Aurora's POV
“What do you mean you’re ‘done’? Are you seriously defying me now, Aurora?”
His voice was sharp enough to cut. Alaric had always despised being challenged—so for me to push back like this? To him, it was an act of rebellion he couldn’t ignore.
His gaze dropped to the document in his hand, then flicked back to me with a twisted expression.
“What is this supposed to be?” he demanded. “You’re unbelievable. Always twisting things. You didn’t even look sick! You clung to me like you were dying out of nowhere—trying to make me feel guilty.”
He hurled his accusations like daggers—without hesitation, without care.
In his eyes, I was nothing but deceit incarnate. A nuisance. A mistake he never should’ve been tied to.
But I had never lied to him—not once.
Did I deserve this treatment? Perhaps he believed so.
I bit down on the inside of my cheek, choosing silence. Explaining myself would be useless. He never listened. He never believed me. Not then, not now.
My chest throbbed painfully, but I refused to break. I needed his signature. Nothing else mattered anymore.
He exhaled sharply and fixed me with those cold midnight-blue eyes—the same eyes I once loved, the same ones I’d searched desperately for any trace of affection. For five long years, I hunted for warmth there. A spark. Anything.
But all I ever found was frost. The warmth he used to have vanished the moment he changed without warning.
I gave everything just to be acknowledged by him. To be loved. Hell, even tolerated would've been enough.
But all I received in return was hurt. Endless, bone-deep hurt.
“I’m leaving. Won’t be around for a week,” he muttered, walking past me as though I were a stranger in his hallway. He barely looked at the paper again, lifting it slightly before his phone rang.
His entire expression shifted—worry flared instantly. I didn’t need to check.
It was Mirelle.
“I have something urgent to deal with,” he said hastily, already halfway turned away, like I didn’t exist anymore.
“Sign it before you go,” I said, stopping him with my voice.
He frowned. “Can’t it wait?”
“No. This is what you’ve always wanted.”
His jaw twitched. His eyes darted between me and his ringing phone. Finally, gritting his teeth, he snatched the pen, scribbled his name without even glancing at the document, and shoved it back into my hands.
“There. Happy?”
Several pages slipped from the stack and fluttered to the floor, but he didn’t even spare them a look. He shifted shape and bolted off—straight toward her.
I stared at the papers scattered at my feet as my vision blurred. He didn’t even bother asking what he was signing.
It was the end of our marriage.
The severing of our mate bond.
A broken laugh escaped me—thin and bitter—as I crouched to gather the pages.
Even now, it hurt more than I wanted to admit.
My phone vibrated just as I wiped my tears.
Not his name.
Of course not.
I answered.
“Is it done?” The deep, authoritative voice on the other end sent a shiver down my spine.
I swallowed. “Yes. As promised. I don’t go back on my word.”
“Good,” he said quietly, but there was steel beneath it. “For your sake, I hope you truly meant it this time, Kiki. I don’t tolerate lies. You have one week.”
I tightened my grip on the phone. “Two weeks. Just give me two.”
“That’s not what we agreed on.” Disappointment coated his tone.
“Please, Val… two weeks. After that… I’m yours. I swear it.”
Silence. Heavy.
Each second scraped against my nerves.
“Do you hear me?” I whispered.
He released a slow breath. “How could I not? Fine. Two weeks.”
Relief washed over me. “Thank you. I just need to finish something before I leave.”
“I hope this last tie you’re clinging to doesn’t destroy you any further,” he murmured, then the line went dead.
For a moment, I simply stared at nothing before shutting my eyes. I thought walking away would be simple.
But leaving this place—the place that had stolen more tears than it ever gave comfort—was harder than I’d imagined.
If Val hadn’t been there… today might’ve been the day I died.
He was the one who found me when I begged Alaric to return.
The one who stayed by my side.
The one who saved me.
Always him.
And now… I had sealed my fate.
For once, I was choosing myself.
I deserved to feel alive.
I deserved peace.
Two weeks.
Just two more weeks to tear out the last remnants of this life—to burn the memories, to cut every tie, to finally destroy every bridge behind me.
As I packed away the remnants of my life with Alaric, my phone buzzed again. I thought it was Val.
But it wasn’t.
It was her.
My mother.
“Hello?”
The word tasted unfamiliar. I hadn’t called her ‘mother’ in years—not after that day five years ago, when she looked me in the eye and confessed she despised having me as her daughter. That she would only ever consider Mirelle her true child.
All because of a shattered sapphire necklace—an heirloom Mirelle destroyed.
Yet when I tried to explain, I was labeled a liar. Again.
“Where are you? Do you even remember what day it is?”
Her tone was icy, laced with irritation.
No warmth.
No affection.
Never for me.
But for Mirelle? Always.
Unfair? Absolutely.
Because I was her real daughter—
The one she could never bring herself to love.
