The city skyline came into view as the car Aurora was in crossed the bridge leading into her new home. Unlike the really busy city she had left behind, this place had a quieter charm.

The buildings were tall but not overwhelming, their glass windows reflecting the warm sunset. People walked along the sidewalks at a slower and calmer pace, couples holding hands, children laughing, and street vendors calling out their evening specials.

The streets were lined with trees, their leaves gently being blown by the breeze. The further they drove, the more Aurora realized this place was different. Less suffocating, less haunted by memories.

Eventually, the car pulled into a peaceful residential neighborhood. Here, the city noise faded into the background, replaced by the occasional chirping of birds.

The house Maywell had arranged for her was nestled on a quiet street, surrounded by beautiful blossoming trees. It was a cozy townhouse with a small front garden, its white exterior giving it a warm, welcoming feel.

Aurora stepped out of the car, gripping the handle of her luggages. The air was cool, crisp, filled with the scent of fresh flowers. She glanced up at the house, feeling a mix of emotions swirl inside her, relief, uncertainty, and a quiet determination.

This was her new beginning. No more Damian. No more Blackwoods. Just her and the life growing inside her.

Just as she was about to go inside, someone called to her.

"Excuse me, miss?"

She turned around and saw someone walking towards her. It was a tall fellow whose slightly wavy short hair bounced as he took steady strides towards her.

Aurora put her guard up. After what happened with Damian, she'll be damned to ever trust anyone so easily again. Did Victor send someone after her? Did he already figure out that she was pregnant? Was this person here to...get the job done? She took a couple of steps back, getting ready to scream if this person ever tried anything with her.

The stranger stopped in front of her and flashed the friendliest smile Aurora has ever seen before speaking, "Sorry to bother you, do you have a moment please?"

Aurora let go of the breath she'd been holding and took a proper look at this stranger. He had a dark shade of brown hair and eyes, he had soft facial features, which made him appear really charming and approachable. A calm smile which made his dimples appear and a mole on his left cheek that added to his already great looks. She had to admit inwardly that this person was quite good-looking, but she wasn't smitten or attracted to him. She cleared her throat, "Yes? What is it?"

The stranger's eyes brightened, "Sorry for disturbing you when you just got off. You look like someone who just moved in."

Aurora frowned, stress from the trip starting to wear her down, she wasn't in the mood for this."And you look like someone I'm about to stop talking to if you don't get to the point."

The man chuckled. "Fair enough. Jaxon Reid." He extended a hand, but when Aurora didn't immediately take it, he smoothly lowered it back to his side. "I'm a business consultant. I help people looking to start fresh in a new city. New businesses, new ventures, help boost existing businesses, that sort of thing."

Aurora's frown didn't budge. "And you just happen to be here?"

"Call it good timing," Jaxon said with an easy grin. "This neighborhood is small. New faces stand out." He glanced at her luggages. "And something tells me you're looking for more than just a place to stay."

She scoffed and looked away, "What are you, a fortune teller?"

He laughed, "What great humor you have there, miss." He reached into his pocket, pulled out a card and handed it to her. "I hope you reach out, uhmm..."

"Aurora Black- Sinclair! Aurora Sinclair." She bit her lips, inwardly giving herself a face palm. To think that she almost called herself a Blackwood just now, how annoying.

Jaxon's curiosity lasted a second, then he was back to business mode again, "Miss Sinclair. Contact me if you have any questions." He flashed one last smile before walking past her.

Aurora sighed, she looked at the card for a moment and put it in her back pocket, business will have to wait. For now, a lot of unpacking and settling in needed to be done.

After she went in to the house, Jaxon, who had just finished talking to another person, took a look at the spot where he talked to Aurora and smiled a little, "What an interesting lass." He murmured to himself and continued his walk in search of his next audience.

__

Somewhere in Dubai.

On a private beach, Selene stood knee-deep in the water that matched her eyes, her designer swimsuit hugging her curves as she posed for yet another picture. The camera shutter clicked, capturing her flawless beauty, but when she glanced back at the shaded lounge area, her smile faltered.

Damian sat comfortably under a white canopy, dressed in casual yet refined linen clothing, his dark hair was being blown gently by the ocean breeze. But instead of enjoying the moment with her, his sharp gray eyes were fixed on his phone screen, his deep voice firm as he spoke to someone on the other end. "No, I don't care about the delay. Push the meeting forward, and tell them I expect a finalized report by tomorrow."

