CHAPTER 4
1454 Words
AURORA DUARTE
The man’s hand remains outstretched toward me, that disgusting smile dripping from his lips like poison.
Cold sweat trickles down my spine.
Every second here is a risk — a step closer to the abyss Lorenzo and I keep pretending doesn’t exist.
I touch his arm, firmly, like someone holding onto a rope not to drown.
"Lorenzo," I whisper, trying to smile.
"Let’s go. Now."
He frowns.
"What happened?"
"Please." I grip his hand tighter. He feels it. Senses the fear.
We slip out through the side of the ballroom, using the emergency doors that lead to a deserted hallway.
The silence is a momentary relief, but we barely have time to breathe.
Footsteps behind us. Fast. Sharp like an arrow.
"Lorenzo!"
We stop.
The man’s voice echoes through the hallway. Lorenzo turns, and I feel the tension ripple through his entire body.
The man smiles, even from afar, like he’s won something.
"I always knew you were a deviant, Lorenzo. But marrying a w***e? That’s low, even for you."
The words hit me like a punch.
My chest tightens. The air rushes out of my lungs as if someone just knocked the wind out of me.
Lorenzo doesn’t speak for a second. He just stares at the man with cold, slow eyes.
"Leave," he says, voice steady. Low.
"Now."
The man laughs.
"Have you slept with her yet? At the club, she used to play hard to get. Said she danced, but didn’t sell the rest… But now with a ring on her finger, I guess everything’s up for grabs, huh?"
Everything explodes in a second.
Lorenzo’s fist slices the air and lands on the man’s face with a dry crack.
A scream escapes my throat as they both crash to the floor, arms turning into weapons, bodies colliding violently against the cold tile.
"RESPECT HER!" Lorenzo roars, punching him again.
"Lorenzo, STOP!" I scream, pulling at his arm, but he’s gone. His eyes are blind with rage.
"ENOUGH!"
I yank hard. He stops. Breathes.
His hands are bleeding, knuckles raw, breathing erratic.
The man groans on the floor, face covered in blood. But he still manages to speak.
"This isn’t over…" he mutters, spitting blood on the ground.
Lorenzo stands, still burning with fury, and the man tries to pull himself together.
I turn, wanting to get out of there, but he grabs my arm roughly.
"This is your fault," he spits.
"You’re the reason for this. Your damn presence! Your filthy past!"
I yank my arm free and, without thinking, try to slap him across the face.
He catches my wrist mid-air and shoves me against the wall.
He pins me there, hard.
"I don’t want another scandal from you! No headlines! No reminders of where you came from!"
His words cut deeper than his fingers digging into my skin.
"You... you’re just like all the others." My voice breaks.
"In the end, you’re all the same."
I break free with fury, shoving Lorenzo with my body, eyes full of tears.
He stares at me but doesn’t try to stop me.
I walk alone down the hallway, ignoring the stares from the few people in the lobby.
The blood in my veins boils, my heart pounding too loud, the taste of shame thick in my throat.
I get into the car alone.
I don’t wait for him.
I don’t want to see him.
The scent of expensive cologne still clings to my skin. But I feel filthy. Like I’m back in that dark dressing room, full of fear, full of shame.
Minutes later, Lorenzo gets into the car.
I close my eyes, swallow hard.
"Don’t talk to me."
He slumps into the driver’s seat, breathing heavily. His hands still red. Clothes wrinkled.
"Aurora…" he starts.
"Shut up."
He runs a hand through his hair, frustrated, then looks at me.
"I just wanted to protect you."
"Protect?" I turn to him, furious.
"Protect me by slamming me against a wall? Yelling at me like I’m to blame for every man who touches me after I say no?"
He moves closer. The space between us shrinks.
"You’re not a mistake." His voice is low. Honest.
"Then why do I feel like one?"
We sit there. Eyes locked. So close his scent hits me again.
Wood. Whiskey. Blood.
His breath brushes my skin. And despite all the anger, all the pain, something pulses between us. Something pulling me in.
He lifts his hand to my face, but I push it away.
"No," I whisper.
"Don’t do this now."
"Aurora…"
"I hate you, Lorenzo." My voice is a blade.
He says nothing, just starts the car and drives.
Lorenzo keeps his eyes glued to the road, jaw clenched, hands gripping the wheel like it’s the only control he has left.
The silence inside the car is deafening.
I look out the window, trying to hold back the tears that keep pushing forward.
But I can’t anymore.
"I didn’t have a choice, Lorenzo."
He doesn’t respond, but I know he heard me. The tension in his jaw tightens.
"My stepmother made sure I never had a chance. That no one in town would trust me. That I couldn’t get a decent job. She destroyed everything my father left me — even my reputation."
Pause. The words come out heavy, dirty.
"So yeah. I ended up at the club. Dancing for disgusting men who looked at me like I was just meat." I gasp for air.
"Many tried to cross the line. So many."
I turn to him again, rage rising.
"And then comes you. The billionaire. The man who has everything. You slam me into a wall like you own me. You’re a f*****g asshole, Lorenzo."
He closes his eyes for a moment, chest rising and falling with tense breaths.
And then, finally, he speaks.
"I’m sorry."
Simple. Dry. No decoration.
"I’m sorry I took it out on you. For blaming you. I just... I lost control. Hearing him talk about you like that made me lose it."
"How touching," I mock.
"Now you have a conscience."
"I should’ve never touched you like that. Never." He speaks sincerely, but even so... it’s not enough.
"I just want these six months to end." My voice cracks.
"I want to be done with you. With your world. With all of this."
He stays quiet.
His silence weighs more than any scream.
And then, out of nowhere, he swerves off the road onto a dirt path, completely off course.
"What the hell are you doing?" I ask, sitting up straight.
"Nothing. I just... need to breathe."
"Breathe?" I laugh bitterly.
"Are you going to bury me here? Is that it? Solve the problem for good?"
He slams the brakes hard, right in the middle of nowhere — just grass and darkness on both sides.
The car creaks. Silence explodes again.
"You gonna kill me?" I say, sarcastic.
"Gonna say it was a tragic accident?"
Lorenzo punches the steering wheel.
The dry thud makes me flinch.
"f**k, Aurora! I don’t like you either!"
We sit in silence.
His words hit like a slap.
"I don’t like how you make me lose control!" He breathes deep.
"But for this to work — for this damn show to work — we have to at least try."
"Try?" I challenge.
"To be what? Friends? Partners? Like... devil’s roommates?"
He looks at me. His eyes burn.
But this time, it’s not just anger. It’s something heavier. More dangerous.
"You provoke me," he says quietly.
"You irritate me."
Lorenzo studies me, then moves closer.
The mocking smile on my lips starts to fade when he kisses me.
It’s quick. Intense. Hot like wild fire.
I freeze for a second.
His taste floods my mouth, his tongue brushes mine, and my mind short-circuits.
My fingers grip the seat like the world’s spinning.
When he pulls back, still close, my face is burning.
And I slap him.
The smack echoes inside the car.
Lorenzo turns his face with the hit, but when he looks back at me... he’s smiling.
"Okay," he says, voice rough.
"I deserved that."
"You’re insane."
"And you’re not?"
For a second, we just stare at each other.
My chest rises and falls quickly.
His breath grazes my skin.
The car feels too small for us.
The whole world feels too small.
And then... f**k it all.
I pull him back.
This kiss is even more savage.
Tongue, teeth, breath crashing together.
My fingers tangle in his hair as he grabs my waist, dragging me onto his lap.
The seat creaks.
The car windows start to fog up.
I hate this man.
But in this moment, I want him more than air.
- Writer
