"You must be my brother's new wife. Hi! I'm Natalie, Nick's sister." The voice snapped Aurora out of her thoughts.
The girl she saw was really pretty. She was dressed up beautifully like she was a celebrity or something.
"Hi! Sorry I didn't know you were visiting today. You're really pretty. I'm Aurora." She couldn't stop herself from complimenting her.
"Thank you. You're really pretty as well. My brother said nothing about being in a serious relationship let alone having a girl he planned to marry,"
She sat beside Aurora at the pool side. "My brother really has eyes for good things. Sadly, he isn't made of good stuff."
Stunned, Aurora turned immediately to look at the girl that just said those words. "Aren't you his sister? Shouldn't you be speaking in his favor?"
"He's my brother. I know him very well. He isn't a good choice for a husband but people change right? That could be the case. But from how lost in thoughts you were and the look on your face when I got here, I doubt that's the case. What's going on?"
"I shouldn't be discussing issues with my husband with anyone."
"Right, but bottling it all up and sulking wouldn't do you any good. I was invited to Diane's birthday party tonight. I was hoping to get my brother to join me but he seems high as fuck so if you're interested, you can join me."
"Like, Diane, the famous jewelry designer or some other Diane who was also born on September 22nd?"
"Yes, it's The Diane. So are you coming? It would get your mind off things, something you seem to need right now."
"I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world. I might have the perfect dress for the occasion."
It didn't take long for Aurora to get ready, she was dressed in a pale purple dress. The top of the dress clung to her like a glove, exposing the creamy skin of her cleavage. The waist defined as the dress flowed from waist down, not too big, just right with a slit exposing her left thigh.
"You look like a princess, Aurora."
Aurora blushed at the compliment. "Thank you."
Even she couldn't take her eyes off herself. She kept staring at her reflection in the mirror.
"What's missing now is a Shawl, I should have one in my room. I'll go get it."
A few seconds later, she returned with a white shawl.
"Perfect, it's giving royalty."
"Thank you." They were off to the party in no time.
Nicholas had somehow managed to get himself to move, he wanted to make certain Lina hadn't tried anything funny with Aurora.
He lost control of his body once more and fell to the ground.
Boss! What's wrong?" Santos came to help him, concern evident in his face. Nicholas had started drifting off once more.
"Lina...She…" He mumbled inaudible words.
"Make sure she never steps foot into this house ever again."
"Yes sir." Santos fought the urge to ask what had happened.
"Aurora?"
"She's out with Miss Natalie, Boss."
:My sister is home?' He thought.
"Earlier, ma'am was asking Adam about your whereabouts. I figured she wanted to see you." It was all coming back to him. Aurora had seen him and Lina.
He tried to move on his own but it was fruitless.
"I got you boss." Santos helped him back into his room. Once placed in his bed, he drifted back into a deep slumber.
He was awoken by the continuous sound of his ringtone and luckily, he felt much better.
"Black, what's up?" It was Natalie's personal bodyguard.
"Boss, there was an attack on the venue for Diane's birthday party. Miss Natalie is safe but we can't seem to find Mrs. Hale. I've been trying to get to Santos sir."
His heart jumped into his throat.
The slumber and haze all disappeared at once.
"Find her! Did you take Luke with you?" He wanted to know if there were competent men searching for his wife.
"Yes sir."
"Good, now get to work, I'm on my way."
"Santos! Santos!!" He thundered
"Yes sir! Get ready, I need you to get the best of the men available, we're heading out."
"On it sir."
He was already dressed and ready to leave. He called Black. "Have you found her?" He held his phone tightly as awaiting Black's response.
"No sir." Words couldn't describe the heavy feeling he felt in his chest. What if something bad had happened to her?
"Boss, I can't let you go out there like this, You're unwell, it's dangerous. Black just filled me in on what's going on, it's really bad out there. Lives were lost, if Madam is still alive, we'll find her."
"Shut the fuck up! Who gave you permission to speak such nonsense? You know what else is dangerous? What's dangerous is you trying to tell me what to do." With that tone and mood, no one dared question him.
Just when he stepped out of the house, he got a call from Aurora.
"Hello, Nicholas, I'm stuck under a rubble somewhere… I can't explain where, I don't know what's going on, someone was after me and I just ran without direction."
"I'll find you Aurora, I promise." He'd gotten into the car and ordered the driver to drive as fast as he could.
"My leg hurts real bad, I need help. There's a bullet in my arm. Where are the cops when you need them? I'm not sure I can stay up for much longer, i…" the call got disconnected.
"Aurora! Aurora!" He thought the worst might have happened. "hit the damn gas!" He shouted at his driver.
"Yes sir!"
At the scene of the disaster, Aurora was struggling to breathe and keep herself awake. She'd finally reached someone, Nicholas but the signal had gone off.
"I have to try and escape on my own, it's the only way."
She tried once more but her foot was stuck under something sharp. She could sense the fire was spreading to where she was.
"God please, just this once, help me out of this."
An Idea popped in her head.
"If I could just try to move my leg to the right without lifting it even the slightest." In a swift motion, she moved her leg as swiftly as she could without lifting a muscle on that leg.
Freedom came at a cost, the iron had still managed to slice through her flesh despite her efforts.
"Aaaaah! Shit, shit." Recalling someone was after her and her screams could direct him to her, she bit on the shawl.
"Using the piece of fabric torn from her dress, she tied the injury on her ankle and tried to move. The pain was so much that all she wanted to do was lay down and cry but that wasn't going to do her any good. Biting hard on her shawl, she ran as fast as she could.
"Aurora!" She turned at the sound of her name. It was Nicholas. She turned to run as fast as she could to him but someone fired a gun and it hit her at her back, deep enough for the bullet to escape through her stomach.
"No!!! Aurora!" Nicholas screamed like a crazed man. He rushed over to her, barking orders to his men,
"Stay with me, Aurora. Don't go to sleep."
'Why was he shouting? My head hurt like hell.' She tried to speak but couldn't, she could taste the blood in her mouth.
"Shhhh reserve your strength, you'll be fine." He was scared of lifting her because of her injury but waiting for an ambulance could kill her quicker and lifting her would, right?
Aurora tried to tell Nicholas he had no right to tell her when she could and could not go to sleep or what to do with her strength but a wrenching cough seized her, causing more blood to gush from her mouth.
Nicholas barked more orders that she couldn't process. She was drifting off. She felt him lift her and pain knocked her out. When would this be over? Will she make it?