Chapter 175

When Aurora returned to North Manor, Daniel arrived just moments after her.
He was in high spirits that evening, and as soon as he stepped inside, he swept her into a lingering kiss.
The house staff quickly made themselves scarce.
Aurora, half embarrassed and half annoyed, playfully thumped his chest. “Stop it,” she whispered.
Daniel only grinned and, with effortless strength, scooped her up and carried her straight upstairs.
With him willing to set aside his pride to coax her, and her softening enough to meet him halfway, what happened between them in bed was nothing short of bliss.
Afterward, Daniel pressed a kiss to her damp forehead, and for a moment, it felt as though all the frustrations of the past days had melted away.
He rested his palm gently on Aurora’s stomach, letting himself imagine the possibility of new life growing there.
He even caught himself wondering-would it be a boy, or a girl?
“Aurora, our child would be beautiful,” he murmured tenderly.
Aurora turned on her side, burying her face in his chest.
She didn’t want him to see her true expression.
She wasn’t hoping for a child so soon.
This wouldn’t be a child born of love, not something she longed for.
“Mm,” she mumbled. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ
Daniel’s heart melted at the sight of her curled up so quietly and sweetly against him, and he felt entirely satisfied.
Noticing how late it was getting, he pulled on some clothes and headed downstairs.
The staff had kept dinner warm, and when they saw him, they immediately asked if he’d like them to prepare something fresh.
He waved them off, helping himself to a few dishes and fetching the herbal tonic, then made his way back to the bedroom.
Behind his back, the staff whispered happily about the couple making up-they were genuinely delighted.
Daniel propped Aurora up, coaxing and half-insisting that she eat a little, before finally offering her the tonic.
It was already lukewarm.
He started to set it aside. “Forget it, you don’t have to drink this.”
Aurora caught his arm. “I can manage.”
She finished the tonic, grimacing a little as she pressed her hand to her chest.
Daniel’s concern was clear. “If it’s too hard to take, don’t drink it anymore.”
She forced a smile. “Bitter medicine, but it’s not so bad.”
She sipped some warm water to chase the bitterness, then turned away and lay down.
She knew not to take everything he said in bed seriously. If she had, she wouldn’t have been forced to drink a second dose after throwing up the first time.
Now he was saying she didn’t have to drink it if she didn’t want to—she found that a bit ironic.
Besides, if she really refused, he’d only start to doubt her motives, and might even go back on his promise to help Payne.
Daniel took the empty dishes downstairs.
Will was already waiting in the living room.
He handed Daniel a folder of neatly organized documents.
“These are the latest findings. Most of what Mrs. Blackwood said checks out. Three years ago, there really was a fire that killed two people. She handled the funeral arrangements herself.”
A weight lifted from Daniel’s mind-Aurora hadn’t lied.
But as he flipped to the last page, his gaze sharpened. “They looked alike?”
Will nodded quickly. “Yes, that’s what the neighbors said. Ms. Winters, the florist, had two apprentices-almost identical in appearance, but with completely different personalities. One was lively, the other quiet.”
“They said the girl who died in the fire was Ms. Winters’s adopted daughter, Nora. She grew up in an orphanage.”
“We also found out that Nora was a troublemaker from childhood. She used to steal food at the orphanage and was eventually kicked out, which is when Ms. Winters took her in.”
“But she never really settled down. There was even a scandal-she became pregnant before marriage.”
In a place like Millbrook, getting pregnant out of wedlock was enough to make someone the subject of endless gossip—and Nora had died in that fire.
Daniel was silent, his thoughts drifting back to Aurora.
She was quiet by nature, but stubborn when it mattered, always determined to argue her point.
What did that mean?
Suddenly, Daniel caught himself. Why was he even comparing Aurora and Nora?