Chapter 3

"Lillian, what the hell are you doing?"

My whole body trembled with rage. Lillian simply picked up a box cutter and viciously slashed through my face in the wedding photo.

"Aurora, you don't deserve to be with James!"

She strode up to me and jabbed her finger against the tattoo on my collarbone.

"Who do you think you are? If you had any sense, you'd divorce him yourself!"

I raised my hand to slap her, but she caught my wrist mid-air and held it in place.

Her eyes burned with venom and contempt. Her voice dripped with provocation. "You don't believe me? Fine. I'll prove it to you."

She dragged me up to the attic and unlocked the door with a key.

I froze.

The attic was James's forbidden zone. He'd never let me inside. I'd never even seen the key before.

So why did Lillian have it?

Lillian caught my expression and finally smiled.

"Surprised I have the key, aren't you? Let me show you why."

She threw the door open.

Inside, the walls were covered with photographs—hundreds of them—all of Lillian.

I clapped a hand over my mouth as tears spilled down my cheeks without warning.

Lillian laughed wildly, her voice triumphant. "So? Ready to give up now?"

"James doesn't love you anymore! He loves me!"

I shook my head, refusing to believe what I was seeing.

If James really took all these photos, did that mean he'd stopped loving me a long time ago?

Lillian grabbed my shoulder and turned me to face her, enunciating each word with cruel precision.

"Still don't believe me? Then I'll make you give up once and for all."

She dragged me to the top of the staircase. A flash of viciousness crossed her face.

Then she clutched her head and threw herself down the stairs.

Lillian tumbled all the way from the second floor to the first. Her forehead struck the edge of a step, and blood began to seep from the wound.

I stood frozen in shock, unable to process what had just happened.

At that moment, the front door slammed open with a deafening crash.

I whipped around.

It was James.

His expression was terrifyingly cold. The moment he stepped inside, he rushed straight to Lillian's side.

When he saw the blood streaming from her forehead, his face darkened.

I'd seen that look before—when someone had bullied me years ago. That person had ended up with a broken leg.

"Aurora," he said, his voice deadly quiet. "You hurt Lillian?"

He scooped her up into his arms, his tone glacial.

Lillian clutched his shirt and burst into sobs. Through her tears, she choked out, "James... Lillian's face is ruined now. Are you going to leave me?"

James gazed at her with infinite patience and tenderness.

"Don't say that. Lillian is the most beautiful girl in the world. I'll never leave you. Not in this lifetime."

His words pierced my heart like a thousand tiny needles.

Such beautiful words. But they weren't for me anymore.

I forced down the tears threatening to spill over and pulled my lips into a brittle smile.

"Mr. Windsor," I said coldly, "you're not even going to ask what happened before you convict me?"

Lillian trembled in his arms, sobbing harder. "James, please don't be angry. Lillian shouldn't have stayed here in the first place. It's all my fault."

"Don't fight with Aurora because of me. I'll leave right now."

She tried to wriggle out of his embrace, as if she were truly about to walk out the door.

James's expression softened with pity. The heartbreak in his eyes was almost palpable.

He tightened his hold on her, his brow furrowing with self-reproach.

"It's my fault, Lillian. I failed to protect you. I let you get hurt."

"Don't worry. I'll make this right."

He glanced at me, and the look in his eyes was colder and more furious than anything I'd ever seen from him before.

James grabbed a glass vase from the table and hurled it at my feet.

It shattered into pieces, shards flying up and slicing into my face, opening tiny cuts.

"Aurora," he said icily, "get on your knees on that glass and apologize to Lillian."