Aurora’s POV
I walked into the boardroom with my heart pounding like I’d swallowed thunder.
The room smelled of polished wood, cold air-conditioning, and something else. Expectation.
Every pair of eyes followed me as if I were a faltering performer stepping onto a stage I never auditioned for.
My mother’s project. She last with a monstrous dream.
A dream she never gave me the chance to understand… or escape.
I took the seat reserved for me at the head of the long glass table. My palms were damp, my pulse jittering. Screens flickered on.
I opened my laptop. Quiet whispers rippled like wind in a graveyard.
I thought I was ready. I was not.
Because the moment the door creaked open again. He hurriedly walked in.
Jake.
Jake Anderson. The man I once believed was charming. The man I on
