Untangling a Heart From the Past

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.