Chapter Seven 

"I read your diary," Clara placed her hand on her friend's hand. Aurora looked up. Her eyes sparkled. "You don't have to hide anything from me, you wanted me to see it. That's why you dropped it there," 

"Don't judge me. Please." Aurora pushed back tears.

"You know I'll never do that, I'll never judge you." Clara rubbed her palm over her friend's forearm. "You do no wrong in my eyes," 

"I had to do what I had to do, I wanted you to stay, I…I didn't want to lose you," 

"You don't have to apologize for anything, I should be the one apologizing. For all the sacrifices you made for me, I was overwhelmed when I read your diary. And…sorry about your child," 

Aurora sniffed, "Thank you," Aurora pushed her hair back, "I'm pregnant…" Aurora said, smiling.

"You're pregnant? Like right now?" Clara was in disbelief.

"Yes," Aurora pulled her shirt up a bit so Clara could touch her stomach. She felt excited seeing someone excited about her pregnancy. The genuine smile on her friend's face was all she needed for her day to be made.

"Oh my God, I can feel the baby," Clara exaggerated. 

"It's still young, you can't feel it now." Aurora swatted her claims.

"I know. Just joking. How many months?" Clara asked.

"Two weeks," Aurora said.

"I'm sorry for every milestone of your life that I missed, I promise I'll never be absent from now on." 

"You didn't do it. I know you'll never intentionally stay away from me. I've missed you," Aurora hugged her friend again. The weight on her chest was starting to lift.

"I want to tell you something," Clara said after they disengaged from the hug.

"What is it?" Aurora asked.

"My family has found me," She said enthusiastically.

"Your family?" Aurora was surprised. She knew she never mentioned Clara to anyone, she secretly came to visit her friend because she knew her husband's family was powerful and could pull off anything.

And the life of her friend meant a lot to her so she kept her a secret. Clara had mentioned during the early days of their friendship that she was kicked out of her house when her father found out she was not his daughter. But before the accident, Clara said she never knew who her real father was.

"Yes. My brother came here yesterday, I spoke with him for the first time." Clara's eyes sparkled with joy.

"Now I regret not coming here yesterday like a lot happened yesterday and I regret that I didn't meet him," Aurora whined.

"You don't have to regret it. He said he'll come today, he might be here any moment." 

"He must be happy to know you're his sister." Aurora reasoned.

"Yes. He was very happy yesterday, he said he has been coming here…to check on me…" 

 "How did he find you? It's shocking to me." 

"I was shocked too. He's a billionaire." 

"No way!" 

"I'm serious, I stole his phone and googled his name. I was shocked by what I saw there." 

"What's his name?" 

"Sebastian Vance." The joy in Clara's voice was palpable.

"Sebastian…Wait, you're the daughter of the Vance family?" Aurora didn't hide her shock.

"Yes. Do you know them? Are they nice people?" 

"Yeah. I'm not close to them but they have a good reputation." As if something clicked in Aurora's memory her eyes sparkled, "That means your dad is Dead?" 

"Yes. He died three months ago. But before he died, he gave my brother my picture and told him to look for me. I just don't understand why he knew me all this while but he never came to see me till he was about to die." Clara reasoned.

"Maybe there was a reason. We will find out one day. But what's important is that you have a family now, I'm so happy." Both ladies hugged each other.

"Am I interrupting a happy moment?" a Male voice resonated in the room and both ladies disengaged from the hug.

When Aurora saw him–Sebastian, her breath snagged. It was the first time she had seen him, the few times she'd been in the same room with him they were far apart. 

He had brown hair, a chiseled jawline, a fixed nose, and alluring green eyes. Aurora tried to match his face with her best friend's face. It did match a little, they had the same eyes and skin color, and he could pass for her brother.

As Aurora sized him up he did the same. He did the same, he froze like he was charmed by her. He also possessed an effortless charm that radiated wherever he went.

Once Clara noticed what was going on, she tugged Aurora's finger and coughed.

"Hello, big bro," Clara said. She spoke very calmly.

Sebastian recovered from whatever spell he was under "Hi! Little sis, how are you doing today?" Aurora felt awkward hearing them call each other 'brother and sister' because she wasn't used to it yet. But she knew with time she would adjust.

"I'm alright. Meet my friend, her name is Aurora." Clara did the honor of introducing them.

"Hi!" Aurora managed with a blush. 

"Hello, Aurora!" There was a throaty sound to the way he called Aurora's name that even made her blush deeper. "I didn't know you two knew each other." 

"She's my best friend, she was the one who wrote all those letters and paid my bills." Clara explained.

"Oh…the letters?" Sebastian's brow creased with intrigue. 

Aurora felt mortified knowing that someone that's not her best friend had read her diary. She was unnerved, she tried to piece together everything she'd been writing inside that book for eight years. 

She started wondering how he'd see her. 

"You're a good writer." If Sebastian was saying that to make her feel better it wasn't working. "I hope you don't mind that I read your diary. I was hoping to see the writer behind that gripping story." 

"It's okay." Aurora lied. Everything was far from okay.

Sebastian went beside his sister and sat in the chair opposite where Aurora sat. She looked down at her thighs. She could feel his eyes on her even as he interacted with his sister.

"How are you feeling?" There was just something about his voice. 

Scratch that! She should be thinking of how to fix her marriage, not admiring a man.

Aurora stylishly peeked up. She noticed the way his voice was tender as she gave Clara attention. Attention. That word has brought her major pain recently. Attention. She yearned for that from her husband but he didn't even seem to notice.

As she watched the siblings her eyes met with Sebastian's eyes and she quickly looked away.

His gestures had started to remind her of her husband. 

"I'll leave you two, I have to go home," Aurora announced. Standing to her feet.

Sebastian's mouth parted, he wanted to speak but he was afraid he might be the reason the lady wanted to go away.

"Is everything okay?" Clara asked. 

"Yes, I just remembered my husband will be home soon. I need to prepare food for him before he returns." That was a big fat lie. A new cook was employed effective immediately after the last one was fired. And Aurora wasn't cooking anything, except it was for her. Her husband wouldn't eat anything made by her after what happened to Juliet. Her husband also had surprisingly stayed at home since his best friend came around.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sebastian inputted even if he had the urge not to.

"I'm fine." Aurora bent to kiss her friend on the cheek.

"I can give you a ride…" 

"Don't worry, I came with a car." Another lie. She boarded a cab.

"Okay." After she left. The Duo looked at themselves. The unspoken tension between them was obvious.

"Do you like her?" Clara asked her brother.

Sebastian swallowed. Taken aback by how fast his sister had deciphered his emotions. "You need to get…" Sebastian tried to change the topic.

"Do you like her?" Clara held his gaze, her eyes daring him to lie.

He hesitated and finally said, "Yes…" 

°•

When Aurora got home, she was welcomed with the coldness of her new reality.

Each step felt like she was walking on eggshells, in a house that was once her home. Her place of solace and peace. 

She breathed out in relief when she didn't see any of them in the room. She didn't also see them on her way here which only meant one thing. Either they were out doing something or they were at the back of the house.

Her phone chimed. She picked it up. It was a notification from Instagram. She tapped on it and it led her to a post where her husband was captured with Juliet hours ago in front of a luxurious restaurant.

Aurora dropped the phone. She didn't know how long her heart could hold back, but she wished her husband would come to his senses and fight for their marriage.

She picked up their wedding picture by the nightstand and looked at it again. Sweet memories flooded her thoughts. And she told herself one thing.

Her marriage worked before, it could work again.