Selene rolled her eyes, definitely not the honeymoon she was expecting. She got out of the water and strode towards him. The first thing she did was snatch his phone and end the call. After which, she groaned, "I don't like this. Can't you just enjoy the moment with me? You've been working since we arrived! We're on our honeymoon, not a business trip."

Damian sighed, "The sooner I finish that work, the better. Don't you think? You're dragging this out by taking my phone." He leaned closer to her and took back his phone. "And besides, it's not like it's my first honeymoon." He muttered with an unreadable flicker in his eyes.

Selene's face fell, her brows twisted in anger, "I cannot believe you just said that. Not your first honeymoon?"

Damian shrugged, "Yeah, I was previously married, remember? It's not that special when you do it a second time."

At this point, Selene's face was twisted in rage, "Well it's my first honeymoon, you jerk. Ugh!" She stormed off and headed for the villa.

Damian sat back down, finally some peace and quiet. He knew all it would take to get on her good side again would be some flowers and jewelry so he didn't bother going after her. As he continued his work, his mind involuntarily drifted off to Aurora and his hands froze, "I wonder where you are right now..." He thought aloud.

__

Aurora finally finished unpacking, then went around the house, writing down the things she needed to get; Groceries, toiletries and others. When she was done, she got on her laptop to place an order but something went wrong. When she included her card details she found out that it had been restricted!

Her heart panged, "Son of a bitch!" She cursed loudly. She knew right away that Victor was responsible for this. Freezing her account? The money she worked for? She and Damian had a joint account, that's where she always put the extra money Damian gave her. "For future purposes." She always said. But the monies on her personal account were hers alone.

"How could they?!" She picked up her phone and looked for her lawyer's number. As she was about to dial it, the realization that she was pregnant hit her. She sat down and let out a sigh. "This is gonna take some getting used to." She murmured, "I'm sorry, my babies," She rubbed her stomach, "Mommy scared you, didn't she?"

Putting her phone down, she sighed. Knowing now that she's pregnant, facing Victor and Damian again would be hard for her because might just end up blurting out that she's carrying Damian's child out of anger. She picked up her phone again, dialing Maywell's number this time. She knew what to do.

Maywell answered, "Aurora!" She happily called, "Have you arrived?"

Aurora smiled, at least one person is glad to hear hear her voice, "Dr Caldwell, hi. Yes, I arrived about 2 hours ago. Sorry I didn't call right away, I was doing some unpacking."

"It's okay, as long as you got there safely." Maywell said, Aurora could tell that she was smiling. She cleared her throat, "Are you free right now?"

"Of course. Is everything okay?"

"About the car..."

"Oh yes!" Maywell said enthusiastically, "I took care of it yesterday."

Aurora's eyes lit up, "You found a buyer already?"

"Yes, I was going to wire you the money later today-"

"Wait! Don't do that yet!" She quickly said and turned to her laptop, "The Blackwoods froze my account. Can you believe that?"

"Seriously?!" The surprise in Maywell's voice could be felt by Aurora. She sighed, "Yes. So give me a moment to set up a new account with a different bank. Then I'll let you know when to wire it, okay?"

"Hah...okay. This is a jerk move on the Blackwood's part. Have they no sense of decency and shame?"

Aurora shrugged, "At least, this way I won't feel like I owe anything to them."

"But that's your money, Aurora!" Maywell said in frustration, "How can you feel like you owe them when it's your own money you're spending?"

"Well, Victor doesn't feel that way. I got my former job due to my status as Damian's wife anyways, so of course he would think that I owe them. Well, he's succeeded."

Maywell let out a sigh on the other side of the phone, "I'm sorry this is happening to you, Aurora."

"It's okay, Dr Caldwell. I'll call you later when I'm done." Aurora disconnected the call and leaned back on the chair rest. "I see you're letting your father do what he wants, Damian. Does it make you happy?"

It was a good good thing Aurora had an ace up her sleeve. Before she left the city, she took her car to Maywell and asked her to look for a buyer willing to pay a good price for it. Her car was pretty expensive and in perfect condition so she was expecting a good amount of money coming in soon.

