Chapter 97

The news reached Aurora like a punch to the gut: Grandma Grace had been taken to the hospital.
The caregiver called her in a panic, voice trembling as she explained that someone had whisked Grace away and forbade any contact with outsiders. Then, after a heated argument with the daughter-in-law from Fairvale, Grace had fainted -her heart giving out under the strain.
Now, Grace was in the emergency room. Only then did the caregiver sneak away to place the desperate call to Aurora.
Aurora’s hands shook with fury. She should have known. That side of the family had never had a shred of decency.
She rushed to the hospital, dread gnawing at her with every step.
Grace was still in the ER when Aurora arrived. Sitting together in the waiting area, Fiona and Eleanor whispered in low, urgent voices, their faces tight with tension.
Aurora strode over, grabbed Eleanor by the arm, and slapped her across the face without hesitation.
Eleanor yelped, clutching her cheek, “Aurora!”
Fiona snapped to attention, her voice sharp and brittle, “Aurora, what do you think you’re doing?” Read full story at.net
She raised her own hand, ready to strike back, but Aurora’s eyes were cold as steel. She caught Fiona’s wrist and shoved her aside, barely restraining herself from landing a slap of her own.
They both deserved it.
Fiona stumbled backward, collapsing gracelessly into a chair. The woman who always prided herself on elegance now looked stunned and utterly humiliated. “Aurora, have you lost your mind?”
Aurora’s face was pale with rage, her words clipped and icy. “If anything happens to Grandma, I’ll make sure Samuel spends the rest of his life behind bars.”
How heartless could they be, dragging an elderly woman all the way to Fairvale- pushing her so far she wound up in the ER? In that moment, Aurora felt she could kill them.
“You’d send your own brother to prison?” Fiona was practically hysterical.
All those old incidents-she’d always dismissed them as childish squabbles. She’d never liked Aurora’s distant, stubborn ways and thought a little tough love might break her spirit, make her more obedient. So whenever something happened, she blamed Aurora.
But now, with Samuel facing jail and Eleanor clutching her cheek, Fiona finally saw it: her daughter really was cold and unfeeling. Aurora had no loyalty left for this family, and it was all Grace’s fault for raising her that way.
Fiona almost felt glad she’d taken her son and left Grace behind. She found herself wishing Grace wouldn’t make it out of that ER at all.
Aurora’s eyes blazed. “Get out. You don’t belong here. Don’t let Grandma see your faces.”
Fiona tried to steady her breath, but the fury still trembled in her limbs. Eleanor, still rubbing her cheek, spoke up in a voice thick with self-pity.
“Aurora, whatever’s happened, Samuel is Grandma’s grandson. If you really care about her, you’ll tell the police to let him go.”
They knew exactly where to press-Aurora’s love for her grandmother was her only weakness.
Aurora’s gaze snapped to Eleanor, who shrank back, clearly afraid she’d be slapped again. Aurora felt no sisterly affection at all.
“I said get out,” Aurora bit out, her voice hoarse, her whole body trembling with the effort of holding herself together.
The image of Grandma lying unconscious in that hospital bed made Aurora’s heart ache so badly she could hardly breathe.
Just then, Jordan’s voice boomed down the hallway, full of righteous anger. “Aurora, is that any way to speak to your mother?”
He’d rushed home from a business trip the moment he heard the news.
Fiona’s lifeline had arrived.
She hurled herself into her husband’s arms, sobbing, “Jordan, look at what Aurora’s done to this family! She’s tearing us apart!”