"I thought I asked you and the other maids to keep a keen eye on her!" Jake snapped, his voice sharp with disbelief. "To take care of her give her anything she needs! So what is this nonsense you're blabbering?!"
"Sir," Gaius stuttered, "she asked us not to attend to her…"
Jake's voice dropped into a dangerous growl. "Are you still talking gibberish? Is that your excuse? That she asked you not to? And you all just stood there and watched her bleed?!" He clenched his jaw. "Get this whole mess cleaned up immediately."
Without waiting for a reply, Jake stormed off his footsteps echoing through the now-silent house. He rushed up the staircase, heart pounding in his chest. When he reached the door to their room, he paused for a second, gathering the strength to face whatever he was about to see.
With a slow, shaky breath, he twisted the doorknob.The sight that met him shattered him completely.There, curled on the cold marble floor, was Aurora her back against the edge of the bed, her body trembling with silent sobs. Her arms were bruised, her palms lightly bandaged, and streaks of dried blood traced her skin. The once lively spark in her eyes had dulled to something cold… something distant.
Jake fell to his knees in an instant and cupped her cheeks with trembling hands.
"Baby," he whispered, "what happened to you? Please talk to me. Did someone say something hurtful? Was it your mom? Your dad? Tell me I'll make sure they never speak to you that way again."
Aurora slowly lifted her head. Her eyes met his red-rimmed, hollow, but burning with something deeper. Her voice was low, steady, but the tremor in it betrayed her pain.
"What would you do," she asked, "if I told you who caused all this?"
Jake leaned closer, brushing her hair from her face. "I'd make them pay. I swear it, Aurora. No one hurts you like this and gets away with it. Who was it?" She let out a dry, broken laugh. "You really want to know?"
Jake nodded, without hesitation.
Aurora's lips trembled as she whispered, "Then be glad to know, Mr. Jake Scott, that you… you are the reason I'm like this. You and no one else."
Jake froze.
The words struck him like a thunderbolt.
"What…?" he breathed, confused. "What are you talking about?"
Aurora rose to her feet, swaying slightly, but full of fire. She stood before him vulnerable, yet unbreakable. Her eyes bore into his with layers of emotion rage, heartbreak, betrayal.
Jake instinctively reached for her, but she snapped, "Don't you dare come any closer."
He halted immediately."I swear, Jake," her voice quivered, "I don't know what I might do to you. Just stay right there. Don't move an inch."
The command in her voice stunned him. She had never spoken to him like that. He saw it all now the fury in her stance, the disgust in her expression, and worst of all, the pain in her eyes. The same eyes that once looked at him with unwavering love now glared with hatred.Jake's throat tightened. What did I do? he thought. What could I possibly have done to deserve this…?
Yet, despite her rage, Aurora spoke in a composed, almost calculated tone her words chosen carefully, like daggers thrown with precision.Her voice cracked as she said, "Jake… I just want to make one request."
Jake immediately responded, "Yeah, sure anything, name it."
She stared into his soul.
"I want that girl Melissa… out of this house."
The room went deathly quiet.Jake blinked. He hadn't expected that. His silence was all the answer Aurora needed. "Well?" she asked, hope hanging by a thread. Jake looked away. "I'm sorry, Aurora… I can't throw her out."
Time stopped.Aurora's knees gave way beneath her. She crumbled to the floor, her palms slamming against the marble as she covered her face with both hands and broke down completely."No… no… no!" she cried, her voice echoing off the bedroom walls. Her body shook violently, her soul shattering in pieces before his very eyes.
Jake stood frozen, helpless.
He didn't understand. He needed answers.
He knelt beside her, reaching out. "Aurora, please… what's going on? Why are you acting this way? What happened between you and Melissa?"But she wouldn't respond.
The only sound in the room was the sound of her weeping and Jake's heart breaking along with it.