"Aurora, did you try informing your parents?" Angel asked gently, still shaken by the sound of her friend's voice on the phone."Of course I did," Aurora replied, her voice hollow. "But my dad said it serves me right. And honestly… I don't even blame him this time. He warned me. He begged me not to leave, not to come here. But I was too stubborn. Too blinded by love to listen."
She paused, tears rolling silently down her cheeks."You know what, Angel?" Her tone hardened with quiet despair. "I don't even care anymore. I've stopped expecting anything from them. They've never really cared for me—not once—so why would they start now? I could be dead in this house and they'd still sleep peacefully."
Angel's heart shattered. But Aurora wasn't done."I chose to come here," she whispered. "It was my will. So I guess I have to bear the consequences."No," Angel said sharply, eyes already scanning the road. "You don't. No one deserves this—not even you, not like this. Hold on a little longer, bestie. I'm on my way to Beverly Hills right now. I'll be there in less than fifteen minutes. Just hang on. I love you."
True to her word, Angel pulled up to the mansion in under fifteen minutes. She parked like a storm and stepped out, her heels clacking across the marbled driveway with deadly purpose.But the moment she entered, she sensed something was terribly wrong.
The butler who greeted her looked pale and nervous, avoiding eye contact as he wrung his hands. Angel narrowed her eyes. "Is everything alright?" she asked, suspicion crawling down her spine.Before he could even respond, a chilling scream tore through the silence.
"Aurora?" Angel bolted through the corridor like a bullet, her heart pounding violently. The scream came again raw, terrified, gut-wrenching.And then she saw it.In the living room, chaos had taken form.Jake furious, disheveled, and unrecognizable was on top of Aurora, his hand raised in the air, trembling with rage and seconds away from striking her.
Angel lost it.
"WHAT THE F**K?! GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!!!" she roared.The entire house seemed to freeze.Jake's fist paused in midair, and he slowly turned to face the one voice he hadn't expected. "JAKE!" Angel screamed again. "GET OFF HER. NOW."The staff—maids and guards alike—stood silently in the corners, relief washing over their anxious faces. Finally… someone had come. Someone brave enough to stand up to him.
Jake backed off slowly, his chest heaving. Aurora scrambled away from him and threw herself into Angel's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.Angel held her tightly, fury boiling inside her. "It's okay, it's okay, baby girl. I've got you. He can't touch you now. You're safe."She looked down at Aurora her best friend, now reduced to a pale, frail, trembling version of herself.And then she looked up—straight at Jake—with eyes full of fire."Is this really you?" she said, her voice trembling with rage. "Jake, is this what you've become? A monster?"
Jake snarled. "Angel, stay out of this. This is between me and Aurora. She's my responsibility."Responsibility?" Angel spat. "You call this abuse 'responsibility'? You treat her like trash like she's one of your possessions. You're not even married to her! And you think that gives you the right to beat her? Starve her? Lock her away like a prisoner?!"
Jake's jaw clenched.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Angel continued, stepping closer. "Just look at her! LOOK AT HER!" She gestured at Aurora, who clung to her with broken sobs. "Do you even recognize her anymore? She's skin and bones. She hasn't been eating. She looks like a shadow—like death."
Jake turned away, unable to meet her gaze.
"I bet she hasn't taken her pills either. And if anything happens to her if she so much as passes out you will pay. I swear on my life, Jake. You will pay for it."Jake remained silent.
Angel shook her head in disgust. "If you don't love her anymore, why are you keeping her here? Why are you torturing her like she's some worthless beggar? Why not let her go?!"
She paused, her voice breaking with disappointment."I bet Maxwell would be ashamed of you. The Jake he knew would never do this. I don't even know what to tell him about you anymore."Angel's voice softened with grief as she looked at him one last time."I know you're hurting, Jake. I know your mother's death wrecked you. But come on. You're a man. And this—this—is not what men do."