Aurora’s POV
The email arrives at 2:17 a.m.
No warning. No message in the body. Just an attachment.
From: Jake Anderson.
Subject: Everything you deserve to know.
My finger hovers over the screen. My heart already knows what my mind is still trying to deny. Jake never sends anything without intent.
When he says everything, he means blood, bones, and buried sins.
I hurriedly sat up in bed. Zayne is asleep beside me, snoring as his breathing steadies, his arm heavy across my waist like an anchor.
For a moment, I almost didn't open it. For a moment, I want to stay ignorant, wrapped in the lie that love can protect you from truth.
Then I remember my father’s face in the courtroom photos I saw years ago.
I remember the way Zayne sometimes watches me like he’s waiting for a bomb to go
