The morning sunlight filtering through the sheer curtains of the penthouse did nothing to warm Aurelia.
She had barely slept all night. Every time she turned to glance beside her, the image of the reddish mark on Arkana's neck and the photograph outside the emergency room replayed relentlessly in her mind. Yet when the alarm rang promptly at five in the morning, Aurelia got out of bed with a calm expression, as though nothing had happened.
She carried on with her routine.
She laid out Arkana's dark gray suit, pressing every crease until it was immaculate, then headed to the kitchen to prepare his favorite cup of black coffee, no sugar.
As dawn began to break, a pair of strong arms suddenly wrapped around her waist from behind.
The familiar scent of Arkana's soap, blended with cool mint, surrounded her. He buried his face in the curve of her neck, leaving a trail of demanding kisses against her skin.
For Arkana, this was their morning ritual.
A habit he never skipped, where he always wanted his wife before facing another busy day.
"Arkan, your coffee's going to get cold," Aurelia whispered, trying to steady the violent pounding in her chest. Every instinct inside her wanted to pull away, especially when her eyes caught another glimpse of the faint reddish mark on his neck.
"Let it," Arkana murmured.
Without giving her a chance to protest, he turned her around and effortlessly lifted her onto the kitchen counter.
His touch felt exactly as it always had, intense, commanding, and full of desire.
Aurelia closed her eyes, allowing herself to surrender to her husband's touch, desperately searching for whatever sincerity might still remain between them.
Their clothes came off one piece at a time until nothing remained but warm skin against skin beneath the comfortable temperature of the room.
Just as their breathing grew heavier and Arkana was about to make love to her, the quiet morning was shattered by a familiar sound.
His phone, resting on the dining table, buzzed loudly.
The clock had only just struck six in the morning.
Arkana froze instantly.
Every muscle in his body tensed above hers.
The warmth that had filled the room vanished in an instant, replaced by a suffocating silence.
Without saying a word, Arkana pulled away, ignoring the desire that remained unresolved between them. He grabbed the bathrobe he had discarded earlier and hastily slipped it on.
Aurelia slowly sat up on the kitchen counter, wrapping her trembling arms around her knees.
The cool air against her exposed skin suddenly felt numb.
From several feet away, she watched Arkana's expression change the moment he read the message on his screen.
He looked back at her, his eyes filled with unmistakable guilt.
"Aurelia, I'm sorry," Arkana said as he hurried toward the bathroom to get dressed. "There's an urgent situation at the office. The board meeting has been moved up to seven this morning. I have to leave right away."
Aurelia merely nodded.
Her throat was too dry to form even a single word.
A few minutes later, Arkana emerged wearing his neatly pressed suit, although his tie sat slightly crooked from dressing in such a rush.
He walked over to Aurelia, who still hadn't moved, and gently kissed her forehead.
"The meeting will be over by ten. I'll come straight home to see you, and we can pick up where we left off. Okay?"
Aurelia nodded again, forcing a faint smile that never reached her eyes.
The moment the apartment door closed and the sound of Arkana's footsteps disappeared, the smile fell away.
The tears she had been holding back finally spilled over, streaming down her pale cheeks.
The pain was unbearable.
A single message at six in the morning had been enough for Arkana to abandon their intimate morning without a second thought.
But Aurelia refused to remain the fool crying alone in the corner of her own home.
Her need for answers had reached its breaking point.
With trembling hands, she quickly got dressed, pulled on a knitted beanie, grabbed her car keys, and hurried down to the parking garage.
Only a few minutes separated their cars.
Aurelia kept a safe distance behind Arkana's black SUV as it moved through the increasingly crowded streets of Manhattan.
Before long, her suspicions were confirmed.
Instead of heading toward the business district where his company's headquarters was located, Arkana turned toward the Upper East Side.
He was driving straight to the same hospital she had seen in the photograph the night before.
Aurelia parked several buildings away from the main entrance.
Her heart pounding, she stepped into the hospital and quietly followed Arkana's tall figure from a distance.
He finally stopped in the quiet corridor of the VIP inpatient wing.
Standing outside one of the rooms was a woman dressed in a hospital gown.
Her face was deathly pale.
She looked heartbreakingly fragile, tears streaking down her cheeks.
Without the slightest hesitation, Arkana strode toward her and immediately pulled her into his arms.
He gently rubbed her back with slow, protective strokes, cradling her head against his broad chest, the very place that had belonged to Aurelia only a short while ago.
The woman sobbed uncontrollably in his embrace while Arkana whispered comforting words that Aurelia couldn't hear from where she stood.
Aurelia staggered backward.
She leaned against the cold corridor wall to keep herself from collapsing.
