“He’s in prison,” Tom says. “He’ll finish Maxim off after Aurora dies.”

“I’ll finish him anyway.” Jonathan’s posture is calm, despite the tension in his shoulders. I don’t know how he remains so calm under such circumstances. I’m on the verge of a breakdown.

“Small price to pay.” Margot smiles. “Do you think death scares us?”

“Then you leave me no choice.” Jonathan steps aside, and a part of me is glad that he’s putting his life first. His family and many people’s livelihoods depend on him.

I ignore the bitter taste sticking to the back of my throat and try to gather the influx of thoughts scattering through my head.

“Jonathan…” I murmur. “I lo —”

My words are cut off when something punctures the kitchen’s window. The knife that was previously held to my throat clutters to my lap and the body behind me disappears. There’s a loud thud and Margot shrieks, the haunted sound echoing in the space.

My eyes widen as I make out Tom lying on the floor, his eyes staring up at me — or rather, at nowhere. A hole settles in the middle of his forehead.

Margot falls to her knees in front of him, sobbing and calling his name. There’s no answer. No movement.

Holy shit. I think I’m going to throw up.

A shadow appears at the window, and I flinch against the chair, the ropes tightening around my skin. For some illogical reason, I think Tom’s shadow has returned as a ghost and that he’ll finish what he started. The continuous bursts of adrenaline seem to be drawing energy from my life essence.

The shadow slowly comes into full view. He’s wearing elegant slacks and a dark blue shirt that matches the hypnotic colour of his eyes. The rest of his face is covered with a mask. He nods at Jonathan, who nods back. The masked man winks at me, laugh lines appear under his eyes as he stares at Tom’s corpse, and with that, he disappears.

Did he just kill Tom and smile about it?

I’m still focused on the window when strong hands cut off the ropes using the knife. My heart flutters and soars to life as Jonathan kneels in front of me, his gaze hard and focused.

He runs his fingers over the wound in my neck and they come away with blood. “Fuck!”

“I’m okay.”

“I’m not. Fuck, Aurora. What would I have done if something had happened to you?”

The moment I’m free of my bindings, I wrap my trembling arms around his neck. My first inhale of his woodsy scent brings fresh tears to the forefront, but this time, they’re happy tears. Grateful tears. “Thank you.”

Jonathan kisses my forehead and my cheeks, then brushes his lips against mine in a brief, soul-shattering kiss. With every touch of his mouth against my skin, it’s like he’s reviving me back to the life that was nearly stolen away from me.

He carries me in his arms, and I don’t protest since my legs wouldn’t be able to hold me up anyway. I snuggle my body into his embrace so effortlessly, as if I was always meant to be there.

And I was.

There’s no doubt in my mind that I always was.

Jonathan’s security wrenches Margot from above Tom’s corpse. I don’t want to look at him or the vacant look in his eyes.

“T-Tom!” Margot sobs. “Come back, honey. You can’t leave.”

Still carrying me in his arms, Jonathan stops in front of her and levels her with one of his wrath-inducing glares. The look of a god about to destroy everything in his path. “You raised him on useless revenge and eventually killed him, Margot. You’ll rot in prison for the rest of your life thinking that. You’ll regret the second you were born. Now, that is my revenge.”

He doesn’t wait for her reply as he strides out of the kitchen, her pained sobs and wails following after us like arrows.

My eyes are barely able to stay open, and my head feels wrong. What did they inject me with anyway?

I thought the heaviness in my head would loosen after being released from the ropes, but it’s getting worse.

“J-Jonathan…I…d-don’t feel so good…”

“Aurora.”

His voice turns hollow and distant.

“Aurora!”

My grip on his shirt slackens as my head rolls back and everything turns black.

 

 

33

 

 

Aurora

 

 

Life has never been the same after that night.

I think that’s a given, considering how Jonathan’s ‘man’ sniped down Tom as if he were a fly. When I asked Jonathan who the sniper was, he told me it was no one I needed to worry about. Something tells me his type might be even worse than the monster I spent my childhood with.

It took me a few days to regain my strength with the amount of propofol Margot and Tom injected into me.

Jonathan, being Jonathan, admitted me to a private clinic. When I told him there was no need, he gave me that look — the one that says ‘you don’t get to argue with me when it comes to your health’ — and I eventually kept my mouth shut.

Layla came over, brought me her mum’s couscous and hugged me to death. I joked, telling her maybe I should get hurt more often so she’d hug me. That earned me harsh glares from both her and Jonathan.

Ethan and Agnus showed up, too, and for the first time, Jonathan didn’t kick Ethan out. It might have something to do with how I begged him not to, but I believe this is a start to rekindle their friendship. I meant it when I told Ethan I’d help.

Aiden, Levi, Elsa, and Astrid visited, too. The boys were shocked about Margot’s involvement, considering that they’ve known her their entire lives, but after a one-on-one talk with Jonathan, they seemed to have accepted it.

My nephew begrudgingly said he’s glad I’m safe, and by begrudgingly, I mean, everyone said it first, then stared at him so he’d follow.

Aiden and I might have started off on the wrong foot, but I have faith in the future. After all, we’re the people Alicia loved the most. I cropped the clip of her last moments and sent him the part where she said she loved him so much.

Elsa’s eyes filled with tears as he listened and re-listened to that part. I think both he and I needed that goodbye from Alicia. Jonathan knew what my sister’s opinion of him was before her death, the part where she thought he was poisoning her, and that she forgave him. I could tell he didn’t like that she had those thoughts about him, but on the other hand, the closure gave him and Aiden a much-needed fresh start.

They’re revisiting their father and son relationship that was basically non-existent after Alicia’s death.

The small cropped parts are the only thing Jonathan and Aiden heard — I would never let them listen to the entire clip of her death. I’ll bury that painful experience between me and Maxim.

My father got attacked that night by Shelby. He was saved at the very last minute by a guard and he’s currently in a coma that he might never wake up from.

When I learnt the news, I didn’t grieve or feel sad. I didn’t feel relief either. I’d already mourned my father, so whether he stays alive or dies doesn’t really make much of a difference to me.

It’s ironic that he tortured people until they died slowly, and now, he might receive the same treatment. He’s neither dead nor alive — just floating in between.