Chapter 6
The news spread quickly. Aurora arranged the funeral despite there being no body to bury–only scorched remains, twisted metal, and her last belongings. A casket was placed at the front of the estate chapel, filled only with her favorite white roses and a dress she once wore during one of the rare, happier nights of her marriage.
Jarren didn’t speak much that day. He sat stiffly in the front pew, staring blankly at the altar. Hi fists clenched, his jaw locked. People offered their condolences, but he barely acknowledgec
them.
Because in his mind… none of it felt real.
He had men searching every road, every hidden path. A part of him refused to believe she was truly gone. Not Hayley. Not like that. She couldn’t leave him–not without giving him the chance to hate her properly.
That night, while the house was still draped in mourning, Jarren sat in his room, alone and bitter replaying every moment. Every fight. Every unanswered question. Why didn’t she defend herself? Why did she give up so easily?
The door creaked open.
Elisa stepped inside, wearing a sheer black lace lingerie, her lips curved into a soft smile. Her makeup was perfect, her hair curled in waves, her eyes gleaming with victory.
To her, this was the moment she had waited for.
Hayley was gone. Forever.
No more distractions. No more rivals.
She walked up to him and slipped into his lap, arms snaking around his neck. “It’s just us now,’ she whispered. “You and me. Isn’t that what we wanted?”
Jarren didn’t move.
Elisa leaned in to kiss him, but he turned his face away.
Her eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “You don’t want me anymore? Just because your dear Hayley’s gone?”
Jarren’s jaw tightened.
‘Why do you look like you’re regretting something?”
‘I’m not regretting it,” he snapped. “I’m just… angry. She shouldn’t have died like that.”
‘Then how should she have died?” Elisa laughed bitterly.
He looked up at Elisa, eyes dark and cold. “By my hand,” he said flatly. “She cheated on me. I anyone was going to end her life, it should’ve been me–not a truck.”
But the words… they didn’t land the way they used to. They sounded hollow, even to his own ears. Because the truth twisted in his chest like a blade. It burned through his anger, slicing it apart until only confusion and guilt remained.
He missed her. He hated her–but he missed her.
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And now the memories came. Uninvited. Unrelenting
Hayley, waiting for him late at night just to warm his food. Hayley, rubbing his temples when he was too stressed to speak. Hayley, smiling at him even after his silence crushed the air betweer them.
She had once spent three days planning his birthday–just for him to cancel dinner and disappear with Elisa.
And still, she stayed. Still, she loved him.
He remembered the way she’d tug on his sleeve quietly when she was scared. How she’t whisper, “I’m trying,” as if love was something she had to earn from him. She cooked his meals folded his suits, cleaned up his messes–physical and emotional–without ever asking for anything in return.
But then he remembered the night she was found with another man. Her lips swollen from drugs, her body barely conscious, the photo Elisa showed him–Hayley tangled in a stranger’s bed.
He had never been able to unsee it.
So maybe she deserved it. Maybe she brought it all on herself.
And yet… something inside him rebelled at that thought.
Because for every time he tried to hate her, a gentler memory followed.
And for every reason he gave himself to be angry-
There were ten more to feel like a monster.
Elisa studied him closely. “Are you sure about that?”
He hesitated.
Almost said no.
Then looked away. “Yes.”
A smirk danced on her lips. “Then prove it.”
She kissed him–hard, hungry. And this time, he didn’t resist.
He pulled her down and let it happen. Let the pain consume him the only way he knew how. They tangled in each other, bodies pressed together in a mix of desperation and distraction. Moans echoed off the walls like mockery.
And just as they reached for each other again-
The door slammed open.
‘YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!”
Aurora’s voice sliced through the air like a blade.
Jarren froze.
Elisa let out a shriek and scrambled to cover herself with the silk sheet.
Aurora stood at the doorway, fury etched into every line of her face. Her cane dropped with a loud crack against the marble.
“I came to check on you,” she shouted. “To see if you were grieving. And this is what I find?!”
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She stormed into the room and slapped Jarren across the face so hard it echoed.
Then, without a second’s pause, she grabbed Elisa by the hair and yanked.
“That’s for hurting her! For destroying a good woman! For everything you did to break her!”
Elisa screamed, pushing herself away.
Jarren jumped to his feet. “What the hell are you doing?!”
Aurora turned on him, breathing hard.
“You don’t deserve a single penny from me. You want to be with her? Fine. But don’t expect my support. Don’t expect my protection. From now on, you take care of your business without the Smith name behind you.”
Jarren’s face flushed with rage. “Why are you getting mad at me?! Hayley was the one who cheated first, not me! You know that!”
Aurora stared at him–disgusted.
Then she smirked.
“You really believe that?” she asked quietly. “You actually convinced yourself that lie was the truth?”
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