Aurora Born into one of the most powerful business dynasties, Aurora Fisher never imagined she'd find herself under the roof of

AURORA'S POV The last day of school was always the busiest. Students crowded the hallways, dragging suitcases of every shape and size. Doors slammed, voices overlapped, and everyone seemed to be in a hurry to leave. My roommates had been going back and forth for the past hour, making sure they hadn't forgotten anything. I, on the other hand, had packed weeks ago. My bags sat neatly in a corner of the room, waiting for Mr Donald, my family's chauffeur, who was supposed to pick me up. I had always preferred being prepared to running around like a headless chicken. Megan, however, was currently losing a battle against her suitcase. "Help me! This suitcase hates me." She tugged at the zipper, glaring at it as though it had personally offended her. "I really can't wait to see you this summer, though. Maybe we could go to my family's beach house together. That's if you're down, of course." "I'd love that. Besides, I've got nothing planned for the summer." "Perfect!" She returned her attention to the suitcase, wrestling with it for what had to be her third attempt at getting it shut. Just then, her phone rang. Megan abandoned the suitcase like a soldier retreating from a losing war and hurried towards her bed. She wedged the phone between her shoulder and ear, mumbling something I couldn't quite make out. Whatever she heard made her face light up. "Mon! Downstairs? I'm coming!" She ended the call and finally managed to close her suitcase. "That's my cue, my love." She turned to me, flashing that familiar smile. "Walk me down, pleeeeease." There it was. The manipulation. Megan had a remarkable talent for making me do things I had absolutely no intention of doing. She didn't even need to try very hard. I gave her my best death stare, but my hands were already reaching for my shoes. She grinned. I hated that grin. We made our way down the hallway, squeezing past students hauling luggage almost as big as themselves. One girl was even dragging what looked suspiciously like a mattress. A mattress. For a summer break. I shook my head. The feeling never got old. The last day of school always carried a certain kind of excitement, the promise of freedom, new adventures, and a few months without assignments breathing down your neck. At least, that was how everyone else seemed to feel. A few blocks from the dormitory, a sleek black SUV waited by the curb. Two uniformed men stepped out as we approached and began loading Megan's luggage into the trunk. She turned to me and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. "I'll miss you, mon amie. Call me every day, okay?" "I will." "You'd better." She squeezed me once more before climbing into the vehicle. A moment later, the SUV pulled away, disappearing down the road. And just like that, Queen Meg was gone. The silence she left behind was almost unnatural. I slipped my hands into my pockets and started walking back towards the dormitory. My phone vibrated against my palm, and I pulled it out to check the screen. Three missed calls from Uncle Gab. Odd. He wasn't even supposed to be the one picking me up. I opened his messages. Call me immediately. It's your parents. I stopped walking. My parents were supposed to be in France for a business trip. They had left with the usual promises to call, the usual reminders to study, and the usual assurances that everything would be fine. So what could possibly have happened? Except... No. The thought came before I could stop it. For a moment, the world seemed to drop away beneath my feet. Students continued moving around me, their voices blending into a distant, meaningless hum, but I couldn't bring myself to move. My mind travelled back three years. Three years since the worst day of my life. My younger brother, Micky, had drowned. Even now, the memory was enough to tighten my chest and leave me struggling for air. I had spent years trying to convince myself that I was no longer that girl, the one who couldn't sleep without nightmares or get through a day without being haunted by what had happened. But guilt had a way of finding you, no matter how far you ran. "Aurora." I didn't respond. "Aurora!" A pair of hands waved in front of my face. "Jeez, girl! Are you even in there?" I blinked. Adam. Of course. His brows were drawn together as he studied me, concern written all over his face. "You good, babe?" I forced a smile. "I'm fine." He gave me a look that said he didn't believe a word of it, but he took my hand anyway, leading me back towards the dormitory. Adam had the kind of accent that deserved its own fan club. Every word rolled off his tongue so effortlessly that it was almost offensive. Honestly, he should have been born a lady. The world would have been a more beautiful place for it. As usual, he filled the entire walk back with conversation, occasionally throwing in a dramatic complaint about something or someone. I nodded at the appropriate intervals, although I couldn't have repeated a single thing he'd said. How the hell did a gay man manage to get into a relationship before I did? Life was deeply unfair. By the time we reached the room, Adam had moved on to another topic. I sank onto my bed, staring blankly at the floor. I had never really recovered from Micky's death. My parents tried everything. Therapy, new surroundings, a different school. They hoped that taking me away from everything familiar would somehow give