no need to involve her; she wasn’t part of the Langston family at all.
Dragging her into it would serve no purpose unless the person was after her specifically, using Everett to threaten her.
Aurora tried replying, unsure if the person would even receive it.
She agreed.
There was no hesitation. She had gotten Everett into this, and even though she briefly considered secretly telling Tobias and the others, she didn’t know what consequences that might bring.
Just as she was thinking this, another text ca through.
"Don’t tell anyone. If you do, you won’t get the antidote. Your man will sleep forever."
A warning.
Today marked the sixth day of Everett’s coma.
That ant two nights from now, she would have to keep the appointnt.
Ti seed to crawl. Aurora wished she could rush there imdiately, confront whoever it was, and demand to know why they were targeting her.
But it was pointless—the person behind this was too cautious. They wouldn’t risk arriving early at the inn.
Aurora looked up the Penglai Inn online. It was a small hotel owned by soone from Country S, popular among tourists visiting the town.
It was known for its authentic Country S street food, the kind you couldn’t find elsewhere, and its old-world charm. Even locals from Y Country liked it a lot.
Aurora read a lot about the inn, at least getting sowhat familiar with it.
After receiving the ssage, she no longer needed to keep her phone close. She showered, dried her hair, and padded around the soft carpet, her mind a ss.
If she didn’t co back...
She realized she should probably write so farewell letters.
Aurora opened her laptop, plugged it in, and first wrote a letter to Jesse, setting it to send automatically two weeks later.
If she died, Jesse would receive it then.
She started writing a letter to her grandfather too but stopped—he was so old now, reading a letter from her would only break him more.
Lastly, she wrote to Everett.
She spent over an hour but only managed two lines.
Every ti she wrote sothing, it felt overly sentintal, and when she deleted it, she didn’t know how to continue.
Eventually, sleep overca her. Aurora glanced at the clock—it was already 11:50 PM.
She shut down the computer, dove into bed, and quickly fell into a deep sleep. Having made up her mind after receiving the ssage, she felt surprisingly free of hesitation or endless overthinking.
What’s ant to co will co. What’s ant to go will go.
She decided she should get a good night’s sleep—after all, after tomorrow night, she might never see another sunrise.
The next day, Aurora deleted the mysterious text from her phone.
Tobias called to check on her. Aurora didn’t tell him about the ssage, only saying that the person hadn’t contacted her again.
She couldn’t afford to fail this ti—not even Tobias could know.
Aurora spent a full day and night in anxious waiting. By the eighth day, Everett still hadn’t woken up.
Which ant the mysterious person had lied to Gianna.
As a result, Gianna was beaten severely by Mr. Langston—a man who had never before raised a hand to a woman. His fury was clear.
Luckily, Ophelia didn’t know about any of this. She thought Gianna had just gone abroad for another vacation.
That morning, Dominic ca bouncing over to Aurora and said excitedly, "Aurora, you’re amazing! Director Z posted a picture of you and Everett looking at each other on Twitter. His followers shot up by 100,000, but yours jumped by over a million! And Everett’s? Even crazier—he gained several million fans overnight! They’re calling him the ’androgynous god’ now... and tons of the new fans are guys, like, real grown n... seriously, how weird is that? Everett’s not even bi!"
Aurora listened quietly, barely able to breathe.
It didn’t matter what people were calling him now. Everett was still lying unconscious in a hospital bed, completely unaware of anything happening outside.
No label they put on him made any difference. If only Aurora Alexander had given up on him sooner, maybe he wouldn’t have been dragged into all this.
Dominic noticed her strange mood and frowned. "Aurora, what’s going on with you? You’ve been totally off the last couple of days. Are you hiding sothing from ?"
He walked over and shook her by the shoulders. Aurora had never acted superior with him, so Dominic treated her casually too.
"I’m fine. Just in a bad mood," Aurora said, brushing his hands off, her nerves stretched thin and making her feel exhausted. "Dominic, get a coffee, would you?"
"Coffee? What for?"
"I just... need to calm down," Aurora muttered. Her nerves were so tense she felt like she might snap. She needed to relax if she wanted to face what was coming with a clear head.
ck calmly. "Stay at the hotel. I’ll be back soon."
Dominic blinked. "Going to the Langston family’s place?"
"Going to see Everett."
Her steady tone made Dominic drop his suspicions imdiately.
Aurora left the hotel with a bodyguard, but when they got to the parking garage, she tapped on the rental car and said, "Nerida, stay here. I’m just eting a friend—you don’t need to co."
Nerida, her bodyguard, looked at her in surprise. "But... Miss Aurora, I’m your bodyguard. Eleanor said you’re not allowed to go anywhere alone."
"Who said I’m not? I went out alone a couple of days ago, didn’t I?" Aurora replied breezily. "Relax, this isn’t Country S. We don’t have crazed fans here. I’m not gonna get mobbed and forget how to find my way back."
Nerida frowned. Eleanor trusted him enough to put him on Aurora’s detail, and he had ten years of spotless security work behind him.
But Aurora seed so casual about it... She had gone out just the other day and made it back fine, even when reporters spotted her.
"Nerida, seriously, I’m just going to visit Everett. I won’t tell Eleanor about this, okay? And Y City’s got so fun spots—you should go explore."
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