Xavier Stafford claims to love Aurora Bowman to the moon and back, but he's escaped from marrying her 99 times. To delay their marriage, he even orchestrates a car accident to cause her to miscarry.

As if Aurora isn't already devastated after losing her baby, she overhears Xavier and his friend's conversation.

"I only dated her for seven years to get revenge for Violet. If Aurora thought any of this was serious, she'd be in for a rude awakening!"

Aurora's heart goes cold at those words. A rude awakening, indeed. Thankfully, there's still hope for her to walk away and save herself.

After regaining her composure and gathering her thoughts, Aurora agrees to another marriage proposal.

While Xavier carries out his 100th attempt to escape marriage, Aurora proudly gets married to another groom in Elmstead.

On his way to get his marriage license with Aurora Bowman for the 99th time, Xavier Stafford had been so desperate to avoid marrying her that he sped up and crashed into a large truck. It had been a serious crash, following which Aurora and Xavier had been rushed into the ER.

Ten minutes later, Aurora lay on the ice-cold operating table, covered in blood, as the doctors induced labor to deliver her baby at seven months. When she came to, the surgery had ended. She cried when she was told the baby hadn't survived.

The doctors had told her to recuperate, but she was so worried about Xavier that she went against their orders and snuck to his hospital room to see him. However, she arrived at the door to hear laughter coming from within.

"I've got to hand it to you, Xavier. You risked your life just to get out of marrying her. But she was pregnant with your child, you know. According to the doctors, labor was induced, and she delivered a stillborn baby boy. Are you sure you won't regret pulling this stunt?"

Xavier snorted indifferently. "Regret it? Please, did you forget that I only agreed to be with her as payback for what she did to Violet? I wouldn't regret doing this even if it had cost Aurora her life, let alone the baby's."

His eyes glinted coldly, and his handsome face was devoid of its usual warm and loving expression.

Aurora's breath hitched, and her shoulders trembled. She rubbed her eyes and took a second look at the face of the person who had spewed such hateful words.

However, it didn't matter if she doubted her vision or not. She was forced to admit that the two men speaking in the room were none other than her biological older brother and her boyfriend of seven years.

"You have a point," Ethan Bowman said, jaw clenched. "If she hadn't insisted on returning to the Bowman family seven years ago, Violet wouldn't have had to move abroad for her studies and be separated from us! That wench is nothing but trouble!"

"Thankfully, Violet is coming home soon." Xavier's tone softened at the mention of Violet. "I'll hash things out with Aurora after avoiding marrying her for the 100th time, then bring Violet home."

He added, "Don't worry, Ethan, Aurora loves me irrevocably. Once she finds out that the last seven years were a lie, she'll be so heartbroken that she won't show her face around us again!"

Aurora felt all the strength leave her body when she heard his words. Tears streamed down her face like ceaseless rivulets.

Bracing her hands against the wall to support herself, she hurtled out of the building and curled up on the bench in the garden, weeping her eyes out. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard.

Aurora had never been lucky. She'd gotten lost as a child, and it wasn't until she turned 18 that she was reunited with her biological parents.

However, when she returned to her family home, she discovered that her parents loved their adopted daughter, Violet Bowman, more than her.

When she first arrived at the Bowman residence, Ethan had given her a vicious warning. "Violet is the only sister I have. Don't you dare call me your brother!"

Aurora was put up in the smallest room in the house, meant for the housekeeper, and forced to wear Violet's hand-me-downs. They even sent her to work at a nightclub to pay for her school fees.

When school started, many men had posted pictures of Aurora in skimpy clothes on the school forum. Lewd rumors about her began to spread like wildfire, and a leering creep even cornered her in an alleyway and messed her up.

During her darkest moments, Aurora considered banging her head against the wall until she bled to death.

But then Xavier appeared and saved her.

He'd taken off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. He'd transferred her to a different school and taught her tormentors a lesson. He'd also sent her countless pretty dresses and showed her kindness in every possible way, protecting her like a guardian angel.

He'd slowly healed her wounds and even proposed to her in a grand, romantic ceremony.

Aurora had always believed Xavier was the light at the end of the tunnel. Only now did she realize it had all been a lie.

Xavier had only dated her because she'd taken Violet's place as the heiress of the Bowman family. Violet had been so heartbroken, she left the country.

He didn't love Aurora at all. Their seven-year relationship was nothing but an elaborate sham, a cruel act of revenge.

He had saved her in her darkest moments, only to shove her back into a darker hellscape.

