Chapter2

Aurora’s POV

Marisol had been my favorite place in the world for as long as I could remember. When I was younger, I used to picture myself marrying the man I loved on its white sand.

That was why I had chosen it for our wedding.

Then, just as the date drew close, Chloe was diagnosed with depression. She clung to Ethan morning and night, and whenever she didn’t get her way, she talked about ending it all.

And every time, Ethan pushed the wedding back.

“Can’t you have a little heart? Chloe is ill. Am I supposed to just abandon her?

“You’re the only woman I’ll ever marry. The ceremony is a formality. We have our whole lives. What difference does it make when we go to Marisol?”

We fought about Chloe more times than I could count.

This time, I was done waiting.

When I switched my phone back on, a video from Ethan was waiting.

It had been filmed at sunset on the deck of a hotel yacht, the sea burning gold behind the railing.

Chloe’s voice rang out over the wind. “Oh my God, this is unreal! Ethan, film me! Make sure I’m in it…”

Ethan laughed off-camera. “I’m filming, I’m filming. Keep it down, people are looking.”

“So let them look! I’m on vacation with a friend. Since when is that a crime?”

The frame wobbled and caught Chloe in a white sundress, the hem soaked with spray, walking toward him with a huge smile.

Then the video ended.

A text followed right after.

“Morning, Aurora. Wanted to share last night’s sunset with you. Chloe found this hotel and it’s amazing. Let’s stay here next time.”

I looked at the screen, and a laugh slipped out of me.

There wasn’t going to be a next time.

At ten past four that afternoon, my father’s jet touched down on the private apron at Port Azure Airport.

Ground staff were already waiting. They walked me and my assistant, Matteo Rinaldi, through customs in minutes.

“Principessa,” Matteo said, “which hotel? I’ll drive you.”

“No need,” I said. “I’ll take a taxi. Go and rest. I’ll call if I need you.”

He didn’t argue. He bowed his head slightly and left.

The moment I stepped outside, warm, salt-heavy air wrapped around me. Palm fronds rustled overhead, and the breeze smelled of coconut and freedom.

It was exactly how I had always pictured it.

The weight I had carried for years began to loosen. For the first time in a long time, I could breathe.

I gave the driver the name of a small hotel on the bay that I’d bookmarked years ago. Twenty minutes later, I was stepping out beside the fountain in its forecourt.

“Aurora?” a startled voice called behind me. “What are you doing here?”

I turned. Ethan and Chloe were coming up the path from the beach, hand in hand. Both of them stopped dead at the sight of me.

I didn’t move. “Don’t read into it. I have some business here.”

I hadn’t come with them, and I hadn’t come for them. I wanted no part of their drama, so I said what I had to and turned to go.

Ethan’s face clouded over. He caught my wrist. “Aurora, I told you Chloe wanted this trip to be just the two of us. What is this? What are you trying to pull? And what’s with the attitude?”

Before I could answer, Chloe rushed over and seized my hand, tears already spilling down her cheeks. “Aurora, I’ve been in such a dark place. I only wanted Ethan with me so I could get better faster.

“I’d never try to take him from you. It’s just that some days I don’t even want to be alive… Aurora, do you hate me? Don’t you want me to get better? Do you really want me dead that badly?”

Then she leaned in half a step, close enough that only I could hear. “Aurora Valenti… you’re still hanging on to him? Let’s make a bet. Whatever happens, he’ll take my side. And you’ll be the punchline.”

I looked at her, then past her at Ethan.

“Keep him,” I said quietly. “I stopped betting on him at the airport.”