Chapter 71
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[WAYNE'S LUXURY CONDO]
Kimberly breathed out heavily as Wayne fell to the other side of the bed.
He has made them go three exhausting rounds. She placed her palm on her forehead, taking another deep breath.
"Damn Kim..." Wayne chuckled. "Should I just start paying you to be my personal wh0r€?" He faced her, going closer to plant a kiss on her shoulder.
Kimberly looked away, shifting slightly.
"You're mesmerizing." Wayne mumbled, kissing again.
Kimberly shifted again.
"Wayne look..."
"What!" He cut her off. "What is it this time? Wanna give me a sermon?"
"Wayne, just listen-"
"Oh, I wanna listen. To your moans, your screams, your whimpers." He came closer.
"Wayne stop!" Kimberly pushed him slightly.
He stilled, giving her a look. A displeased one.
She sighed.
"How long are we gonna keep doing this? Huh? I'm... I'm tired. I'm sick. I feel disgusted, Wayne. Do I have to keep reminding you that we're sib-"
"Shut up!" Wayne snapped. "We're not siblings! I hate it when you say that!"
"Saying we're not siblings won't justify this Wayne. I might be messy but not to this extent." She sat up.
"Listen. If you don't wanna keep getting me cars or whatever then fine. And don't gimme the parents line. How you'll tell mom and dad not to get me anything cuz I'm not buying it. I just... can't do this anymore." She sighed tiredly. " I can't...."
Wayne was quiet for a second and then... he started laughing.
He laughed for almost a minute straight.
"What did you say?" He laughed harder.
Confusion downed on Kimberly.
"Wayne..."
"Was the fvck so good it messed with your head? It left you bedazzled?" Wayne said amidst laughter.
"Wayne. I'm seriously done." Kimberly stepped out of the bed but he pulled her back.
"Where do you think you're going darling? Who said we're done?"
Kimberly winced. "Are you gonna force yourself on me now? Wayne?!" She struggled with him.
Wayne let her go. "Alright then. Go. See if the doors will open for you. Go." He smiled.
Kimberly could swear she shook inwardly cuz she's never seen him like this.
" Wayne!!" She stomped her foot.
" Now be a good girl, get on me, and start riding." Wayne mumbled.
Kimberly swallowed.
★
[LOPEZ MANSION]
Oma stared at her phone for a moment contemplating.
Then she opened her messages and found Kiara's name.
Still there. Not blocked. Well... Not yet anyway.
She typed simply.
★ Hey. Just checking on you. Just wanted to make sure you're okay.
She sent it before she could overthink it.
Then she set her phone face up on the pillow and waited.
One minute.
Two.
The ticks turned blue.
Kiara had read it.
Oma watched the screen.
No reply.
No typing bubble.
Nothing.
Then her phone buzzed.
She looked down.
~ You can no longer send messages to this contact.
Oma stared at it for a long moment.
"Wow."
She stared at the screen.
Then before she could even process it, the restriction disappeared.
Kiara had unblocked her.
A typing bubble appeared.
Oma raised her brows slowly. "Oh... Okay. Let's see..."
The bubble stayed. Long. Like Kiara was writing something with intention.
Oma waited.
Then the message came.
★ "Before I block you again, I'll just pass a message through you Oma.
Because I know after you text, Ivy will text too.
So listen carefully and make sure this reaches the rest. None of you should ever try to communicate with me again.
Whatever we shared, whatever you called it (because it definitely wasn't friendship) it's over.
Do not text me. Do not call me. Delete my number.
I already deleted all of yours. I blocked Roseanne.
I'm sure she told you by now. We may be in the same class but that changes nothing. Avoid me Oma. Send this to the rest."
Then she was blocked again.
Oma sat there for a second.
Then she let out a short humorless laugh.
"Passing a message. Through me. Like I'm a postman."
She screenshot the entire conversation and dropped it in the group chat without a word.
Ivy replied in under a minute.
★ She did not just do that. She really said pass this along like we're in primary school??
A few minutes passed.
Then Roseanne's voice note dropped.
Oma pressed play.
★ "I TOLD you. I told you both. Imagine!
Passing a message THROUGH Oma to the rest of us.
The rest of us?? Who does she think she is?
I cannot believe I was friends with this kind of person.
All it took was her crush on Leonard to show us exactly who she is.
I regret every single time I gave her the benefit of the doubt.
I blame myself for even trying to be considerate.
You know what? Forget her. She can go to hell for all I care. Lowlife bitch!"
The voice note ended.
Oma shook her head slowly.
Roseanne typed immediately after.
★ "I'm so pissed right now. So pissed I wanna physically hurt her. I just wish Aurora had at least taught her a proper lesson. Ughhh!!!"
Then a message popped up from a name that surprised all three of them.
Aurora.
★ I slapped her btw
The group chat exploded.
★ Oma ~ WHAT
★Ivy ~ WAIT WHATT?!
★ Roseanne ~ WHAT!
Aurora replied simply...
★ Yeah.
Roseanne started typing so fast she sent three separate messages.
★ Girl.
★Do NOT drop that line and disappear.
★I'm starting a video call RIGHT NOW.
The call notification popped up.
Oma joined immediately.
Ivy was already there.
They waited exactly four seconds.
Then Aurora joined.
