Chapter 6
Luigi left with Rosalia in his arms, abandoning me to face the security guards alone.
No matter how desperately I tried to explain what really happened, they were dead set on blaming me. One of them ripped my student ID out of my
hands.
“Aurelia Cooper, right? You better have our money by tomorrow, or I’m calling the cops and reporting you to your school. I’ll make sure they revoke your SAT scores for destructive behavior!”
After that threat, they all disappeared into their office, leaving me standing there like a criminal.
With no way to prove my innocence, I dragged myself home to figure out my next move.
The second I walked through the door, Mom was already screaming at me.
“Eighteen fucking years old and you’re still nothing but trouble! First staying out all night getting wasted, now destroying other people’s property. When the hell are you going to grow up?”
She hurled a stack of bills at my feet.
“You’re throwing this tantrum because we didn’t take you to Bali, aren’t you? Take this money and pay them back. We don’t need this kind of shame i our family.”
I caught sight of Rosalia sitting smugly on the couch, clearly enjoying the show, and I knew exactly who’d been feeding them lies.
‘It wasn’t me,” I said, my voice shaking with rage. “Rosalia was the one riding the bike. She destroyed the billboard and crashed into me too.”
I yanked up my torn jeans to show them the bloody scrapes covering my knees.
Dad’s fist slammed against the table so hard I jumped. “How fucking dare you blame your sister! Half that money is from her own savings!”
‘She’s willing to empty her piggy bank to clean up your mess, and you want to throw her under the bus? What kind of monster are you?”
Staring at their disgusted faces, I felt something inside me finally break.
My entire life, no matter what happened, they always automatically sided with Rosalia. Always. Like I didn’t even exist.
But I was their daughter too. Their flesh and blood.
Why couldn’t they love me even a fraction as much as they loved her?
“I won’t confess to something I didn’t do,” I said, each word cutting my throat like glass. “And I don’t want Rosalia’s fucking charity money.”
I turned and walked out, ignoring their furious shouts behind me.
Desperate to prove my innocence, I went back to the scene of the accident.
After combing through every inch of the area, I finally spotted a security camera tucked between the branches of a tree.
I snapped a photo and marched straight to the police station, my heart pounding with hope.
Just as I reached for the door handle, Luigi appeared and grabbed my arm.
“What the hell are you doing here?” He dragged me to a nearby park, his voice sharp with panic.
“I found a security camera,” I said. “It’ll prove I didn’t hit the billboard.”
Luigi’s face went white. “Jesus Christ, Aurelia, you can’t involve the cops! I already paid those security guards to drop it. It’s handled. Just let it go.”
His words hit me like a physical blow to the chest.
“Let it go?” My voice cracked. “Luigi, Rosalia destroyed property and framed me for it. She could have ruined my entire future, and you want me to just let it go?”
Guilt flashed across his face as he reached for my hands. “Look, you’ve told me how your parents babied Rosalia her whole life. She’s delicate-she can’t handle being blamed and yelled at like that. But you’re tough. You’ve dealt with criticism your whole life. A little more won’t kill you.”
I stared at him like he’d just stabbed me through the heart.
When I’d cried to him about my parents’ favoritism, he’d held me so tightly while tears ran down his face.
“Aurelia, I’ll be your real family. I’ll choose you over everyone, always.”
Every time my parents picked Rosalia over me, Luigi had sworn he’d be different. That he’d always put me first.
Now those promises felt like poison in my veins.
I yanked my hands away from him, and Luigi seemed to realize he’d crossed a line. He dropped to his knees in front of me.
“Shit, does your leg still hurt? I brought antiseptic and bandages.”
“Don’t touch me.”
But Luigi ignored me, grabbing my injured knee. “Stop fighting me. Seeing you hurt is killing me.”
He knelt there playing the concerned boyfriend while I felt like I was dying inside.
After he finished bandaging my cuts, I stepped back from him.
‘It’s late. You should go home. I need space to think.”
Luigi immediately grabbed my wrist. “I know you’re upset and don’t want to deal with your family right now. Come on, let me take you somewhere t ake your mind off this.”
Before I could protest, he was dragging me toward the mall.
[wenty minutes later, we were in a private movie theater room. Luigi had bought popcorn and sodas, trying to act like the perfect boyfriend.
But the moment the lights dimmed, hardcore porn filled the massive screen.
My face burned as I reached for the remote, but Luigi caught my hand and pulled me against his chest.
Come on, babe. We’ve already fucked. What’s there to be embarrassed about?”
The moaning from the speakers got louder as the couple on screen went at it, and Luigi’s hands started roaming over my body.
tried to push him away, but his grip tightened.
‘Aurelia,” he whispered against my ear, his voice thick with lust. “Last time I was too rough because I didn’t know what I was doing. But look-” He gestured at the screen where the guy was going down on the girl. “We can learn some new tricks. I want to make you scream my name.”
Before I could react, he was pulling me onto his lap, his breathing already heavy with want.
14:57
Done Widi.
