"Do you know what it feels like… to be mocked for your own illness?" Aurora's voice trembled, her eyes wild with a mixture of rage and humiliation. "Today right here in this mansion my disease was used against me."
Jake froze, unsure what to say.
"I never used to let my condition define me. I never let it become a burden on my heart. But to have it thrown in my face like that? To be ridiculed for being sick?" Her voice cracked. "It's disgusting. It's cruel. My mental health is hanging by a thread, Jake."
Jake swallowed hard. "Aurora… please explain yourself properly."
"I want that slut out of this mansion," she snapped, her voice turning deadly. "The same slut you're having an affair with."
"Mind your language, Aurora," Jake growled.
She laughed in disbelief. "Wow. Just wow… So now she deserves to be defended, but I—I'm the one being corrected? That's rich." She took a step back, her eyes shimmering with tears. "I never knew I was such a burden to you, Jake." Jake tried to interject, but Aurora cut him off with a bitter smile.
"I mean, I was told I'm the reason you dropped out this year. The reason your life is falling apart." Her voice was rising now, laced with sarcasm and pain. "Just so we're clear my hospital bills were never your responsibility. My father was supposed to cover them. You took it upon yourself to pay for my therapies. You volunteered. So why… why must some low-class maid use it to insult me?"
Jake stiffened.
"I thought it was our private matter," she went on, pacing back and forth. "But apparently, everyone knows. She acted like I'm incapable of even paying my own medical bills. Like I'm living off you. Like you buy every damn thing I use on my body." Tears streaked down her cheeks as her voice grew louder. "She stripped me of my dignity, Jake. She trampled on my self-respect. My ego. My womanhood."
Jake tried to reach for her, but she flinched away."She made me feel worthless. As if I can't even afford to buy my own sanitary pads!" she screamed. "And yet, you stand there and still think what I'm saying is pointless?" Jake opened his mouth to speak, but she was already spiraling. "I lost my self-respect today. Because of you, Jake. Because you let her have that power over me."
She turned away, gripping her elbows, trying to hold herself together. "I understand now. You won't fire her. I can see just how precious she is to you. Thank you for showing me where I stand in your life."
Jake's heart cracked. "Aurora, that's not true! Please, just listen to me—"
"No," she snapped. "I don't want to hear your excuses. I hate you."
She stumbled from exhaustion, but her fury carried her forward. She clenched her fists, sobbing, muttering under her breath, "How could you… how could you…"
Then louder more broken—"How could you!" she screamed, and ran to him, pounding his chest with all the strength she had left. "You were my life! My source of happiness! My everything, Jake! Why did you do this to me?!"
Jake stood still frozen while she hit him again and again. Her fists were weak. Her body trembling. Her voice shattered. But she kept striking until her body finally gave out.
Her knees buckled. She collapsed against him.Jake caught her, his arms wrapping around her protectively, just as he noticed the crimson stain spreading across his shirt. She was bleeding profusely.
"Aurora!" he shouted in panic.
Her eyes fluttered. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.Then—blackness.
She passed out.Jake didn't waste a second. He scooped her up into his arms and rushed her to the bed. His hands moved fast but gentle, cleaning her wounds, disinfecting them, and giving her an injection. His hands didn't shake. He had learned all of this from her watching, memorizing never knowing the day would come when he'd need to use it on her.
He set a drip carefully, ensuring it was secure. She had lost a dangerous amount of blood and water.When he finally took a step back, he collapsed to his knees beside her, staring.
His eyes traveled over her tear-streaked face, her matted hair, her trembling lashes. Even in this state, she was breathtaking.
He stroked her damp hair softly, his voice low and trembling. "You really are a tigress, Aurora…" he whispered. "Even bleeding, you're strong enough to roar. I'm… I'm in love with this side of you too."
He kissed the back of her hand gently, reverently.
"I just can't believe you could ever doubt me," he said, his voice cracking. "How could you even think I would stoop so low… cheat on you…?" His heart ached as he whispered, "I would never do that. I love you so, so much. Only you."