Aurora's POV
The lights of the ballroom shimmered against the crystal chandeliers, casting warm gold over the guests gathered for my mother’s charity relaunch. I stood at the center, smiling, steady, so perfect, exactly the way she would’ve wanted me to be.
But inside, my pulse thudded like a trapped thing begging to flee.
This was supposed to be a clean start. A new chapter. My tribute to her.
Not an ambush. Not a moment I would remember forever for all the wrong reasons.
I adjusted the silver pin on my mother’s portrait on the main display. Her bright smile watched over everything, kind, proud, and painfully close to the version of myself I kept trying to resurrect.
“You’re doing amazing,” I whispered to her picture. Even though I wasn’t sure if I believed it.
My life was suppose
