CHAPTER 53AureliaLevi
Aurelia
Aurelia spent the morning curled up on her couch, propped up by pillows, doing everything she could to avoid thinking about Levi.
After lunch, she tried to lose herself in the newest release from her favorite author, a book she had been dying to read for months. But no matter how many times she forced her eyes across the page, nothing stuck.
Her focus fractured and drifted, the words blurring until she realized it wasn’t just her mind, as tears had started falling again, clouding her vision. With a shaky breath, she gave up and set the book aside when her phone buzzed with an incoming call from Selene.
Not in the mood to be personable, Aurelia hesitated before answering, but guilt won out.
Selene’s voice came through the line, breathless and concerned. She was mortified, apologizing profusely for Kyle somehow slipping past security. She swore she was already investigating it with the security team, promising to hold whoever was responsible accountable.
“I’m so sorry, Aurelia. I let you down,” Selene said, her voice thick with remorse. “This never should have happened.”
Aurelia tried to soothe her. “Stop blaming yourself,” she said softly. “Kyle has always been above the rules, above the law. You couldn’t have known he’d be there.”
It wasn’t only Kyle’s arrogance—it was his patience. His terrifying ability to wait, to bide his time until his next cruel move. That was the most terrifying part.
Selene knew that better than anyone. She knew what Kyle had done to her. Knew all the dark corners of her trauma. Aurelia had to believe that if she had seen him there that night, he would’ve been escorted out by security.
The conversation was almost enough to settle her nerves—until Selene mentioned the photos.
Her hands began to tremble the moment Selene mentioned them.
“They’re everywhere,” Selene whispered. “The news…social media…I didn’t want you to find out through a media outlet, but photos of you are plastered everywhere, and it’s…it’s not good.”
Aurelia’s heart dropped to her stomach as she fumbled for the remote, her fingers numb with dread.
They were on every channel…every headline. The photos— those photos —plastered across the screen. Images of her unconscious, posed like a sick and twisted prize beside Kyle. The news stations had blurred the worst of it, but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.
She sat there, frozen in horror, as Selene’s voice buzzed in her ear, offering soft words of comfort that Aurelia couldn’t process. Her mind was screaming, her body locked in place, and the edges of her vision had begun to go white.
Selene’s voice cut through the fog. “I’ll come over tonight after work,” she offered gently. “I’ll bring your favorite takeout, and we’ll have that long-overdue girls’ night. You shouldn’t be alone right now.”
Aurelia almost declined. After two nights of company, she had been looking forward to the silence.
However, if she was being honest…the idea of being alone tonight, in this house that felt too big and too empty without Levi…it scared her.
So, with a heavy sigh and a gloomy heart, Aurelia agreed. As soon as the call disconnected, she burst into fresh tears.
Aurelia was horrified to realize she wasn’t the only one having a newsworthy Monday. After her call with Selene, she spent most of the afternoon glued to the television, her book a distant memory.
She watched as her story became one part of the media storm surrounding Neuronix. Not only were they dealing with her personal scandal, but also a massive data breach. And then came the worst news: that Levi had been fired as CEO, along with Owen, Isaac, Grace, and Ivy.
Everyone she cared about, everyone who worked so hard to build that company, had been thrown out in one humiliating sweep. Her heart broke all over again.
Charles had called earlier to confirm that Levi was served with the divorce papers, right after they all walked away from the company for the last time.
Guilt gnawed at her. Maybe she had been too quick to file them. She was still angry with Levi, but the timing…this could have waited. Especially after seeing the video of his final meeting, which was leaked to the press.
In it, Levi accused Tyler Faulkner of playing a role in her being drugged, kidnapped, and assaulted…and of orchestrating the release of those photos alongside the data breach scandal.
She hadn’t stopped thinking about it since. The timing wasn’t a coincidence. She remembered Kyle on the phone with someone that night. She just didn’t know who.
Before she could spiral further, the doorbell rang.
Selene must be here with dinner, having texted Aurelia twenty minutes earlier to let her know she was on her way. After the day she’d had, Aurelia was starving.
“Come on in!” she called, carefully rising from the couch despite the pain. The front door opened, and Selene stepped inside.
She managed to hobble a few steps towards her friend before noticing Selene wasn’t carrying anything. Aurelia glanced past her, expecting to see a takeout bag left by the door. But there was nothing.
Confused, she turned back and saw Selene’s expression shift.
