Chapter 8 Resolution And Acceptance

• Aurora stirred up from sleep with a banging headache. Her eyes fluttered open to the blinding light and she instantly closed them. She opened them gradually and waited a while for her sight to regain its focus and adjust to the lighting in the room. Looking around, she saw Mrs. Conti resting her head on the chair in a corner, sleeping. Her eyes swiftly roam through the room and she confirms that she is back to the room. She tried sitting up but winced at the pain that erupted from her body. On her arm, is a drip fixed and some bandages around her chest region. Confused, she racked her brain to decipher how she got here but the last thing she remembered was being in Lorenzo’s office, and with that, came the memory of her father’s betrayal.
• “He truly sold me off.” she wept. Her soft whimpering woke Mrs. Conti who instantly shot to her feet and approached her bed.
• “You are awake, how do you feel now?” she asked with concern etched on her face.
• “What happened to me, why is there a drip on my arm?” Aurora’s hoarse voice rang out.
• “You fainted and Mr. Russo brought you here himself and called the doctor to check on you:” she said as she approached her bed.
• “Did I hear you mention Mr. Russo brought me here?” Aurora asked bewildered.
• “Yes, he did.” Mrs. Conti smiled warmly at her, in her eyes a warm gaze reassuring her that she is in a safe hand. “He just stepped out now and will be back shortly.” Mrs. Conti sat on the bed with her and placed her hand on Aurora’s head to feel her temperature. She inhaled deeply when she found out that her temperature had gone back to normal.
• “I will bring in some food for you to eat, excuse me.” Mrs. Conti announced.
• She stood up from the bed and started walking out. Aurora felt the urge to ask her to stay and keep her company, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words out loud. Just as Mrs. Conti reached for the doorknob, the door swung open and the atmosphere tensed up immediately.
• Mrs. Conti moved out of the way as she allowed Lorenzo into the room before going out. Lorenzo shut the door and walked to sit in the two-seater chair in the room. Aurora, tensed up, her relaxed posture suddenly came crumbling with his presence.
• “How are you feeling now?” Lorenzo asked, breaking the silence.
• Her head shot up, intrigued that the cold mafia was concerned for her. She stared at him, allowing her eye to sweep over his features. Her eyes roamed over his bulged arm, down to his chiselled chest. Her gaze lingered briefly on his chest region and she allowed herself to think about what he would look like unclothed. Despite being clothed in a suit, the outline of his body still lay bare to the eyes. Moving her eyes downward, she concluded that the man is the definition of a god in a human body. Not even the body of the Greek god could compare to his. She finally brought her gaze up to meet his ocean-blue eyes, they looked so mesmerising and calm now that they weren’t cold.
• Lorenzo coughed lightly to draw her attention back to his question. He smiled to let her know she could read her. She blushed at being caught ogling and was surprised that Lorenzo smiled.
• “Again, how do you feel?” Lorenzo asked.
• “I am fine, now,” Aurora replied in a cracked and hoarse voice.
• Sensing the harshness in her voice, Lorenzo walked to the bed stand and picked up the bottled water on the stand.
• “Here, drink this.” Aurora’s eyes bulged out of her eyes, with her mouth slightly opened at his kind gesture. She looked from his face to the bottled water in his hand before stretching her hand to receive it. “How can the devil offer her water?” she thought before opening the water. Her hand paused midway as she was about to drink the water. “What if it is poisoned? He might just want to kill me.” she allowed her thoughts to run wild.
• “I am not a monster and I wouldn’t use such an underhanded method to kill someone. I like the look of fear in my victim's eyes and certainly work in the open” he chuckled.
• Aurora lowered her head at being caught in her foolish thinking. She gulped the water and was relieved at the soothing feeling in her throat.
• “You have a lot of bruises and broken ribs; do you want to tell me how they come about?”
• “I…” she stammered, unable to speak. How can she tell him that her family had been the one to inflict the injuries on her?
