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.

Xavier clenched his fists. He gave Aurora a pained look, though his tone was stiff and cold as he said, "This doesn't prove that these people were working under Violet's orders. She even went into the room to save you.

"Rory, you should ask yourself why these people wanted to rough you up instead of putting all the blame on Violet."

The truth was laid out before him, yet he chose to side with Violet anyway.

Aurora couldn't help finding this exchange utterly absurd. Her heart grew so cold that it was practically frozen. She could no longer muster the strength to argue with Xavier.

"Fine," she said flatly. "I'll reflect on this."

Xavier frowned, anguish flickering in his eyes. He opened his arms and pulled Aurora into a firm hug. "Alright, that's enough. Violet wants to meet up for dinner tomorrow. You can apologize to her then. I'm sure she'll forgive you."

Aurora's nose burned as she buried her face in his shoulder. She forced back her tears.

She might as well treat the gathering tomorrow as a farewell meal, seeing as she would soon be married and settling down in Elmstead.

The next day, before Aurora was discharged from the hospital, Xavier jotted down the doctor's instructions and suggestions regarding her recovery. He held up the notebook and waved it in front of her afterward, seemingly proud of himself.

"Look at how much I care about you, Rory," he said.

Aurora nodded and said nothing.

They headed to the address of the fancy restaurant Violet had sent them after they'd packed Aurora's things at the hospital. Upon their arrival, they saw that everyone was already there. Even Xavier's mother had come.

"Xavier, you're here! Come sit with us." Xavier's mother, Beatrice Wilder, beckoned her son over to the seat beside Violet. She ignored Aurora as usual, even though Aurora was supposedly Xavier's official girlfriend and fiancee.

Ethan, however, didn't ignore Aurora. "What are you gawking at?" he snapped. "You're supposed to serve us and take our orders! You're the youngest one here, so shouldn't you at least respect your elders?"

Aurora thought Xavier would speak up for her, but his gaze was unexpectedly fixated on Violet. He didn't even once look at Aurora.

"Alright." Aurora lowered her gaze. She had no choice but to do as Ethan asked, pouring water for everyone at the table and taking their food orders.

When she reached Violet, a leg suddenly shot out from under the table and tripped Aurora. The drink she was holding spilled onto Violet's dress.

Violet gasped sharply, and everyone at the table turned to stare at her.

"What are you doing, Aurora?" This time, it was Xavier who chastised Aurora first. "My mom had that dress specially made for Violet. You may not like Violet, but that doesn't mean you can keep picking on her!"

Aurora's eyes reddened with tears, and she suddenly didn't know what to do with her hands. "It was an accident."

Xavier scoffed and helped Violet out of her seat. "Come on, I'll take you to the restroom to clean up."

"I knew a troublemaker like you shouldn't have come!" Ethan flew into a rage after Xavier and Violet left and grabbed a fistful of Aurora's hair. He then slammed her face into the table.

A lump instantly swelled on Aurora's forehead, and some blood even trickled from the wound. The pain had her sobbing, "Ethan, it really was an accident—"

Ethan's eyes were cold and vicious as he kicked her square in the chest. "I told you that Violet is the only sister I have. I won't have a lowly outsider like you pick on her!"

Aurora gritted her teeth as tears glistened in her eyes. In the end, she couldn't keep herself upright anymore and slumped to the ground.

"Quit acting like the victim and clean yourself up in the restroom," Ethan snapped, shooting her a disgusted look.

Aurora dug her nails into her palms, her fingers shaking as she bolted out of the dining lounge. She wasn't familiar with the layout of the restaurant, and it took her a while and plenty of wrong turns before she found the restroom.

However, she had only just stepped inside when she heard the amorous sounds coming from within.

"Your body is still as soft as ever, Violet…" Xavier's voice was a deep, husky melody and thick with desire.

Aurora froze. She couldn't bring herself to take another step into the restroom.

There was a light chuckle, followed by Violet's complaint delivered in a high-pitched tone, "Save your compliments. Don't act like you didn't sleep with Aurora when I was abroad the last few years."

"But I feel nothing for her!" Xavier argued defensively. "I'm only dating her so I can make her pay for what she did to you. I slept with her, but only so I know how to keep myself from hurting you in bed. I only used her for practice, Violet. My love and loyalty always belonged to you!"

Violet beamed as she pressed herself against Xavier's sculpted torso. "Was she really just practice to you? Do you swear you've never fallen for her?"

"Not even her body can tempt me. I've never fallen for her," Xavier said solemnly.

The blood drained from Aurora's face. At that moment, any hope she had for her and Xavier's relationship was crushed.

She remembered Xavier crying—a rare sight—after they slept together for the first time. She'd thought he'd loved her too much and been too nervous back then, but she was wrong.

The tears he'd shed at the time were not so much out of love as they were out of guilt, for he believed he'd cheated on Violet by sleeping with Aurora.

So what was their passionate lovemaking that first night supposed to be, then? Just a practice session for Xavier?

Ten minutes later, Xavier led Violet out of the restroom. Panic seized him when he saw Aurora standing outside, her face pale and tear-stained.