CHAPTER 62Aurelia
Aurelia
“Looks like you’ve healed beautifully,” the doctor said, snapping Aurelia back to attention.
He was a short, slight man with tan skin and alert hazel eyes. His wide face was softened by a round chin and large ears, topped with tightly curled dark brown hair. She squinted at his name tag, already forgetting his name.
Dr. Pacheco. It rang a familiar bell now.
She sat on the crinkling exam table paper, her ankle propped up, having driven herself to this final appointment. Levi had been hesitant to let her go alone, but she assured him, multiple times, that she was fine.
Honestly, it was better this way.
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed since the Neuronix showdown, and Levi had thrown himself headfirst into the company’s resurrection. The employees returned quietly, operations fell back into rhythm…except customer support.
Once the media exploded with news of Tyler’s plot and his plans to weaponize their products, public trust crumbled. Grace had been working nonstop to manage the fallout—crafting careful messaging, overseeing public relations, trying to hold the bleeding line together.
Project DL was dead. Safer to erase it completely than try to untangle whatever malicious code Harris had buried in its depths.
“Aurelia?”
Dr. Pacheco’s voice cut into her thoughts again. She blinked, realizing she had completely zoned out.
“S-sorry,” she stammered. “Could you repeat that?”
He smiled gently, a look of knowing compassion in his eyes. “I said you’re all cleared unless you have any questions?”
She shook her head and returned his smile. “No questions. Thank you.”
He lingered for a moment, then tapped a finger against his temple and heart. “Remember…sometimes it’s the wounds you can’t see that take the longest to heal.”
Aurelia swallowed hard. Isn’t that the truth?
She hadn’t told anyone about the new nightmares. Their intensity was far worse than the ones she had before the attack. They were near-nightly episodes that woke her screaming, soaked in sweat, Levi bursting through the door to comfort her with his warm hands and soothing voice.
She also hadn’t told anyone that they continued to sleep separately.
“I’ll include a therapist referral in your paperwork,” Dr. Pacheco added quietly. “They specialize in trauma like this…just in case.”
Her throat tightened. “I…thank you. I appreciate it.”
He gave her a small, knowing nod and stepped out of the room, leaving her alone with the quiet hum of the fluorescent lights.
By the time she gathered her things and made it to the parking lot, the ache in her chest had only grown heavier. On the drive home, she let her thoughts wander.
It should have felt like a victory ditching the boot and air cast at last. But instead, frustration gnawed at her. Her thumb instinctively brushed against her left ring finger, expecting to feel the smooth band of her wedding rings.
There was nothing.
Her stomach clenched. She had done this exact same thing countless times in the last two months, and every time, it still surprised her to feel nothing there.
She never told Levi how much those rings had meant to her. That he had designed them for her, chosen a style that was everything she could have wanted without even asking. Simple, meaningful. Perfect.
She had always thought lavish jewelry was wasteful, preferring a handful of cherished pieces instead. And somehow, Levi understood that before she ever said a word.
The rings weren’t the only thing missing.
There was still the matter of their sleeping arrangements.
They hadn’t spoken about it, but Levi hadn’t once shared her bed since moving back in. Night after night, he stayed upstairs in the spare bedroom, quietly keeping his distance.
He said he wanted to earn her forgiveness, and while she had agreed, she hadn’t expected this.
She hadn’t expected the separation between them to ache more than her physical wounds.
What is wrong with me?
The frustration boiled over. With a low, growling curse under her breath, she yanked the car over to the side of the road. She wasn’t going home yet.
This…this needed to be resolved. Now.
With a fresh cup of tea in front of her, Aurelia let her eyes wander over the familiar kitchen, the soft warmth of the space seeping into her bones. She had almost forgotten how soothing this place was. How Estrella’s presence could quiet even the loudest storm in her mind.
But not today. Today, the storm raged on.
“I must admit,” Estrella began, settling gracefully across from her, “I was a little surprised to receive your call. But I’m happy you’re here and looking well.
” Her sharp, knowing eyes swept over Aurelia with a look that saw far more than the surface.
“Although you appear physically healed, I suspect there are wounds here—” she tapped her temple, “and here—” her fingers pressed lightly over her heart, “—that still need tending.”
Aurelia swallowed hard. That wasn’t an accusation. It was the truth.
She hated how hard it was to ask for help, how foreign it felt to even sit here and try to talk about this. But after driving aimlessly for nearly an hour, her hands seemed to steer the car here all on their own.
“I guess…” she began, fingers tracing the rim of her teacup, “I need help sorting through some things with Levi. But the truth is…I’m having a tough time figuring out what I want.”
Estrella simply sat in patient silence, her eyes kind and unflinching.
Aurelia huffed out a breath. “I’m sure you remember how fabulously that wedding went,” she deadpanned, earning the barest twitch of a smile from Estrella. “And everything that’s happened since…” Her voice faltered, Estrella’s expression darkening with a flicker of protective fury.
