Chapter 11
Enzo’s POV
Aurora’s message was brief.
I’m at the house. We need to talk.
I stared at the screen for three seconds before standing, sweeping files aside and pulling my jacket from the chair. The council was still debating the issue of arms transport routes, but I didn’t slow.
“Cancel everything,” I told my assistant while passing her desk. “I’m leaving for now.”
She started to object, yet I was already inside the elevator, stabbing the button for the garage.
Aurora wanted to talk. Perhaps she had come to her senses and realized that her tantrums would do no good. I was getting quite fed up with this attitude of hers.
With her back home now, perhaps my mother would stop talking about divorce.
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The garage was dim when the doors opened. My driver waited beside the car with the engine running. I headed toward him, loosening my tie, already set to return home
My eyes fell on an approaching figure.
It was Sophie.
i
She stood near a concrete pillar, partly hidden. She held a small umbrella, but the rain slanted hard and soaked her
coat anyway.
When her eyes met mine, she immediately made her way
over.
“Sophie?” I grabbed her shoulders. “What are you doing here? How did you even get past the checkpoint? Why are you in the rain?”
She looked up, eyes red with tears. “I needed to see you.”
“You’re cold.” I placed a hand on her back and guided her toward the car. “Come inside.”
She didn’t argue. I helped her into the backseat and slid in after her, shutting the door as rain drummed above us
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“What’s wrong?”
She twisted her fingers together. “There has been something on my mind since we saw your wife at the hospital.”
My jaw tightened, but I stayed silent.
เ
“I can’t keep doing this,” she said softly, her voice already cracking. “I can’t stand between you and her. It is wrong. You belong to her.”
“You aren’t coming between anyone,” I assured her.
“Yes, I am.” She looked at me, pain clear in her face. “Everyone knows. Your wife, your family, even the whole Family knows.” She shook her head. “I should leave. I need to take Ethan and go somewhere new.”
“No.” My voice came out loud. We had been through this before. It should not happen again. “We already talked about this.”
“I know.” Her voice rose. “But I can’t live as the woman everyone hates. I can’t handle the gossip. I never could.”
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“Then ignore them.” That was always an option.
“How, when your wife will be the worst of them?” She gave a hollow laugh. “She’ll call me a homewrecker, a slut, and she won’t be wrong.”
“Maybe this isn’t meant to last,” she said quickly. “I love you. I always have. But your family won’t accept me, and I don’t want to ruin your life.” She wiped her face. “I’d rather be alone than hated.”
I caught her shoulders. “No one will hurt you. Not my family. Not my wife. No one. I promise I will take care of you.”
She tried to pull away. I could see the reluctance in her
eyes.
She had been taken from me before and ended up in a
situation she hated.
She had been hurt, damaged. Broken by a man who said he cared for her. That would not repeat itself. She was never going to leave my side ever again.
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I vowed that it would never happen again. I would protect her against anyone and anything. That was what the Crimson name was for.
“Look at me,” I said.
She did, tears falling freely.
“I don’t want to be called a homewrecker,” she whispered. “I couldn’t survive that. I don’t want to be the reason why you are going to suffer in your marriage.”
“I won’t suffer. You don’t have to worry about that.” I loosened my grip. “I’ll protect you. Always.”
She hesitated, searching my face.
Then she stepped back.
“Go home,” she said quietly. “Your wife needs you.”
“Sophie…”
She opened the door before I could stop her. Rain
drenched her instantly, but she didn’t care. She looked at
me once, eyes broken, then ran. megonce,
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I watched her vanish into the rain.
My heart burned with rage. She was feeling so guilty, so broken, so hurt. I had promised to take care of her. This was not it.
“Follow her,” I told the driver.
He hesitated. “Sir, your wife is waiting.”
“I said follow her.”
“But…”
“Now!” I yelled.
He started the car and began following her.
Aurora’s POV
The door opened at eight.
I had been sitting there for three hours, watching daylight fade, counting minutes since I’d sent the message.
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I should’ve left instead of staying, but that would only delay things, and I did not want that.
Then he finally arrived.
Enzo entered holding a plastic bag. He set it on the table. Inside were chips, chocolate, gummy candy. The snacks I liked when we first dated.
“I got these for you.”
I stared at the bag. In five years, he had never bought me anything like this. Only grand gestures. Never something small.
Now he thought candy would fix everything.
I didn’t touch it.
His gaze moved around the room, noticing bare walls and empty shelves. Confusion crossed his face, then understanding, then something like acceptance.
He removed his jacket. “Did you eat?”
“Yes.”
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“Good.” He rubbed his temples. Dark circles marked his eyes. He looked tired.
Probably because of Sophie.
“Since you’ve eaten,” he said quietly, “we should go upstairs.”
I knew what he meant.
This was how our fights ended. He waited until I was worn down, then took me to bed and made me forget.
It had always worked.
Until now.
Not after her. Not after the child. Not after learning every touch had been shared elsewhere.
I would not let him touch me again.
I took the envelope from my bag. The papers inside were neat, official, stamped with the council seal.
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I placed them beside the untouched snacks.
His eyes narrowed. “What’s this?”
I met his gaze.
“We should get a divorce.”
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