Aurora wept so hard that she could barely breathe. She finally understood why all those accidents had happened whenever she and Xavier were about to get their marriage license.

Xavier never planned to marry her in the first place.

Her hand drifted to her flat stomach. Trembling, she made a call.

Aurora said, "Mr. Winston, you wanted me to marry your son so that he could have a partner to take care of him for life, right? Well, consider this a yes from me."

On the other end of the phone, a man cried in delighted surprise. "Excellent! That's wonderful news! Give me five days to straighten out my business overseas, and I'll send someone to pick you up from Nordura.

He added, "Don't worry, Aurora, the Winston family fortune will be yours whether my son wakes up or not!"

Aurora hummed in response before ending the call.

In truth, she couldn't care less about the Winstons' fortune or marrying a man in a vegetative state. All she wanted was a place she could safely settle down in.

She lifted her gaze to the white clouds drifting across the cerulean sky, then heaved a long sigh.

Aurora was finally doing something that would make everyone happy. Xavier and Ethan would be thrilled to know she would move out of the Bowman residence and hand the title of the Bowman family's heiress back to Violet.

The engagement ring on Aurora's finger dazzled under the sunlight. Gritting her teeth, she slid it off and made to toss it into the trash can beside her. However, Xavier appeared at that moment, panicking as he ran up to her.

"Don't throw away the ring, Rory!" He wrapped his arms around Aurora's slender, delicate frame. "The car crash was just an accident. Even if we didn't get our marriage license this time, there's always next time."

Worry flashed in Xavier's eyes as he spoke. His embrace was still as warm and firm as ever, but all Aurora felt was a bone-deep chill.

A bitter smile that bordered on a grimace twisted her face. "An accident? How many times have you tried to get out of marrying me, including this time? 99?

"You told me you weren't ready the first time and turned the car around halfway. The second time, you faked a stomachache and had me go to the hospital with you. The third time we tried getting a marriage license, you told me something urgent came up at work and you had to handle it…"

Her fingers curled as she recounted the many "accidents" that happened before they were slated to get their marriage license. "This is the 99th time you got 'cold feet', so when will we attempt another escape to round it up to 100?

"You never wanted to marry me in the first place, did you, Xavier? You've just been toying with me this whole time."

Xavier's eyes widened, and shame welled up in him when he realized Aurora had seen through his plans. "I… That's not true. You know how much I love you, Rory."

Aurora let out a self-deprecating laugh. "And yet… your love isn't even enough to save our baby."

Her face was ashen as she rested a hand on her stomach, as if bidding the baby that had been in there farewell.

"We'll have another baby," Xavier said quickly, looking stricken. "We can get our marriage license once you get better."

The Xavier before Aurora was like a different person from the man in the hospital room earlier. She couldn't even tell them apart anymore.

Staring at him through teary eyes, she said, "If you truly want us to get our marriage license, we can go now."

Xavier froze, realizing something about her felt off. "We can't do it now… You're still recovering. Let's wait until you're better."

"I don't want to wait anymore. I want to do it now." Aurora stared at him evenly, hoping to find even the faintest hint of sincerity on his face.

Alas, his brow furrowed. He couldn't understand why the usually obedient Aurora was being so stubborn all of a sudden. Did losing the baby have something to do with her change in attitude?

He was still struggling to give her an answer when his phone rang. He sighed in relief as he released Aurora. "Let me take this call first."

He answered it at once. "Violet? What's up? Oh, you're back? Great! I'll send you the address right now."

Xavier happily ended the call and held Aurora's shoulders. "Violet heard we got into a car crash and was so worried, she flew home right away. Aren't you glad to have such a wonderful older sister?"

The corner of Aurora's mouth twitched. She couldn't bring herself to smile while she was grieving over the baby she'd just lost.

However, Xavier was too happy about Violet's return to notice Aurora's odd demeanor. He led her back to the hospital room and immediately told Ethan about Violet's return.

The two men broke into wide grins. "We'll finally get to see Violet again!"

When the excitement passed, Xavier realized he'd sidelined Aurora and quickly ran to her side to comfort her, "Be good. We'll talk about getting a marriage license soon, okay? And we can always have another baby in the future."

He made it sound so easy, as if Aurora had slipped and fallen instead of suffering a miscarriage. She lowered her gaze as a resentful smile curved her lips.

Xavier mentioned the future, but she doubted they'd ever have one together.

Ethan frowned. "What's with the sour face? It's not our fault you couldn't protect your baby."

"Ethan, don't say that about Rory. I'm sure she didn't mean to lose the baby," Xavier said, shielding Aurora.

