For a mont, silence stretched between them.
Alexander’s gaze darkened, and sothing cold and final passed over his features.
He pushed back his chair and stood up, towering over her. He gave a short, humorless scoff.
"She doesn’t need my protection," he said flatly, and without another word, he turned and strode toward the door.
Veronica sat there, stunned, unable to move.
Her mind whirled.
What did he an?
Why does he say she doesn’t need his protection?
Did he... already save her?
Fear, confusion, and jealousy flooded her at once.
The possibility that Aurora had sohow escaped the fate they planned for her — or worse, had caught Alexander’s attention again — gnawed at her heart like acid.
As the door closed behind him with a final click, Veronica was left sitting alone at the table, her world tilting dangerously.
She dug her nails into her palm under the table, the sharp sting grounding her swirling thoughts.
No matter what happened, she vowed silently, tightening her fists until her knuckles turned white,
I will not let that woman take away what should rightfully be mine.
Alexander returned to his villa he once shared with Aurora, his thoughts still clouded. The conversation with Veronica had raised more questions than answers. Without wasting ti, he called Derek.
"Dig into Aurora’s ti at the countryside," he instructed. "And... check if there’s any record of her involvent in the accident from three years ago."
Derek hesitated. "But sir, she was just a kid back then."
"I know," Alexander said, his voice low. "I doubt it too. But sothing about this doesn’t sit right with ."
He couldn’t shake the feeling — the version of Aurora that everyone seed to know didn’t match the woman he had encountered.
The contradiction gnawed at him. Sothing was being hidden. And he was going to find it.
After sending Derek on his assignnt, Alexander ascended the staircase of the villa, his footsteps echoing through the quiet halls.
It had been months since he last set foot here, and even longer since he had dared to enter Aurora’s room.
The mont he reached the door, a strange tension gripped him — one part regret, one part reluctant nostalgia.
To say it was his first ti visiting the room after their divorce wouldn’t be a lie.
Back then, when the papers were signed and the bond was broken, he’d avoided this place like it was cursed.
Every corner of the villa whispered her na. And though he had locked away that Chapter, there was a particular feeling — a sense of sothing precious slipping through his fingers — that haunted him each ti he passed this door.
Still, he had buried it deep, convincing himself that he must be going mad to feel anything at all.
But now, standing here, a rush of mories returned — clear, disarming.
Aurora’s soft smile. How she always welcod him ho, even when her eyes were tired.
No matter how late, no matter how harsh they had been to her, she would smile when he returned.
A small, consistent gesture — one he never appreciated then, and one that gnawed at him now.
He pushed open the door slowly. The scent of her still lingered faintly — lavender and parchnt.
Her room remained neat but impersonal, as if she’d never truly settled into it. He searched thodically through drawers, shelves, under the bed, the closet — anywhere she might’ve hidden sothing.
But there was nothing unusual, just a few sets of clothes, a dusty stack of books, and what seed like forgotten trinkets. No clues. No answers.
As he stood in the center of the room, frustration simred beneath his calm exterior.
A soft knock pulled him from his thoughts.
Maria stood at the threshold, hands clasped in front of her, her expression unsure. She had served the household for years — quiet, observant, and always devoted to Aurora.
"Mr. Brown," she said gently, "do you need sothing? I can search it for you."
Alexander turned sharply, eyes narrowing slightly. "Maria," he said, voice low and clipped. "You were close to her.
You saw things others didn’t. Tell —did Aurora ever behave... strangely? Did her routine change? Did she et soone in secret?"
Maria’s eyes flickered, just for a second. Her hesitation wasn’t long, but it didn’t go unnoticed.
"She... Miss Aurora always kept to herself," Maria began, her tone tentative. "She was quiet. Respectful.
She didn’t interact much with the other staff. Only when the Master — your grandfather — was alive, did she truly open up.
She’d spend hours with him, in the garden or the study. But other than that, she mostly stayed here... cooking for you, waiting for you to co ho."
Alexander said nothing, his gaze unreadable as he listened.
Maria’s voice grew softer, almost guilty. "Aside from Mrs. Smith and Miss Veronica, no one else ever visited her. But..."
She paused. Her fingers fidgeted with the edge of her apron.
Alexander’s eyes narrowed. "Speak."
Maria swallowed hard. "Mrs. Lily... and Miss Veronica — they... they didn’t treat her kindly, sir." Her voice trembled. "They used to berate her. Sotis even... strike her."
A silence settled over the room, heavy and suffocating.
Alexander stared at Maria, his expression darkening with sothing between disbelief and simring anger.
His instinct was to dismiss it. He had seen how devoted Veronica and Lily appeared — affectionate, even protective toward Aurora.
Surely Maria was mistaken... or worse, exaggerating.
"Slander like that is dangerous," he said coldly, standing abruptly. "They cared for her. I’ve seen it myself."
Maria lowered her head, her lips pressed into a thin line, offering no further defense.
Without another word, Alexander turned and walked out of the room, the weight of the revelation gnawing at the edges of his mind.
But deep down, an uncomfortable crack had started to form in the image he had long accepted.
—
anwhile, after Alexander left the café, Veronica stepped outside, only for her phone to ring.
"Ver... is Alexander with you?" her mother’s sharp voice ca through the phone, tense and hurried.
"Did he save that bitch from Calvert?"
Lily’s tone dripped with venom at the re ntion of Aurora’s na. Veronica, barely containing her irritation, pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily.
She had no patience for her mother’s hysteria right now.
"No, Mom. He was here with ," Veronica replied tightly, glancing around the café to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "Why would he—"
But Lily cut her off, her voice sharp as a knife.
"You haven’t seen the news, have you? Check it. Now."
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