The reason she sold the car wasn't really for monetary purposes. Rather, she wanted to erase every trace of her whereabouts so the Blackwoods wouldn't be able to find her. She was planning to buy another car when she got here but Victor pulled this nonsense on her. "Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise." She muttered. Thanks to her account being frozen, they won't be able to monitor her if they wanted to.

Blackwood enterprises had a partnership with the bank so all her history of transactions were not impossible for Victor or Damian to acquire, this would've given away her location and any city she was in. She smiled, "I guess everything does have its advantage."

__

It took her almost an hour to set up a savings account, the paperwork was no joke but that itself assured her that her money would be safe. She then left Maywell a text containing the details of her new account, telling her to send the money.

She looked out the window, the sun had gone down and she was still yet to eat. She frowned and rubbed her stomach, "Sorry, babies. I'm not really used to being pregnant. I'll do better from now on, I promise."

She reached for the top drawer of her desk and brought out a wellness and nutritional manual for pregnant women, Maywell had given it to her as a little parting gift. Aurora glanced through it for a while and knew immediately what she wanted to eat.

Her phone buzzed. She picked it up and saw that the money had arrived, a flicker of hope flashed in her eyes. But she knew it wasn't over yet, while she's got enough money to last her for quite a while, she knew she had to get a job while she still can so she can prepare without fear for the arrival of her children.

She reached for her pocket and pulled out the card the handsome stranger gave her earlier, "Looks like I'll be reaching out to you sooner than later, Jaxon Reid. But first," She stood up, courage and cravings surging within her, "I need to get that whole bucket of fried chicken!"

She picked up her phone and opened the map app.

__

Dubai.

At a 5 star restaurant. A live band was in the middle of the room, playing some smooth jazz. Couples seated at different tables, enjoy the music and chatting happily.

However, a certain set of newlyweds sat and ate in silence, the air was heavy. Selene was still offended by what he said that morning and hadn't spoken to him since. Damian was the one who took her out to dinner, he occasionally spoke to her, asking her how the food was and if she'd like some wine. But she always responded with a soft grunt. He sighed and looked at his watch.

Just then, a waiter walked up to them, holding an expensive designer box. He stopped in front of Selene, "These arrived for you, ma'am." He placed it on her side and calmly walked off.

Selene looked at him and asked, "Seriously? You're gonna apologize with this after saying something so insensitive this morning?"

Damian gave her a calm smile. She scoffed and proceeded to open the boy. Her eyes flew wide and she let out a soft gasp, "Honey!" She called happily as she lifted the red-soled sparkling designer heels she's been trying to get for weeks. A set of matching jewelry came along with it, "How did you know?"

"I pay attention to you, Selene. Believe it or not." Damian coolly said, his plan worked. He watched the joy on Selene's face as she talked about what dress would go perfectly with the pair of heels and kept nodding and smiling while she yapped on. "How exhausting..." he said in his head, "You're the daughter of a billionaire, how can something as valueless as this make you happy? I pretty much treated you like trash this morning, and you forgive me this easily? I guess money can't buy class. If it were Aurora, I know what she'd do. No. I would never treat Aurora like that in the first place..."

Selene put the shoes back in the box and smiled at him, "Fine. I'll forgive you this one time. I trust you've learned your lesson?" She asked with a smug smile, thinking she's the one who won.

Damian cracked out an amused chuckle, he took a sip of his wine and smiled back at her, lifting his glass, "I sure have."

She swept back a strand of her hair and leaned on the table, "You know... I have an interesting way to thank you for this gift."

His eyebrows raised slightly, "An interesting way?"

She only smiled.

__

A few minutes later. At a 5 star hotel penthouse not that far from the restaurant. The door burst open with Damian and Selene kissing each other aggressively. Selene was in the lead, she undid his tie and began to unbutton his sleeve.

Damian broke the kiss and looked at her, "Is this the interesting way of thanking me?"

She breathed heavily as she continued with unbuttoning, "Yes. Why do you not want this?" Her eyes already indicated that she wouldn't take no for an answer.

Victor's words flashed in Damian's head, "Treat her well..." He bit his lips and closed his eyes, "Fine, Father. I'll do what you want." He said inwardly and unzipped her dress from the front, he then pulled her in for a kiss and carried her to the bed. After landing roughly on the bed, he continued to kiss her and pull on her dress until it was no longer in the way.

