Chapter four

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The Doctor shifted his glasses on his nose, "Yes, the lady was poisoned. But we've been able to take it out of her system. She's safe now," 

"Damian, where is she?" Damian's mother's voice rang from behind them and Damian turned to see his Mom. 

The manner at which she was breathing and showed that she ran up here, Damian quickly hugged his mother. Aurora stood still. She and his mother never got along–or maybe she was disappointed at Damian's taste in women and she never thought to look deeper than what backgrounds and status say.

"How is she doing?" Damian's mother asked again.

"She's fine," Damian replied to his mother before turning to the Doctor. "Can we go see her now?" 

"Yes, but please don't do anything to disturb the patient." The Doctor warned. 

"We won't," Damian said and they went inside to see Juliet. Aurora stayed back in the waiting chair. 

Aurora had been in this marriage this long because of Damian. She knew his family didn't accept her but he always defended her. And now that his bestie was now a divorcee, she was afraid for the future of her marriage. 

Losing Damian was something she couldn't afford. But she had to find a way to go about this issue. 

Aurora went into deep thought. She'd been awake all night waiting for the doctor and now the news she'd been waiting for was here she couldn't go inside the room.

After spending thirty minutes in the room, Serenity, Damian's mother, came out of the room. 

Aurora stood to her feet and immediately she saw the old lady. Her fidgety hands went to her back. 

"You're lucky you're not involved in the poisoning, I wouldn't hesitate to throw you into jail." The woman said to Aurora with a hard stare. 

Aurora didn't understand what she meant. She was still trying to wrap her head around how the poison got into the food she'd tasted in the kitchen. Unless…

"The housekeeper confessed that she did it," Serenity said impulsively as she sensed the confusion on Aurora's face, "But…" she pulled a finger up. "...that doesn't mean you're free. I have my eyes on you, just know that. And secondly, why haven't you conceived since your last child?" 

Aurora half-expected the question. Serenity had pushed her son, Damian, into making a desperate decision-getting married. So he could get her off his back, and Aurora had been very fertile, within the first month of her impromptu marriage she got pregnant and had her baby after nine months. 

Serenity showed concern when her grandchild died, she gave Aurora the little support she could and varnished. She hadn't disturbed Aurora again but Aurora knew it somewhere in her heart that she'd be questioned by her mother-in-law soon.

"I've been trying. Damian has been busy with work and we haven't spent so much time together, you know. We are still grieving our child." 

"Spare me that bullshit!" She shoved her palm in Aurora's face, "You lost a child, then what? Aren't you guys going to move on?" Her voice was harsh, her gaze was scorching, Aurora looked down. "Or is there something you're hiding? I can sense it." She paused a second and said. "Look at me." Aurora's heart raced. "Aurora, Look. At. Me." 

Aurora finally raised her eyes and it met Damian's mother's furious eyes. "What are you hiding?" 

"Nothing," Aurora lied. "Nothing, I'm not hiding anything." Aurora shook her head timidly under Serenity's intense scrutiny.

"I want to believe you. But you have three months at most, three months to show me pregnancy test results. If not, you're gonna divorce him. Do you understand?" 

"Yes, ma'am." Aurora nodded politely.

"My father needs me. Take care of my son." Serenity said, giving Aurora a once-over before walking away.

Aurora released a breath she didn't know she was holding. Aurora touched her stomach, and at the same time she lowered herself back to the sofa the hospital had provided in the lobby.

It was at the tip of her tongue to tell her mother-in-law that she was pregnant, but she felt it wasn't right for her to know first. She knew now that she had to tell her husband as soon as possible.

Damian was the only one that she trusted and was very close to, her relationship with every other person was strained. It was the fear of the way they'd looked at her when she was introduced as Damian's wife. The way they'd condemned her, her background. But Damian defended her and forced them to accept her and they had no choice because they'd been the ones pushing him to get married.

Their instant rejection left an indelible mark in Aurora's memory. And she told herself that they'd never see her differently, so she kept her distance. 

She wanted to go inside the ward and check on Juliet and apologize for what happened yesterday but she couldn't. Damian hadn't come out to see if she was still there or even texted her. She just sat there in the lobby like a fool. She decided to leave the place and go home.

She used the elevator and dropped to the last floor. Walking her way through the major lobby, she passed the glass-double doors. 

Cool breeze biting her skin, she shielded her arm with her palm, brushing up and down against her skin. She was wearing a handless shirt and jeans.

"Hey, Aurora," She heard someone call from a corner as she walked out of the hospital.

Her eyes landed on a face she knew all too well for his sly smirk and messy hair, those mischievous eyes, his Rebellious attire, and back to his honey-brown eyes.

"Ethan," Aurora said with a small smile, brushing a rogue strand of her hair to the back. "What are you doing here?" 

"Came to pick up my mom," He glanced at the hospital building then back to Aurora.

"Really? She just left. Didn't you call her before coming?" 

"She called me. But I had a little mishap on my way here…" He shrugged, Aurora noticed the slight stubble on his saw-like jaw. She immediately looked away, it was forbidden to look at her husband's brother like that.

"So what are you going to do now?" Aurora asked. 

"Go back. There's nothing here." Ethan said, straightening his leather jacket and taking a step back.

"Your childhood friend is inside. Don't you want to see her?" Aurora probed.

"I have no business with that bitch. She's not my childhood friend, she's my brother's childhood friend. She has enough people to check on her. I'm leaving, what about you?" 

Aurora was surprised, she wanted to ask Ethan why he didn't care about his brother's best friend, but she had better things to worry about–fixing her marriage.

"I…I was about to leave." Aurora admitted.

"Okay. Let me take you then," Ethan pointed to a bright Mercedes nearby. "That's my car." 

Aurora wanted to resist but she wasn't sure she had the strength to. He was her brother-in-law, after all, There was nothing wrong with him taking her home.

She walked behind him as he sauntered towards his car, he opened the front passenger door for her and she slid in. She caught the whiff of his musky scent.

 She shook her head to prevent it from registering in her senses. Ethan gently shut the door before going round to the driver's side.

Ethan got on the steering wheel, started the ignition and the car moved.

Aurora clutched the car seat like it was the leash to her self-control.

Aurora stole glances at him, when he sensed it and turned to her she looked away. 

The eerie quietness wasn't something Ethan enjoyed so he started a conversation with his brother's wife.

"What happened to our Juliet Aka White Moonlight? I heard she was poisoned," Ethan's eyes were on the road as he spoke to prevent them from running into something.

Aurora sucked in a deep breath before she started explaining what went down in the house before Juliet's slump. Ethan kept a straight face while Aurora was a bit surprised. When she was done explaining Ethan said, "Be Careful around that girl, She's not what she looks like," Ethan said these words casually. But the warning in his tone was clear.

Aurora didn't press on because she didn't feel comfortable talking about Juliet with Ethan. But she knew Juliet didn't affect Ethan the way she did her husband and that was where her curiosity was born but she swallowed it in.

Ethan got home and dropped her off but he didn't stay. He left.