Chapter 37: In Which He Reveals His Dark Secret

"Oh!!!" The hair-raising cry of hopelessness penetrated the air.

Aurora watched with seething eyes, as her mother crumbled to the floor, clawing like a desperate addict for the tiny pieces of the wondrous blank check.

"No, no, no!!!" The older woman glared up at her. "Look what you've done! You crazy wench!"

Aurora scoffed, "I'm a wench now, huh?"

Adrien appeared at the door, his cheeks red from the brief dash. "What's wrong, mummy?"

He saw mummy on the floor clawing for tiny pieces of what appears to be a check and found his answer. He dropped onto his knees with a loud thud and wailed like a pig to be slaughtered, “No!!! My life is gone! Who did this?”

Carol thrust an angry finger at the younger copy of herself, “Who else!”

The lazy dreamer faced Aurora, enraged. “You,” he snarled as he stood and took dangerous steps towards his sister.

Aurora was stunned - she had never seen her brother this mad. His killer eyes shot a cold streak of fear up her neck. She backed away slowly, eyeing at the door to make her escape.

“You useless whore!” Adrien roared and lifted his meaty hand to swat it down on Aurora like she was a fly.

A stronger, toned hand grabbed the fat wrist and twisted the flabby arm out of its intended path.

Aurora opened her eyes and was surprised at the sight of Theo's broad back blocking her view. She stepped out from behind him and saw her brother's round body angled in pain.

"Ouch! Ow, ow ow," he howled.

Theo raised Adrien's arm higher and the man's squeals grew louder.

"Please stop! You're hurting my baby!" His mother crawled forward, hands clasped in a prayer.

For some reason, the scene made her even angrier. Aurora let out a long scream, releasing years of pent up anger and resentment.

When she was done, Theo was blinking at her with a shocked expression.

Not letting go of the pudgy wrist, he asked in a gentle tone, "Are you alright, babe?"

Aurora answered with a smile, "Never better." She stepped towards her mother, who was staring back with a frightened look, and stated in a firm tone she never thought she had.

"I'll pay all the debts on my own. Don't you dare to take any f*cking money from anyone to pay them. I don't need it."

Her mother scoffed, "What makes you think that we're going to? I'm not going to pay a single cent, you--."

"I know you won't. I just want to be clear so there's no confusion later. Because I'm not coming back. Ever."

Ignoring her mother's widened gaze, Aurora added, "I'll still send over the money that I owe, don't you worry. Goodbye, mother. You won't see or hear from me again."

Aurora took Theo's hand and pulled him out of the room, past her father and out of the house.

She didn't look back.


******


As the black sports car cruised peacefully along the road, heading towards the other side of the city, Theo took Aurora's trembling hand into his and smiled comfortingly at her.

She had a blank look on her face so he couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"Babe, you alright?"

Aurora spun away from the side window and stared at him with anxious eyes, "Theo!"

"What? Did you leave something at the house? It'll be embarrassing to go back there after your brave declaration. But if it's important--."

Aurora chuckled, "No, it's not that."

Theo smiled warmly, "It's nice to see you smile." He squeezed her hand and brought it to his lips. "What is it you wanted to say?"

"You haven't given me the check for the cleaning! Today's the deadline."

"Seriously? That's your concern now?" He chuckled in disbelief. After that big announcement of cutting ties with her family, she still cares for them.

Aurora shot a flat expression, "I've told you before, it's important."

"But, they are no longer your concern, right? So just leave it."

There was an unusual silence from her. Then, she looked at her thighs and answered quietly, "It's still important." She turned to him, "I want to tell you something, Theo."

"Okay, that's a scary look you're giving me. Give me a second," Theo stared ahead and took a deep breath.

It better not be a breakup, he thought silently. He'll drive them back to her apartment and 'convince' her otherwise.

"Okay, I'm ready. Tell me."

"I mean to tell you after my shift."

"What? That's like six hours away. It's plain cruel to keep a man in suspense like that, babe."

Aurora giggled, "I'm not breaking up with you if that's what you're thinking."

"How did you know?" He was both surprised and impressed.

"You kept wanting me to stay. Begging me not to go. Crying buckets of tears," Aurora flashed a broad grin, her eyes in a tease.

"I did not cry buckets of tears," Theo argued. "Men don't cry, babe."

"Well, you certainly drank buckets," Aurora laughed.

Theo winced in embarrassment, "Ah hell, you're really not gonna let this go, right?"

The car came to a stop at the traffic lights and he turned around, reached out to grab her neck, pulled her forward to meet his lips.

He deepened the kiss immediately then pulled away just as the lights turned green and continued driving.

Aurora looked ahead with a blushing smile.


******


The capsule rose steadily above the sea of neon lights, illuminating like stars in the vast darkness.

Aurora had never felt this peaceful staring at the city from a height in the night. When she was younger, she always felt that the Ferris wheel was the lamest invention of mankind. Now she appreciated it much more.

“It’s so magical,” she whispered. Then, she turned to her back and frowned at Theo, who had been looking at her, “Still, you shouldn’t have asked them to open the entire fairground just for me. It’s really ridiculous, Theo.”

Work at Madame Zoya’s ended at ten instead of eight. Everything had closed so Aurora suggested that they head home for dinner. Instead, Theo brought her to the fairground.

Theo shoved his hands into his pockets and smiled at the spectacular scenery, “I thought you might want to see something different today.”

Aurora stared ahead as the lights blurred and images of this afternoon’s events replayed in her mind. When she felt Theo’s chin on her shoulder, she looked down and saw his hands over her belly. He was hugging her from behind. She leaned against him and exhaled a relief.

“I guess I really do need a change of scenery.”

“Did your father call you after lunch?”

Aurora turned around to meet his eyes, “No. My father will never call me.”

“He looked like he had something to say to you when we were leaving the house, so I thought he'd call you.”

“I doubt it,” Aurora sighed. “He can’t talk.”

Theo was shocked, “I apologize.”

“You don’t have to; you didn’t know." Then, her voice fell into a thin whisper, "I haven't heard his voice in a very long time."

He tightened his arms, "Can I ask what happened?"

She waited for a while, then turned around and looked straight into his eyes.

"Let's trade again."

Theo chuckled, "You like that game, don't you?"

She returned to the front with a smile, "I want to know more about you."

Theo felt his heart skip a beat. He swallowed hard and asked in a rough voice, "What do you want to know?"

Aurora smiled at the city lights, "What's the worst thing you may have done to your family?"

Theo looked at her reflection and caught her serious expression, and knew that she wasn't in a joking mood. He pondered briefly then heaved a heavy sigh.

"Is this about what you want to tell me?"

Aurora nodded silently.

For some reason, her question conjured up memories of the incident he had witnessed when he was ten.

"Don't judge me," he exhaled.

“I won’t.”

A brief silence followed from his end. Then, abruptly, he muttered, "I saw my mother push my brother off the stairs and I kept quiet."