“When he moved into my house, it was…surprisingly easy. Weird, at first, but he made it easy. Even sharing a bed wasn’t hard.
” Her cheeks flushed as she admitted, “We were intimate right away. I initiated it—on our wedding night. And it was…” She exhaled, her voice lowering.
“It was like fireworks. Every. Time. And despite that, he never pushed for more than I could give. But after the hotel…after the kidnapping…we both made mistakes. And ever since, he’s been different. ”
Lord, this is hard . Aurelia fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat.
“He’s sleeping in the guest room. He hasn’t touched me, hasn’t even looked at me like he used to. He hugs me, he kisses me…but that’s it.” Her throat tightened. “And I hate how much it bothers me.”
There. She had said it. Finally .
“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered. “I get it—I was hurt. He’s giving me space. But it’s like there’s this wall between us now that I forced to be built, and I don’t know how to break it down. And I hate that I sound so—so needy right now.” She bit her lip hard, fighting the sting of tears.
Estrella was quiet for a long moment, then asked gently, “Have you told him any of this?”
Aurelia shook her head. “No. I don’t know how to bring it up. I don’t want him to think I’m accusing him of not trying hard enough…or worse, that I’m angry with him for respecting my space.”
Estrella’s lips curved, a sad kind of understanding settling over her face.
“My dear, there is no perfect script for conversations like this. They’re uncomfortable by nature.
But the longer you avoid it, the more it festers.
That’s why you’re here, telling me when you should be saying these words to him . ”
The truth of that hit hard.
Estrella leaned forward, eyes unwavering. “Tell me, what have you done to fix things with Levi?”
The question hit like a slap.
Nothing , that cruel, honest little voice whispered inside. You’ve done nothing.
Aurelia’s stomach turned as the truth washed over her. “I…I haven’t done anything,” she admitted, her voice cracking. “I’ve been so focused on how I felt, I didn’t stop to think about how he must feel. I…I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”
Estrella’s expression softened, but her words didn’t let her off the hook. “Put yourself in his shoes. You demanded a divorce without discussion. You gave back your rings. If the roles were reversed…would you feel safe to just pick up where things left off?”
Aurelia dropped her gaze, cheeks burning with shame.
“And ask yourself,” Estrella said quietly, “why does the lack of intimacy matter more to you right now than rebuilding the foundation of your marriage?”
The air left Aurelia’s lungs. That was it—that was the question she had been running from.
You know why that inner voice whispered again.
Estrella reached over and took her hand, squeezing it gently. “Find the answer to that, and you’ll know what to do next. Until then…stop punishing yourself. And stop punishing him by keeping this all bottled up.”
She gave her hand one last pat and rose to her feet. “Now…let’s eat. You’ll need your strength.”
After lunch with Estrella, Aurelia couldn’t bring herself to go straight home. Her heart felt too full, her thoughts too heavy to be confined within four familiar walls.
Instead, she found herself wandering downtown Joia City, a vibrant and lively stretch teeming with small artisan shops, eclectic cafés, and bustling sidewalks.
It was the perfect place to get lost for a while, to breathe in the scent of roasted coffee and freshly baked bread, to let the cheerful hum of strangers become the backdrop to her spiraling thoughts.
She stopped in front of a quaint boutique, her reflection staring back at her through the glass. She didn’t see the woman in the window. Not really.
She saw Levi.
Levi, who had waited on her hand and foot after everything. Who learned how to care for her without being asked and without complaint.
He had cooked for her. Cleaned the house. Done the laundry, despite his clear inexperience. He had even handled the groceries without the luxury of the apps he normally relied on, all while Neuronix was in shambles.
He had made sure their friends came over, filling the house with laughter and easy conversation because he knew she needed it—knew she couldn’t ask for it herself.
He found ways to plan gentle, low-impact date nights where they simply talked. No pressure. No expectations other than being together.
He never once crossed a line she wasn’t ready for.
The affection she alleged was missing…had never been missing at all. It just hadn’t looked like the dramatic, sweeping romance she had convinced herself she wanted.
It looked like holding her hand for no reason at all. Like scooping her into his arms after a nightmare and rocking her back to sleep. Like the quiet, stolen kisses—on her temple, her cheek, her lips—when he thought she wasn’t paying attention.
And what had she given him in return?
Her lips parted on a shaky breath. She had reminded him constantly that he was on probation . That he had to earn her forgiveness. She wielded that hurt like a weapon, as if punishing him could somehow undo the pain he had caused her.
She was punishing both of them.
It had to stop.
They’d rushed into physical intimacy before their emotional foundation had a chance to form. That was her mistake. And it was one she needed to own—tonight.
With renewed purpose, she pushed away from the boutique window and set off down the street, her mind clear for the first time in weeks.
She would fix this. Not with a grand gesture…but with honesty, vulnerability, and the truth.
Because if there was one thing she was certain of now…Levi was worth it.