Aurora
1810 Words
The guard lowered his head immediately.
“Yes, sir.”
He disappeared without another word.
The dining hall remained deathly silent afterward.
Aurora Sinclair sat frozen in her chair, her breathing shallow and uneven.
Richard Sinclair was here.
He found her.
Her fingers trembled violently against the edge of the tablecloth.
Alessandro noticed every second of it.
Slowly, he turned toward her again.
“Aurora.”
She flinched softly at hearing her name.
Not because of him.
Because she was already expecting anger.
Punishment.
Humiliation.
Her voice came out barely audible.
“I-I can go downstairs—”
“No.”
The single word cut through the room instantly.
Firm.
Absolute.
Aurora looked up startled.
Alessandro stepped closer to her side of the table.
His expression remained unreadable, but his presence alone felt overwhelming.
“Look at me.”
She obeyed hesitantly.
Gray eyes met frightened blue ones.
“You do not belong to Richard Sinclair anymore.”
Aurora’s throat tightened painfully.
People had controlled her entire life.
Her father.
The staff.
Relatives.
Everyone.
Nobody had ever spoken like she was… free.
The thought terrified her more than comforted her.
Alessandro noticed the fear immediately.
Of course he did.
“You’re shaking,” he said quietly.
Aurora immediately clasped her hands tighter together to hide it.
“Sorry.”
A dangerous shadow crossed Alessandro’s face again.
He hated that word now.
Hated how naturally it left her mouth.
Before he could respond—
raised voices echoed faintly from downstairs.
Richard Sinclair.
Even from this distance, his anger carried through the mansion.
“You think you can keep my daughter from me?!”
Aurora visibly recoiled.
Alessandro’s jaw tightened.
Then suddenly—
Aurora stood abruptly from her chair.
“I should go,” she whispered shakily.
Alessandro looked at her sharply.
“He’ll get angrier if I don’t.”
The words felt practiced.
Learned through years of survival.
Appease him before he explodes.
Alessandro went very still.
Then slowly—
he removed his suit jacket.
Aurora blinked in confusion as he draped it carefully around her shoulders.
The fabric swallowed her smaller frame instantly, carrying traces of his cologne and warmth.
“If anyone raises their voice at you,” Alessandro said softly,
“you stand behind me.”
Aurora stared at him speechlessly.
Nobody had ever stood in front of her before.
Only pushed her forward.
Thrown her into blame.
Used her as sacrifice.
Something fragile inside her chest ached suddenly.
Alessandro gently adjusted the collar of the jacket around her trembling shoulders.
The movement was unexpectedly careful.
Almost protective.
Then his expression hardened again.
“Stay close.”
Downstairs—
the atmosphere inside the Moretti mansion had turned lethal.
Richard Sinclair stood near the entrance hall surrounded by armed guards.
Expensive suit.
Cold eyes.
Cruel mouth.
A man obsessed with power and ownership.
The moment Alessandro appeared at the top of the staircase, silence crashed through the hall instantly.
Richard looked furious.
Until his eyes landed on Aurora beside him.
Then his expression darkened further.
Because she was wearing Alessandro’s jacket.
Protected.
Claimed.
Richard’s voice became dangerously sharp.
“Aurora. Come here.”
Aurora instinctively took half a step backward instead.
Directly behind Alessandro.
The movement was tiny.
But everyone noticed it.
Including Richard.
Rage flashed across his face instantly.
“You ungrateful little—”
“Careful.”
Alessandro’s voice remained calm.
Which somehow felt far more threatening.
The entire hall froze.
Richard laughed coldly. “She’s my daughter.”
Alessandro descended the staircase slowly.
“One more insult,” he said softly,
“and you’ll leave this mansion in pieces.”
Even the guards looked tense now.
Because Alessandro Moretti never made empty threats.
Richard sneered. “You think marrying her means she belongs to you now?”
Alessandro stopped on the final step.
Then looked at Aurora briefly.
Really looked at her.
At the fear she was trying desperately to hide.
At the way her fingers clutched his jacket tightly.
At the instinctive terror in her eyes whenever Richard spoke.
When Alessandro turned back toward Richard—
something terrifying had entered his expression.
“No,” he said quietly.
“I think the fact she’s afraid of you tells me everything I need to know.”
Richard’s face darkened instantly.
“She’s dramatic.”
Aurora flinched.
Alessandro saw it.
And suddenly—
he smiled.
Not warmly.
Not pleasantly.
The kind of smile powerful men wore right before destroying someone.
“Dante.”
From the shadows, Dante Moretti stepped forward silently.
Alessandro never took his eyes off Richard.
“Call the lawyers.”
Richard’s confidence faltered slightly.
Alessandro continued calmly.
“And contact Child Protection Services regarding historical abuse allegations tied to the Sinclair estate.”
The silence afterward felt deafening.
Aurora stared at Alessandro in complete shock.
Richard’s face lost color instantly.
“You can’t prove anything.”
Alessandro tilted his head slightly.
“Perhaps not yet.”
Then his gray eyes turned glacial.
“But I can ruin you while I search.”
Fear flickered across Richard’s face for the very first time.
And Aurora—
Aurora realized something terrifying.
Alessandro Moretti was not angry because Richard embarrassed him.
He was angry because Richard hurt her.
The realization shook something deep inside her.
Because nobody had ever protected her without wanting something in return.
Richard pointed toward Aurora furiously.
