Chapter 23: The Betrayer Returns

She hadn't heard his voice in over a year.

Vincent.

Yet there it was — smooth, smug, slightly older but still coated in deception.

"Aurora," he said, standing in the Xu estate lobby like a man who still believed he belonged. "You're a difficult woman to kill."

Sebastian stood beside her, jaw tight, posture rigid.

"What do you want?" Aurora asked, arms folded, voice like ice.

Vincent stepped closer. "Redemption. Or perhaps… negotiation."

She raised a brow. "You tried to kill me. You married my stepsister within three months of my 'death.' And now you come here with flowers?"

"I was manipulated," he said. "Eva wanted you gone long before I knew what she was capable of."

"And yet you helped her," Sebastian growled.

"I'm not innocent," Vincent said. "But I'm not a fool either. Eva's spiraling. She's paranoid, unstable. She's planning something. I came to warn you."

Aurora's heart didn't soften. Not this time.

"Let me guess — you want immunity. Or to be seen as a hero."

Vincent smirked. "Just… remembered who the real queen was."

She stepped forward, eyes blazing. "If you're lying again, I'll destroy you so thoroughly you won't even be remembered as a footnote."

Then she walked past him — back straight, heels loud.

Sebastian followed, whispering, "Should we trust him?"

Aurora didn't blink. "No. But I'll use him."

The betrayer had returned.

But this time, she held the blade.