DEVIL IN A SILHOUETTE

Chapter 2: Shattered 🥀

A numbing cold spread through my veins, locking my body in place.

"J-Jessica?How could you?" The words escaped my lips, a shattered whisper.

"Aurora, please, it's not what you think." Jessica pleaded, her blonde hair a messy curtain across her face.

Richard just sat on the couch, a glass of amber liquid in his hand, utterly unfazed. He looked like he was just waiting for me to have my little meltdown and leave.

"You're sleeping with my husband?" My voice sliced through the thick air, each word sharp as I felt hot tears trace paths down my cheeks.

And then, Jessica's expression shifted. The pleading mask dissolved, replaced by a wide, vicious smirk tugging at her lips.

"Husband?"she scoffed. "Come on, Aurora. You and I both know this marriage is a prison yard. Richard asked you for a divorce, but you refused. God, you're so stubborn."

She said it so casually, already starting to pull on her clothes. The audacity of this bitch, defending herself like I was the unreasonable one.

I raked my hands through my hair, a scream of frustration trapped in my chest. "I swear to God, you bastards will regret this. I swear it." The snarl ripped from my throat, a painful lump lodging there, choking me.

I couldn't stand the sight of them for a second longer. I turned and stormed out, my heels striking the tile floor with each furious step, echoing the rage pounding in my ears.

I stumbled into my car, my knuckles turning white as my hands clenched the steering wheel. My best friend. My husband. The betrayal was a physical ache, a fresh hell to add to my collection. Oh, my life was just getting better by the day.

With trembling fingers, I reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a worn brown envelope. From it, I slid an old photograph-a picture of me with my dad, from a time when he was still here.

Tears fell then, hot and unrestrained, splashing against the faded image. "Why is this happening to me, Papa? I need you here with me. I can't take this anymore... it's just too much to bear." My voice cracked, the plea swallowed by the silence of the car.

But in that despair, a cold, hard resolve solidified. I swear, I will make those bastards regret ever messing with me.

I swear it on my father's grave

---

Richard and Jessica sat across from each other, the air thick with tension, their expressions unreadable masks.

"I told you we should have met at the hotel" Jessica hissed,her voice sharp enough to cut a glass. "But no, you brought me here, to your bedroom, insisting your wife wouldn't be back till midnight, you bloody clown."

Richard let out a loud, derisive scoff.

"I brought you here deliberately" he said, sipping his whiskey with infuriating calm. " So that bitch would finally come to her senses".

A wave of panic washed over Jessica's face, replacing her anger.

"Now everything's messed up! Aurora knows I'm sleeping with her husband, that means I can't get anything from her fortune anymore!" she raked her hands through her hair in sheer frustration.

A wide , predatory smile tugged at Richard's lips.

"Relax, there's a way you can still get a piece of her fortune." he said, an evil grin flashing across his face.

"How?" Jessica asked,her voice a tight whisper.

Richard stood up and slowly closed the distance between them.

"By finishing her off," he said,his voice devoid of any emotion.

Jessica eyes widened in genuine shock.

"Richard, you don't mean...?"

"Yes" he cut her off coldly. "It's exactly what you're thinking".

He grabbed his phone from the table and dialed a number with practiced ease.

"Hello sir," a voice answered.

"Follow my wife's car", Richard commanded flatly.

" And finish her off, leave no traces behind", he hung up without another word.

Jessica shot him a strange appraising glance.

"I never knew you were this evil".

"Well, I need to get that bitch off my back", he shrugged. A dark hunger flickered in his eyes as he grabbed a fistful of her hair.

"Now bend that ass over for me" he growled throwing her onto the bed.

A wicked giggle escaped her lips.

" Sure, daddy ".

---

(Aurora )

I turned the ignition, the engine snarling to life, and pulled out into the cold, empty streets. I had no destination, just the need to move. My knuckles were white on the wheel, the only thing solid in my spinning world.

Jessica's words were a drumbeat in my skull.

And the hell of it was,she was right.

My marriage to Richard was a prison.But that didn't grant him a free pass to fuck my best friend-my ex-best friend. I wanted to burn their memories and never look back.

I was drowning in the noise of my own thoughts when a brutal, blinding light erupted from a side street. It was a stark, white van, idling like a predator.

I glanced, dismissed it, and drove on. I was too numb to care.

But then I saw it-a sudden, violent lurch forward, tires screeching, aiming directly for me. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic bird in a cage. I jerked the wheel, a useless, panicked gesture.

It was too late.

The world exploded.

The shriek of tearing metal.The crystalline shower of glass. The impact threw me forward like a ragdoll. My head cracked against the steering wheel with a sickening thud, and the warm, metallic taste of blood flooded my mouth.

The world flipped. My car tumbled, a weightless, crushing ballet of violence. I felt the hard, cold bite of twisted iron, the sickening crunch of something deep inside me giving way.

Hot tears cut through the blood and grime on my face as I fought the blackness creeping into the edges of my vision. I could feel a slow, thick trickle from my nose, painting my lips.

Then... nothing. Just Darkness.