“She’s weak. Emotional. Useless. She always—”
A loud crack echoed through the hall.
Nobody moved.
Richard slowly turned his head in shock.
Alessandro had punched him.
Hard enough to split his lip instantly.
The guards froze.
Dante looked entirely unsurprised.
Richard staggered backward.
And Alessandro—
Alessandro calmly adjusted his cufflinks afterward like violence meant nothing to him.
His voice dropped dangerously low.
“You will never speak about her that way again.”
Behind him—
Aurora stared at Alessandro with wide, stunned eyes.
Not fear.Richard touched the blood at the corner of his mouth slowly.
Disbelief flashed across his face first.
Then fury.
“How dare you—”
“Lower your voice.”
Alessandro Moretti spoke quietly.
That was the frightening part.
He wasn’t shouting.
Wasn’t angry in the normal sense.
He looked perfectly calm.
Like a man deciding whether someone deserved to continue breathing.
The guards around the hall shifted uneasily.
Even they knew Alessandro’s silence was more dangerous than violence.
Aurora Sinclair stood frozen behind him, fingers still clutching the back of his jacket tightly.
Her heart was beating so hard it hurt.
Nobody had ever hit Richard Sinclair for her before.
Nobody had ever defended her at all.
Richard laughed suddenly, though the sound carried no humor.
“You’re protecting her now?” he sneered. “Do you even know what she is?”
Aurora immediately lowered her head.
Instinct.
Brace before humiliation comes.
Alessandro noticed.
His expression darkened further.
“She ruins everything she touches,” Richard continued coldly. “Just like her mother.”
Aurora flinched so violently it looked painful.
And Alessandro—
went still.
Completely still.
The mansion itself seemed to tense around him.
“What did you say?” he asked softly.
Richard smirked cruelly, encouraged by Aurora’s reaction.
“Her mother died because of her. That girl has been a curse since birth.”
The words shattered something inside Aurora instantly.
Even after years—
those sentences still hurt.
Still bled.
She took an unconscious step backward, breathing uneven.
“No…” she whispered weakly.
Richard looked at her sharply. “You think hiding behind another man changes what you are?”
Aurora’s vision blurred.
The hallway suddenly felt too small.
Too loud.
Her chest tightened painfully.
She couldn’t breathe properly.
Not again—
please not again—
“Aurora.”
Alessandro’s voice cut through the panic immediately.
Low.
Controlled.
Grounding.
But Richard kept talking.
“She killed Isabella. Everyone knows it.”
That did it.
Aurora recoiled like she’d been struck physically.
A broken sound escaped her throat as tears filled her eyes instantly.
And suddenly—
Alessandro moved.
Fast.
Terrifyingly fast.
Richard barely had time to react before Alessandro grabbed him by the throat and slammed him violently against the marble wall.
The entire mansion erupted into chaos.
Guards rushed forward instinctively before Dante raised a hand calmly.
“Don’t.”
Because everyone could see it.
Alessandro was seconds away from murder.
Richard clawed at Alessandro’s wrist, choking.
“You—crazy—”
Alessandro tightened his grip.
“You blame a child,” he said softly,
“for surviving a fire she was trapped inside?”
The hall fell silent.
Aurora’s tears stopped abruptly.
Richard’s eyes widened slightly.
Alessandro’s gray eyes looked absolutely murderous now.
“I know about the nursery.”
For the first time—
real fear crossed Richard Sinclair’s face.
Dante watched carefully from the side.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Richard struggled harder. “You know nothing.”
Alessandro leaned closer.
“I know someone locked the door.”
Aurora froze completely.
The words echoed through her mind.
Locked.
Door.
Nursery.
Richard’s composure cracked for half a second.
And Alessandro saw it.
That tiny flicker confirmed everything.
A cold smile appeared on Alessandro’s face.
Horrifying.
“You were there.”
Richard’s breathing turned uneven.
“You can’t prove—”
Alessandro slammed him harder into the wall.
“You left her to die.”
Aurora stared at her father in horror.
The world around her suddenly felt distorted.
Wrong.
Her mother died trying to save her.
The nursery was locked.
And Richard—
Richard looked afraid.
A memory flashed suddenly inside Aurora’s mind.
Smoke.
Heat.
Her mother screaming.
And someone shouting outside the door.
A male voice.
She stumbled backward weakly.
“No…”
Alessandro heard her immediately.
His grip loosened slightly as he turned toward her.
Aurora looked pale.
Terrified.
Broken.
“Breathe,” Alessandro ordered softly.
But Aurora couldn’t.
Her memories were crashing together too violently.
Richard noticed instantly.
And even now—
even now—
he chose cruelty.
“She remembers,” he hissed bitterly. “Good. Maybe now she’ll remember what she destroyed.”
Aurora made a small choking sound.
Alessandro snapped.
Richard hit the floor hard enough to crack marble beneath him.
Gasps echoed across the hall.
Before anyone could react, Alessandro pulled a gun from one of the guards beside him and aimed it directly at Richard’s head.
Instant silence.
Aurora’s eyes widened in terror.
Not because she feared Alessandro.
Because she realized—
he would actually do it.
Richard saw it too.
The fear on his face became genuine now.
Alessandro’s finger rested calmly against the trigger.
“You should pray,” he said softly,
“that she asks me not to kill you.”
And for the first time in his entire life—
Richard Sinclair looked powerless.
to be continued
Not yet.
Something far more dangerous.
Hope.
- Writer