Her camera was slightly dark. She was clearly still in her room, hair messy, expression unbothered like she hadn't just dropped a bomb in the group chat.
"Yo."
"GIRL, WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?! ." Roseanne's face filled the screen, eyes wide. "You SLAPPED her?!"
"Yeah," Aurora said simply.
"WHEN?!"
"The day she came to his Villa."
Roseanne turned off screen. "OMA. Did you know this?!"
"Definitely not."
"I cannot believe this." Roseanne pressed both hands to her face. "I cannot believe I missed it. Of all the days to not be present-"
"It was his Villa, what would you be doing there? Wait! What was Aurora doing there?" Ivy blinked.
" Girl, are we seriously asking this?" Roseanne rolled her eyes.
"She deserved it," Aurora said. Ignoring the two. Still unbothered. Still flat.
"She absolutely deserved it," Roseanne agreed, dropping her hands. "I'm just mad I didn't see it with my own eyes."
Ivy shook her head.
"I'm... disappointed," she said quietly. "I genuinely liked her."
Nobody responded to that immediately.
Because they all had. In different ways. At different points.
Except Aurora of course.
Roseanne exhaled. "Well. Now we know."
Oma nodded slowly. "Now we know."
Aurora said nothing.
She just sat in her dark room, listening to the girls yapping and cursing Kiara like they weren't trying to talk to her earlier.
★
[LEONARD'S DARK VILLA]
Leonard was in his living room with Onyx. The tiger is currently busy with the food Leonard gave him earlier.
He's still shirtless.
He has a horror movie playing now, and it looks like Leonard is currently cursing the film makers and everyone else involved cuz it's giving nothing.
Ricky has hyped this up so much, he made it seem like the scariest thing ever produced.
But Leonard's expression says something else.
He grabbed his phone to check the text he had sent to Aurora earlier today. She didn't reply. He smirked. She's lucky he's been busy all day.
His phone started ringing.
Goldie.
He answered. "Yeah."
"Leo." His mother's voice came through warm and unhurried. "Are you home?"
"Close enough."
"Good. I need you to drop something off at the Ravens."
Leonard leaned back in his chair. "Send the driver."
"I already sent him somewhere else."
"Send someone else then."
"Leonard."
"Goldie."
A brief pause. The kind his mother used when she was done negotiating.
"I put together a hamper for Gemma," she said calmly. "Wine, fruits, a few other things. And I got something for Aurora specifically. I want it delivered personally. Not handed to a guard at the gate. Personally."
"And that requires me."
"You can just go quickly. No big deal."
"That's not the point."
"Then what is the point Leo?"
He said nothing.
His mother's voice softened slightly. "I've been meaning to send something for weeks. Gemma mentioned Aurora hasn't been well. I just want her to know we're thinking of her."
Leonard looked at the ceiling.
"Fine," he said.
"Thank you. It's already packed. Come pick it up on your way."
"I know where you live Goldie."
"I know you know. I'm just reminding you to actually show up and not send someone else behind my back."
He almost smiled. "I'll be there in twenty."
"Thirty is fine. Drive carefully."
She hung up.
Leonard sat there for a moment staring at nothing.
Then he stood up slowly and went upstairs.
Minutes later, he was coming downstairs in grey sweatpants and a loose white T-shirt.
He exited the Villa.
★
[RAVEN MANSION·INNER LIVING ROOM]
Aurora sat curled into the corner of the sofa, phone in hand, scrolling through nothing in particular. The screen moved.
Her thumb moved. Her mind didn't.
She'd been in her room too long today.
The walls had started feeling close. The silence heavier than usual.
She needed air that wasn't her ceiling.
After a while she exhaled softly and pushed herself up. Her headphones were upstairs. Maybe music would help. Maybe it wouldn't. Either way, she needed something.
She crossed the living room and started up the stairs, her steps quiet against the polished wood. The house felt calm. Too calm. Like it was waiting.
She reached her room, grabbed the headphones from her desk without sitting down, then turned and headed back out immediately. No reason to linger.
By the time she stepped back into the main living area, footsteps were already coming down the staircase.
Gemma appeared, phone in hand, smiling when she saw her.
"Perfect timing actually."
Aurora slowed slightly.
"Charlene just called. Leonard is already on his way. He's dropping off what she sent for us."
Aurora's stomach flipped.
Sharp. Sudden. Like missing a step.
Her fingers tightened slightly around her phone, but her expression didn't change.
"Sure," she said.
Gemma was already turning toward the kitchen. "What are Xander and Mira doing in the kitchen again? All because of food she's suddenly his best friend." she muttered, walking to the kitchen.
Her voice faded.
Aurora stood there for a moment.
Leonard is already on his way.
Her chest felt... off. Tight. Quietly restless.
She slipped the headphones around her neck and walked toward the inner living room, pretending nothing had shifted.
The doorbell rang.
She stopped.
From the kitchen Gemma called, "Auri can you get that? My hands are full."
Aurora stared at the front door.
Her heartbeat picked up. Just slightly.
Enough for her to notice.
She walked toward it anyway.
One step. Then another.
Her fingers wrapped around the handle.
Warm metal. Steady.
She pulled the door open.
Leonard stood there.
Evening light behind him. One hand holding a large hamper. His eyes lifted, and landed directly on her.
Aurora's heart thumped.
TBC...