Married to my enemy’s son

Chapter4

Aurora Vale

The mirror in my bedroom doesn’t lie. It shows a woman in a pearl-grey slip dress, hair brushed back in soft, deliberate waves, makeup flawless, eyes hollow.

The press release is scheduled for ten a.m.

Ten minutes from now, every tabloid and outlet in New York will publish the headline:

Aurora Vale and Kai Cross Announce Engagement.

I close my eyes and picture my father’s face.

Would he be proud? Horrified? Furious?

Would he recognize me?

The girl who once twirled barefoot in his study is gone. In her place stands a woman who’s learned how to weaponize beauty and walk into boardrooms like a battlefield.

The woman engaged to the son of the man who framed him.

I press a trembling hand to my flat stomach.

And carrying his grandchild.

I haven’t told Kai. I can’t.

He’d think I trapped him. That I was playing a deeper game.

And maybe I am.

But not with the baby.

The baby changes everything… and nothing.

A knock interrupts my spiral. I expect Lizzy, maybe even Kai.

But it’s my mother.

Regal as ever in her silk blouse and stilettos, she glides in like she owns the building. She hasn’t been to this apartment in over a year.

I stare. “You’re early.”

“I read the announcement draft,” she says, brushing imaginary lint from her sleeve. “Well-worded. Neutral. Noncommittal. You’ve learned something from me after all.”

I ignore the barb. “Did you come here for approval or to give it?”

“Neither.” Her gaze sharpens. “I came to warn you.”

“About?”

“Lucian Cross,” she says flatly. “He’ll never let this marriage stay fake.”

I stiffen. “Kai agreed—”

“Kai is a pawn,” she cuts in. “Lucian is the player. Don’t forget that.”

She walks to the windows, staring down at the city like it’s her chessboard.

“You’re entering a den of vipers, Aurora. And you’re doing it alone.”

I want to tell her I’m not alone. That I have Lizzy. That I have something stronger than rage inside me now.

But I don’t say it.

She wouldn’t understand.

She never did.

She looks back at me, face unreadable. “If you fall in love with him, you lose.”

Then she turns and leaves, her perfume lingering like judgment.

Hours later, Kai sends a car.

The gala is formal—black tie, white gloves, gold-leafed invitation. The kind of event where everything sparkles and nothing is real.

I step out of the car into a blizzard of camera flashes. Kai is waiting by the steps in a black tux, his hair slicked back, jaw set.

He offers his hand.

I take it.

Our fingers brush.

The world watches.

And in that moment, I smile—not for the cameras, not for the press.

For him.

Just a flicker.

And he sees it.

I know because he blinks like I’ve surprised him.

Like the ice between us just cracked.

And maybe, just maybe…

That’s how diamonds are born.