Chapter 43
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Stacy let out a sudden roar, her head pounding with anger. She staggered back a step to steady herself before slamming her fist into the door. Without wasting a second, she turned and ran toward the last room on the second floor.
Her mind raced as she thought furiously, ‘It’s Aurora’s fault. She’s the one who ruined Maura. How can Aurora sleep so peacefully while Maura lies in a hospital bed? I’m going to kill Aurora‘
With a swift kick, Stacy burst through the door, but like Maura’s room, it was also empty.
Jaxon stood off to the side, still processing everything that had happened. He suppressed his own fury and gently patted Stacy’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. “Let’s head to the hospital to check on Maura first. When that ungrateful brat comes back, I’ll make sure she pays for this.”
Stacy closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, they were filled with rage. She practically forced the words through her gritted teeth, every syllable dripping with murderous intent. “I’ll make sure Aurora suffers a miserable death.”
Some things in this world were untouchable, especially for some brats like Aurora. To Stacy, Maura was her one untouchable weakness, and she resolved Aurora would pay the price.
Stacy and Jaxon went downstairs and took the clevator straight to the underground parking garage. His personal driver was already waiting, fully dressed and standing by. Jaxon then ordered, “Take us to Terranex Hospital.”
“Yes, Mr. Crawford,” the driver responded before slamming his foot on the gas, and the car shot out like a bullet.
It was late at night, and the roads were mostly clear. What was usually a one–hour drive took only 20 minutes, thanks to Stacy’s constant urging.
Unlike when Aurora had come last time, and the place was packed, the private hospital was now nearly deserted, with only a few nurses moving through the hallways and lobby.
Stacy, wearing only slippers, hurried across the floor, her footsteps echoing through the quiet space and catching the attention of the night–shift nurses who curiously pecked out from their stations.
She and Jaxon rushed down the hall, and when they arrived at the surgery room, the light above it was on. They also saw a lone figure sitting on the bench outside. It was Rocco, who had arrived a bit later than Maura.
“Rocco!” Stacy yelled, storming up to Rocco and grabbing him by the collar. Without thinking, she slapped him across the face.
“How did you handle this? You told me it was foolproof. And now Maura’s lying in there! Is this your idea of foolproof?” she shouted, yanking on Rocco’s sleeve as she interrogated him. Her carefully styled curls had come loose, spilling wildly over her shoulders as she teetered on the edge of hysteria.
He had never been slapped before, and Stacy’s shrill voice only made the ringing in his ears worse. He shoved her away, raising his hand as if to hit her back, but when he noticed Jaxon standing beside her, he quickly lowered it again, frustration still simmering.
*Stacy, we really underestimated Aurora,” Rocco said, trying to stay calm, though his face darkened at the mention of Aurora’s name.
He continued, “I heard from Caleb and the others that Aurora had some kind of strange powder. Once it touches you, it makes you itch uncontrollably, like something straight out of a novel. That’s how they got caught off guard.”
Stacy’s anger surged, pressing her rational thoughts to the edge of her mind. She didn’t care how Aurora had escaped. What mattered was that the people Rocco had hired had screwed up, dragging Maura into the mess.
Stacy snapped, “Rocco, don’t forget how your company even got started. Without me, you’d still be a broke nobody! Did you deliberately set Maura up? Are you trying to ruin her so you can pass your own daughter off as mine?”
She screamed, her voice hoarse and furious, “That’s never going to happen! You’re dreaming. Maura is my daughter. My only daughter. Even if something terrible happened to her, I would never adopt your kid!”
The second those words left Stacy’s mouth, the nurses walking nearby started looking at Rocco differently. He hadn’t expected her to call him out like that, and for a moment, his eyes flickered with guilt.
Rocco’s company only existed because of Jaxon, and most of its projects relied on him, too. Rocco had even discussed with his wife the idea of raising their child in Jaxon’s home, letting them go to school with Maura and Griffin, attend the same parties, and enter Mereida’s upper society together.
Rocco had it all planned out, but Stacy was the roadblock. Her refusal was obvious. After all, his child wasn’t hers, and there was no way she’d raise someone else’s kid for free.
“What are you talking about?” he muttered, a vein twitching on his forehead as he tried to smooth things over. “Maura is my niece. Of course I care about her! The moment I heard she was hurt, I rushed over to stand up for her. If anyone’s to blame, it’s Aurora…”
1/2
11:39 AM
Chapter 43
He rambled on about how much he adored Maura, how he’d always spoiled her, all while dumping the blame squarely on Aurora. Meanwhile, Jaxon stood off to the side, looking thoughtful.
Jaxon stepped in, saying, “Alright, Stacy, this isn’t what Rocco wanted either. Sit down and calm yourself. Maura will be out soon, and she’ll be looking for you.”
With that, he put on his usual polite smile and patted Rocco’s shoulder. “I know you care about Maura. Sorry to have troubled you with this.”
པར་འཚོ་ཇི་ཟན་འའི་ལྷ་རོ
Hearing that, Rocco finally relaxed, thinking he’d dodged a bullet. He let out a relieved sigh and grinned. “It’s nothing, really. I’m just doing what I should.”
Jaxon nodded, not bothering to argue over the matter any further. He was more concerned with something else. “You said Aurora took out some powder. What kind of powder was it? Tell me again.”
Rocco, unsure of what Jaxon was getting at, repeated everything he had heard from Caleb, leaving out no details.
After listening, Jaxon sat on the bench, his expression heavy with thought as he wondered, ‘How on earth did Aurora end up with that powder? Could she have gotten hold of something Victoria left behind?
‘No, no, that can’t be it. I haven’t heard a single whisper about this, and there’s no way a sixteen or seventeen–year–old girl could be that cuijning. So where did the powder come from? Looks like I’ll need to dig deeper into her background.
Aurora was woken up by the phone ringing. She reached out groggily for the phone mounted by her bed and answered in a drowsy voice. “Hello. Who is this?”
Soon after, a sweet, cheerful voice came from the other end. “Good morning, Ms. Crawford. This is your 7 a.m. wake–up call. I’m from the front desk-”
Aurora then scratched her head and hung up the phone. Afterward, she reluctantly got out of bed and dragged herself to the bathroom to freshen up.
Last night, she had driven Caleb’s car away from the warehouse but didn’t return to Crawford Manor. Instead, she checked into some random hotel. With everything that had happened with Maura, she knew there was no way she’d get a peaceful night’s sleep at home.
The call Aurora received was her wake–up service from the hotel she booked last night.
After washing up, she quickly yanked the curtains open, and natural light flooded the dim room. She took in a deep breath and exhaled before saying, “Another day begins.”
Leaving the hotel, Aurora headed to the mall and bought a new phone. She then flagged down a passing taxi and, like usual, made her way to Mereida High School.
As soon as she stepped out of the taxi, she bumped into Alison, who was just getting out of her own family car. “Why are you taking a taxi? Don’t tell me the Crawford family kicked you out?” Alison asked mockingly.