"Fine, keep defending her, see where that gets you," Ethan sneered, cocking his eyebrow.

"Rory's my fiancee. Of course I'll defend her," Xavier countered, turning to stroke Aurora's hair.

At that moment, realization hit Aurora.

Xavier had defended her like this countless times in the past, and it was always after Ethan admonished her or put her down. Looking back, if Xavier had truly been protective of her, would his friend Ethan pick on her and tear her apart mercilessly?

The only reason she could think of was that Ethan and Xavier had colluded to manipulate her and make her pay for taking Violet's place in the Bowman family.

She suddenly found all this to be a farce. Squeezing out a smile, she said, "I should go get some rest in my room."

…

Aurora slept for a long time. She knew Violet and Xavier had swung by at some point, but she had no interest in dealing with them. And so, she pretended to be fast asleep.

But when she heard the sound of the door opening, followed by sniggering, she bolted upright in bed. She quickly pulled the blanket over her like a shield and demanded anxiously, "Who are you?"

Standing before her were a group of men and women she'd never met before. They didn't look like they'd come for a friendly chat.

"Did you forget about us already?" one of them sneered as the rest raised their eyebrows, cackling. "We go way back in school, remember? We're even regulars at the nightclub where you worked!"

Aurora's eyes wouldn't stop twitching. Her hand trembled as she grabbed her phone to call for help, but a short-haired woman snatched it away. "Don't bother trying to call Mr. Stafford for help. He's Violet's man!"

"Violet sent you?" Aurora asked in disbelief.

The short-haired woman slapped Aurora. "Keep Violet's name out of your filthy mouth, you bitch!" she hissed.

She forcefully tugged Aurora's blanket off and stared at her flat stomach, breaking into a wicked laugh. "Lost your baby, huh? That's what you deserved, you shameless woman! It's your fault for always flirting with old men and stealing Violet's man!"

The others chimed in, "You had that miscarriage coming!"

"I didn't do any of that." Aurora's face was deathly pale as she shook her head vehemently.

However, the short-haired woman wasn't satisfied. She punched Aurora in the stomach several times. "It's all your fault for upsetting Violet! May your womb rot, and may you never have children!"

Sharp pain exploded through Aurora's body. She summoned all her strength and strained to press the help button, but Violet walked in at that moment.

Violet looked elegant and beautiful in a long, white dress. "Stop! Aurora's my younger sister! I won't let anyone bully her!"

Chasing out Aurora's assailants, Violet approached Aurora's bed. "Are you alright? Those people are unbelievable!"

Aurora curled up and said feebly, "Unbelievable or not, they were acting on your orders."

Tears welled up in Violet's eyes as she said dejectedly, "I know you're angry and upset after dealing with something like that, especially since you've just lost your baby. But I don't know or have anything to do with this. How could I ever hurt you?

"It breaks my heart to see you like this too. Don't worry, Aurora. I promise I'll make those people apologize to you!"

With that, she reached for Aurora's hand.

"Don't touch me!" Aurora rasped, and it took all that was left of her strength to smack Violet's hand away.

Unbeknownst to her, Ethan and Xavier entered at that precise moment to see her lashing out at Violet.

"How dare you lay a hand on Violet?" Ethan thundered, slapping Aurora before pulling Violet behind him.

Xavier eyed Aurora coldly. "I'm disappointed in you, Rory. Violet flew all this way to look after you, and this is how you repay her kindness?"

"I wouldn't let her touch me because she had people come in here to beat me up!" Aurora's heart sank, and a tremor went through her body. She pointed at the marks on her stomach. "If you don't believe me, go check the security footage!"

"Why should we check the footage when we know Violet would never do something like that?" Ethan said through gritted teeth, "I bet you just can't stand the thought of Violet doing well and refuse to let her come home!"

Having said that, he took Violet's hand and led her out of the hospital room without a backward glance.

"For heaven's sake, Aurora," Xavier said. "Hating Violet is one thing, but making up a crude lie like that is an entirely different story. You have no idea how worried Violet is about you."

He sighed and produced a box of food. "She even told me and Ethan to buy you your favorite crab cakes. How could she possibly hire people to beat you up?"

Aurora laughed bitterly. She was allergic to shellfish and would never eat crab cakes. To think that she had loved Xavier for seven years, only for him to be unaware of her allergies and take another woman's side at first instance.

She took a deep breath and got out of bed, then led Xavier to the security control room. "See the footage for yourself."

In the footage, Aurora was seen getting beaten up by a group of people. They mentioned Violet's name clearly in the audio too.