• “How did the most loved daughter of Daniel, have such an injury?” Lorenzo probed further.
• Aurora unconsciously let out a scoff. “Beloved daughter indeed,” she said the words to herself but Lorenzo heard them loud and clear but pretended as if he didn’t hear her.
• “Did you say something?” he asked. Aurora shook her head in denial and started fidgeting with her nails instead. Lorenzo waited for her to speak, he could tell she was not ready yet and decided to drop his probing until whenever she was ready to talk.
• Lawrence had delivered a full report on why Aurora was bruised and with broken bones. The knowledge had tipped off something in him. Something he had buried after the death of his father and was almost charging to Daniel’s house if not for some moment of clarity.
• Tugging at the sleeve of her gown, Aurora debated if she should open up to him but thought against it as she didn’t know if she could trust him.
• “Can I please go home?” she asked instead.
• Walking back to his seat, Lorenzo calmly sat down and stared at her for a while, “You are mine now, and wherever I want you is home to you, not your father’s house.” He added with a tone of finality.
• Crunching the bottled water in her hand, Aurora broke down once more. She wept in anguish and Lorenzo swiftly moved to her side. He had no idea when he had climbed into bed with her as he tried to calm her. He wished he could make her leave but she will only be tormented further. He felt a strong sense of protection, and her tears broke him more than he could explain.
• He rocked her back and forth and soon, the tears were replaced by silent sobs before they stopped fully. Regaining her composure while still in Lorenzo’s arms, Aurora asked the question that had been on her mind since she arrived here. “What do you want me to do for you?”
• “I need you to help me look after someone.” He announced. His background check on Aurora had given him a glimpse into her compassionate side. He had learned of how she took care of her grandmother and deemed her fit for the task he had in mind for her.
• Resigning to her fate and tired of crying. Aurora nodded, displaying her resolution to forge ahead regardless of whatever circumstances she finds herself in.
• “Can you give me a month to sort myself before I start?” she asked with sheer determination.
• “What do you plan on doing?” he asked with amusement thick in his voice.
• “I have some business and people to take care of. “
• Lorenzo looked at her briefly and could tell what she was planning to do. He was intrigued by her quick acceptance of fate and fighting spirit and silently swore within him to help her bring down those who had hurt her, her family included.
• “I have a slight objection to the one month, I can only give you a week and also you are not allowed to live outside this house and you are to be back home before 8 pm.”
• “One week should be enough. I promise to abide by your rules, Mr. Russo.”
• “The person you are assigned to take care of will be joining us next week. I won’t stop you from carrying out what you had planned but failure to carry out the duty assigned to you, will bring consequences you will not like.”
• “I understand. Thank you, Mr. Russo.”
• “I will assign a bodyguard to you who will keep you safe. You are not allowed to go anywhere without him. Again, you must let me know about your whereabouts at all times.”
• “Okay, Mr. Russo.”
• The next four days went by in a blur, Aurora was bedridden and recuperating fast, and Mrs. Conti and Lorenzo had both been frequenting her room at intervals to check in on her. She was surprised to learn of a different side of Lorenzo, distinct from all the rumors she had heard about him. There was a day he had to put her to sleep when she had one of her breakdowns, his gesture that day swells her heart, making her feel that she has someone who cares about her but that happiness was soon shattered with remembrance of who and what Lorenzo is to her, a forbidden route.
• At the end of the fourth day, she was forced to speak out her thoughts to him, when he had come to visit her and Lorenzo had only laughed at her version of him and decided to keep it that way. He didn’t want her exposed to his dark side, as it was not safe.
• On the fourth day of being confined to bed, Aurora decided to visit the one place she had on her mind since she had been here. And now that Dr. Fisher had declared her fit, she only had three days left before she resumed being Lorenzo’s caregiver. She had woken up early that day after Lorenzo had gone to work. She had her bath, walked into the floor to ceiling wardrobe and picked out a red gown. Lorenzo had stock the wardrobe with designers and luxury items that she would rather not wear but she has no choice today as she has urgent matters to attend to. After dressing up, she walked downstairs and found Mrs. Conti giving instructions to the other staff. Mrs. Conti dismissed the two staff and turned to meet Aurora walking up to her.