me a fresh start. It didn't. I shut everyone out. Stopped talking unless I had to, stopped caring about things I once enjoyed, and spent months trapped inside my own head. I blamed myself for what happened to Micky. Perhaps it was easier than accepting that sometimes terrible things happened without anyone being able to undo them. Whatever the reason, the guilt never left. "Yo, b***h! You will not believe what happened." Adam's voice dragged me out of my thoughts. "Can you imagine Derek cheating on McCall? Oh my God. Shut up! That nigga is a motherfucker. Can you imagine the audacity? And McCall, of all people! I swear, if she takes him back, I'm losing all respect for women." He paused for dramatic effect. "Actually, no. I'm losing respect for humanity." I stared at him. He stared back. "Why do you always have that boring look on your face?" he demanded. "Do you ever get excited about anything?" "You know what Albert Einstein said?" Adam narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you have to keep moving." I waited. He continued waiting. Then his face twisted. "Girl, what the hell was that?" I shrugged. "Exactly." He threw himself into the fluffy chair beside my bed. "Never mind." That was Adam. Carefree Adam, who could turn the most insignificant piece of gossip into a national emergency and somehow make it everyone else's problem. He and Megan were the closest people I had at Oklahoma High. Everyone else fell into the category of people I tolerated because we happened to occupy the same space. Adam, unfortunately, had never learned when to shut up. He was still muttering something about Derek and McCall when my phone rang. I glanced at the screen. Uncle Gab. Again. "Are you going to pick that up?" Adam asked, his brows furrowing. "Of course." I answered and pressed the phone to my ear. "Aurora." My uncle's familiar, husky voice came through the speaker. "Yes, Uncle?" "Where are you?" I frowned. Where did he think I would be? I was a student living in a dormitory, and it was the last day of school. "I'm in my dorm." "Good. Stay there. I'm coming to get you." I sat up straighter. "You? What about my parents? I saw your messages. Are they okay?" There was a pause. "We'll talk about that in person." "Uncle Gab—" He hung up. I stared at my phone. What was that supposed to mean? This family would be the death of me. I rubbed my forehead, trying to make sense of everything. Why was Uncle Gab coming to get me instead of Mr Donald? Why wouldn't he tell me what was happening? And why had he sent that message about my parents as though he expected me to understand what it meant? I hated unanswered questions. Then again, I had never been particularly good at dealing with my family. After Micky's death, I had practically pushed my parents out of my life. I stopped calling them unless absolutely necessary. I didn't call to ask about my tuition or books, and I didn't bother them with anything else I needed. If there was something I wanted, I contacted Mr Donald and asked him to pass the information along. Sometimes, I sent a text. That was the extent of our communication. I blamed my parents for Micky's death. I loved them, but I hated them, too. I missed them, but I couldn't bear the thought of sitting across from them and pretending that everything was fine. They were my parents. My only family. And somehow, I had managed to turn loving them into something that hurt. I picked up my phone again and dialled my father's number. It rang. And rang. Voicemail. I lowered it slowly. This day was getting weirder by the minute. "Aurora?" Adam was beside me now, his earlier excitement replaced by concern. "What's wrong?" "I don't know." I swallowed. "Something feels... weird." He studied my face. "Isn't Mr Donald supposed to be picking you up?" I froze. Of course. Mr Donald. I had his number. I could call him and find out what was going on. I wasn't someone who called people unnecessarily or questioned every little thing, but apparently, today had decided to test the limits of my patience. I dialled his number. He answered almost immediately. "Good day, Miss Aurora." I had always liked the way Mr Donald said my name. There was something reassuring about his calm, familiar voice. Today, however, it did absolutely nothing for me. "Mr Donald, are you coming to pick me up?" A pause. "Well..." I sat up straighter. "No?" "I'm afraid not, Miss Aurora." "Why not?" Another pause. "Mr Donald?" "I was fired, Aurora." For a moment, I genuinely thought I had misheard him. "What?" "I was fired." "Why? By whom?" Silence. "Mr Donald?" "It's nothing, Miss Aurora." "Nothing? You just told me you were fired! How is that nothing?" He didn't answer. My grip tightened around the phone. "Please, just tell me what's going on." When he finally spoke, his voice had changed. "Just be careful, Miss Aurora." The line went dead. I stared at the screen, unable to move. Mr Donald had worked for my family for years. He had been there through the worst days of my life, quietly doing his job without ever making me feel like I was a burden. He wasn't the kind of man who made careless statements. And now he had been fired. My uncle was coming to get me, but refused to explain what had happened to my parents. My father wasn't answering his phone, and the one person I expected to pick me up had suddenly lost his job. Something was terribly wrong. I looked at Adam, who was watching me with an expression I couldn't quite read. For the first time that day, I wished I had never asked.