcus felt rage building; he raised his hands and Aheora immediately flinched. “So you….you drugged me. brought me to a hotel, staged photos to destroy my marriage, and for what? What did Penelope promise you?”
“Money. Enough to save the Wellington business and get me out of debt.” Aurora was crying now, mascara running down her face. “But I couldn’t go through with it. I got you up here and I just… I couldn’t do it. Marcus. I got you into bed fully clothed and I slept in the chair. Nothing happened.”
“Except the photos in the lobby. Except everyone thinking I cheated on my pregnant wife.”
“I know. I know and I’m sorry. Penelope’s going to be furious when she finds out I didn’t actually sleep with you, but I don’t care anymore. This has gone too far.”
Marcus grabbed his jacket from the chair and checked his pockets. Wallet, keys, everything still there. “You’re going to fix this. You’re going to tell everyone the truth.”
“I can’t. Penelope will destroy me….”
57
“Penelope is going to prison!” Marcus’s voice was cold. “We have evidence she murdered my mother. We have proof of financial fraud. We have documentation of blackmail and corporate sabotage.
So you have exactly two choices right now. You can testify against her and maybe walk away from this, or you can go down with her.”
Aurora looked up at him, her face pale. “Testify?”
“Everything. The drugging, the staged photos, every conversation you’ve had with Penelope about sabotaging my marriage and my company. All of it on record.”
“If I do that, she’ll kill me.”
“If you don’t do that, you’ll go to prison as an accessory to murder and fraud. Your choice.”
Aurora was silent for a long moment, tears still streaming down her face. Then she nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll testify. I’ll tell them everything. But I need immunity. I need it in writing.”
“Dante will arrange it. But you’re coming with me right now to make a statement.”
Marcus called Dante while Aurora got dressed. His best friend answered on the first ring.
“Where the hell are you? Elara’s losing her mind, the photos are everywhere….”
“I was drugged. Aurora drugged me on Penelope’s orders. Nothing happened but we have photos that make u look like something did.”
Dante was quiet for a beat. “Where are you now?”
17:01 Mon, May 11 M
Chapter 153
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57
55 vinstT
“Still at the hotel. Aurora’s agreed to testify against Penelope in exchange for immunity. Can you make that happen?”
“I’ll have the paperwork ready in an hour. Bring her to my office.”
Marcus hung up and turned to Aurora who was pulling on her shoes. “Let’s go. And Aurora? If you’re lying to me, if this is another one of Penelope’s games…..
“It’s not. I swear it’s not. I’m done with her. I’m done with all of this.”
They took separate cars to Dante’s office. Marcus spent the entire drive trying to figure out what to say to Elara, how to explain this in a way that wouldn’t sound like a lie.
By the time he pulled into the parking garage, his phone had three more missed calls from her and one text
message.
Elara: I saw the photos. We need to talk.
Marcus closed his eyes and leaned his head against the steering wheel. Two days before the shareholder meeting where he was supposed to expose Penelope and save his company, and his wife thought he’d cheated on her.
The meeting with Dante took three hours. Aurora gave a full statement detailing everything. The drugging, the staged photos, Penelope’s instructions, the promises of money. Dante recorded it all, had it notarized, filed the immunity paperwork.
When it was done, Aurora looked smaller somehow. Diminished.
“What happens now?” she asked.
“Now you disappear until the shareholder meeting,” Dante said. “Protective custody. We can’t risk Penelope getting to you before you testify”
Aurora nodded and left with two lawyers Dante had called in. Marcus waited until she was gone before turning to his best friend.
“I need to go home. I need to talk to Elara before this gets any worse.”
“The photos are everywhere, Marcus. Every news outlet, every gossip site. It’s bad.”
“I know. But I have to try.”
The drive home felt longer than it should have. Marcus rehearsed what to say a dozen different ways but nothing sounded right. How did you explain that your ex-girlfriend drugged you and staged photos to destroy your marriage?
When he walked into the penthouse, Elara was sitting on the couch waiting for him. She looked exhausted, her eyes red from crying, her hand resting protectively on her stomach.
“Elara….I can explain, I swear, it’s not…..”
17:01 Mon, May 11 M
Chapter 153
“I know it’s fake,” she said quietly.
Marcus stopped. “What?”
Mi vikuther
Elara held up her phone showing one of the photos from the hotel lobby. “Aurora’s sloppy. She forgot something important when she staged these.”
“What are you talking about?”
Elara zoomed in on the photo, on Marcus’s hand around Aurora’s waist. “You’re still wearing your wedding ring.”
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