• “Where are you going, Miss Bennett?” Mrs. Conti asked. She had grown a soft spot for the girl even though she had only been here for a few days. She saw how polite and friendly she was and took a fancy to her. She wouldn’t want her to be on the bad side of Lorenzo, hence, her question when she saw her dressed.
• “I just want to step out for an hour. I will be back shortly.”
• “Is Mr. Russo aware?”
• “There is no need in telling him, I will soon be back.” She announced with a smile.
• Draco, the bodyguard Lorenzo had assigned to her, followed her discreetly and sent a message to Lorenzo that Aurora had just left the house.
• Aurora hailed a taxi and gave him the address. She was lucky that she had her phone and credit card the day she left with her father. How else would she have been able to pay for the fare? As she sat inside the taxi and watched the scenery, her mind wandered to the happenings of recent days but she sighed as she was no longer going to allow them to get to her. Today is the day she will be reborn.
• She alighted from the taxi and walked to her father’s gate. She rang the bell a few times before their butler opened the gate for her. The latter was surprised to see her and allowed her into the house. After exchanging pleasantries, she made her way to the living room. She was yet to come into view when she heard the voice she was trying so hard to forget.
• “We have decided to pick the following month for our engagement party,” Jenny announced cheerfully.
• The words hit her with a full force and nearly made her doubled over. It is another thing to convince your mind to accept reality and another to experience it in person.
• “My family will be coming with me tomorrow to see you for some clarifications.” Jason declared.
• Aurora stayed hidden for a while, using the pillar as her support as she leaned on it to regain her composure. She doesn’t want them to see her broken and sad. Her coming here today is to pick up her mother’s safe that she left for her, her laptop, and her certificates. If she knew Jason would be here today, she might have postponed coming. She was still staying out of view behind the pillars when what Sandra said next got her angry.
• “We still need that godforsaken girl to explain to your parents that she is no longer interested. Or how do we go about the change in the bride?”
• She smirked at their foolishness before stepping out of the corner and into their sight. If they think they are going to use her for their selfish reasons, then, they don’t know what’s coming their way.
• “We just have to tell them Jason caught her cheating and called off the wedding,” Jenny said unaware that Aurora was now in the room with them.
• “Will your parents accept that truth, Jason?” Sandra asked.
• “That is a very laudable explanation, dear sister, it is quite ironic though.” Aurora’s voice rang out. She walked to the center of the room and their eyes widened on acknowledging her presence.
• “How did you get here?” Sandra was the first to react, sitting upright instantly. Everyone was stunned to see her and in a much better state. Jenny stared at her dumbfounded before anger clouded her expression. She was quick to hide it though and replaced it with a forced smile. Aurora wore a red off shoulder gown that hugged her tightly, accentuating her great figure.
• Instead of giving Sandra a reply, she smiled and focused on Jenny, “Please, continue, dear sister. You were talking about how much of a whore you are, weren’t you?” she smirked.
• “Aurora, watch your language,” Jason spoke up in Jenny’s defense.
• “Oh, the betrayal spoke up too.”
• Jason's eyes sting from the accusation and was unable to refute her response. He knew he had no words to say, he was also not in support of Jenny's proposition but he is willing to do anything to be with Jenny, even if that anything will be to throw Aurora under the bus.
• Unable to stand her new arrogance and confidence, Sandra used what she knew best; pretense and innocence. She turned to Daniel who had been staring at Aurora since she walked in. “Honey, are you going to watch her berate our daughter and son-in-law?” she said coquettishly. That did work as Daniel regained his senses and stood up, charging towards Aurora with his hands raised.
• “How dare you talk to your sister like that?” he thundered, charging towards her with great rage.