Gone was the concerned friend. In her place stood a stranger, face twisted with pure hatred.
And then Aurelia saw it—the glint of metal in Selene’s hand as it caught the light. A knife. Long, curved, and deadly.
The color drained from Aurelia’s face.
“I’ve waited a long time for this,” Selene hissed, stepping closer.
Aurelia instinctively backed away, keeping the kitchen island between them, ignoring the burning pain in her ribs.
“Kyle was supposed to keep you busy until I got there,” Selene sneered. “But things didn’t go as planned, did they?”
Aurelia tried to stay calm, tried to think. One wrong move and…she couldn’t let herself finish that thought. But the disbelief tumbled out before she could stop it.
“You…you’re the one who drugged me?”
Selene mocked her, her voice a cruel imitation. “You’re the one who drugged me?”
The memory slammed into her—the diet soda Selene handed her that night. How could she have forgotten?
Except she hadn’t. This was how their friendship always worked. Aurelia had spent years overlooking the small betrayals, desperate to hold onto the one friend she had.
That blind loyalty nearly cost her everything. Her life.
Selene took another step forward, the knife glinting ominously. “I’m so tired of you getting everything I worked for,” she spat. “Since the day you showed up at the Hayder house, you’ve taken everything from me.”
Aurelia’s mind flashed back to those early days in foster care, remembering Selene’s bullying, the stolen possessions, the endless fights. Until one day, Selene had simply…changed. She apologized. Pretended to be her friend. And Aurelia, desperate and lonely, had accepted it.
But that version of her was gone . The old Aurelia would have cowered and apologized, doing anything to avoid conflict. But that woman died the night she smashed a lamp over Kyle’s head.
The woman standing here now had walked through fire. And she wasn’t about to break.
Looking at Selene—at the stranger holding a knife in her own home—Aurelia felt something she hadn’t expected.
Undiluted rage.
She stood tall, refusing to cower, and met Selene’s glare with a cold, steady gaze.
“You and I have very different memories of how things went back then,” Aurelia said coolly. “From what I recall, you were a nasty little brat who couldn’t keep her hands off things that didn’t belong to her. And when I asked nicely, you didn’t listen. You always had to learn the hard way.”
Selene’s entire body vibrated with rage.
“ No! ” she screamed. “I came to visit Eleanor’s heir ! I worked for that old witch for years, and she gave it all to you! You’re nothing without me!”
“You’re the one who introduced me to her!” Aurelia snapped back. “You told me to apply for the job!”
Selene laughed, bitter and sharp. “I did it as a joke! I wanted to see you fail, but of course, you got the job and the matchmaker.” Her face darkened further. “You got my life. Even your husband should have been mine!”
The mention of Levi made something inside Aurelia rupture.
“The highlight of my life,” Selene went on, her voice sickeningly sweet, “was when you were dating Kyle. Seeing his bruises all over you? That was a masterpiece. And knowing he’d get to do it again? That was the cherry on top.”
Aurelia’s stomach turned, bile rising in her throat.
Selene smirked, enjoying her cruelty. “You thought you were free of him when you got that no-contact order, didn’t you?” she sneered. “But guess what? I stayed in touch with Kyle the whole time, just waiting for the perfect moment for us to both get our revenge.”
She took another step, her smirk deepening. “It was so easy to get him to share those photos—saved me the trouble of leaking them myself. And it turns out, I’m not the only one you’ve pissed off.”
Something cold and deadly settled over Aurelia’s heart.
This wasn’t her friend. This was a threat.
Selene rolled her shoulders back, bracing herself. “I’m done talking,” she said coldly, her voice like steel. “Consider this a mercy…putting you out of my misery.”
Aurelia’s patience cracked. Her vision burned red as pure, blinding rage took over.
She’d had enough.
Enough of the lies. Enough of being used. Enough of being someone else’s punching bag.
Enough of this bitch standing in her house.
The lingering pain from her injuries faded under the surge of adrenaline. Her body moved on instinct as Selene lunged, knife aimed low.
Foster care had made her scrappy. But the self-defense training she had forced herself through over the last few years took that scrappiness to the next level.
Aurelia deflected Selene’s knife with her forearm and grabbed her wrist in one smooth motion. Selene let out a startled yelp as Aurelia twisted her arm hard, forcing the knife free.
The blade clattered across the floor as Aurelia swept Selene’s legs out from under her and shoved her back.