__

Aurora finished the final piece of chicken and sat back. She let out a sigh of satisfaction after chugging down a whole glass of freshly-made orange juice. She laughed at herself when she looked at the bucket that now contained only leftover bones. She couldn't help but feel liberated.

Back when she was at the Blackwood mansion, she always tried to keep an image. She was never allowed to be herself whenever Victor was around. Aurora was not devoid of elegance, she was rich in charm and was almost as charismatic as Damian. However, she wanted to be free every once in a while and have as much fun as she wanted but Victor would always call her free-spirited side "Careless", "image-tarnishing" and "not ladylike"

She sighed, "None of that anymore, Victor Blackwood. I live by my own rules now."

She went to bed that night feeling liberated and excited for what the next day would bring.

__

Her eyes slowly opened. She looked at the wall clock, 10am on the dot. The first thing she did was get up and did a stretching exercise that she read about in the wellness and nutritional manual.

After she was done, she spread the curtains and let the sunlight hit her, she inhaled while closing her eyes to soak it all in.

Aurora had a lot of activities for the day; She needed to register with a hospital closest to her for maternity care. Afterwards, she'd reach out to Jaxton Reid. Not to hire him as her business consultant, but to apply to be a business consultant.

Aurora worked in marketing before, despite her status favouring her at work, she still did her job really well and her colleagues loved her... too bad all of them turned out to be back-stabbing traitors who attended Damian and Selene's secret engagement party. She quit by mail immediately after leaving the party that evening.

Her last activity for the day depended on if she got the job as a consultant or not. She wanted to buy a car, one way less expensive than the last one, in good condition and capable of getting her to work, the hospital, to get groceries and run other errands.

She felt proud of herself after scribbling the activities on her notepad, "I can do this." She told herself. After wishing Maywell a great day through text, she headed to the bathroom.

__

Dubai

Damian watched the setting sun from the hotel balcony. He closed his eyes and allowed the evening breeze to swirl around him.

Selene was inside, asleep against the silk sheets after an exhausting round of "passion". Even after sharing a bed with her, Damian felt a recognizable sense of emptiness gnawing at him.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, cutting through the silence. He glanced at the screen, and the name flashing across it made his expression harden.

Victor Blackwood.

Damian took a breath and answered. "Father."

"How's the honeymoon?" Victor's deep voice held its usual authority.

"Everything's fine," Damian replied smoothly, "Selene is happy. I was thinking of cutting the trip short, though. Returning the day after tomorrow."

There was a slight pause on the other end before Victor spoke again. "And have you spoken to Selene about this?"

Damian's fingers drummed against the railing. "Not yet, but-"

"Then don't make decisions without consulting your wife first," Victor cut in. His voice was firm, leaving no room for argument. "She's the daughter of the Davenport family, Damian. She sacrificed her reputation to marry you, a divorcee, after that lowlife wench left. The least you can do is make sure she's satisfied."

Damian clenched his jaw. Sacrificed? It almost made him laugh. Selene had gotten exactly what she wanted. And as for Aurora...

He exhaled through his nose. "If she's against it, I'll stay."

"Good." Victor's tone softened slightly. "This marriage is important for both families. You've done well so far, don't ruin it."

The call ended, leaving Damian standing there, the weight of expectations pressing down on him.

__

Aurora stepped out of the hospital, the cool breeze brushing against her skin as she took a deep breath. Registering for maternity care had been a big step,one that made everything feel even more real.

She brought out her notepad and checked it out. The next on her list was to meet up with Jaxon Reid. She took a deep breath and dialed his number. It rang for a bit and he picked up.

"This is Jaxon." His confident voice echoed

"Mr. Reid, it's Aurora Sinclair," she said, keeping her voice steady.

"Aurora," he repeated, as if testing the way her name sounded on his lips. "I was wondering when you'd call."

"I'd like to meet up. There's something I want to discuss."

"Right now?"

"Yes, is that okay?" She asked in consideration.

Jaxon remained silent for a bit before he responded. "Of course, I'm always available for business."

Aurora sighed in relief.

"There's a café downtown. The Grand Bean. Do you know it?" Jaxon asked.

Aurora nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "I do." She had passed by the café on her way to the hospital.

"Great. Meet me there in thirty minutes."

"Alright. See you soon."

She ended the call, gripping the phone tightly for a second before slipping it back into her bag.

This was it. The first step toward creating a new life,one where she didn't have to depend on anyone.