Chapter 38: In Which She Reveals Her Dark Secret

Aurora’s eyes widened in horror. She can't imagine anyone would push her own flesh and blood down the stairs.

Is she crazy or what?

Theo looked at the city lights and continued with his story, "I was… ten. I remember I was about to get ready for bed. Father was out on a business trip, so I was supposed to go to bed without a bedtime story. But I didn't want to, so I thought I’d get my brother to read me one.”

Aurora smiled, “Sounds like you two were pretty close.”

Theo recalled some happy moments he had shared with a black-haired boy and gave Aurora a tiny smile.

“He was always looking out for me. Naturally, when father was out, I’d go to him. I went to his room, but he wasn’t there, so I walked around to find him and saw him at the stairs. I guess he wanted to get a glass of water - he has a habit of putting one next to his bed, in case he gets thirsty in the middle of the night.”

He paused and raked his hair backwards. Aurora noted his distress and rubbed his thick arms to calm his nerves as he continued, “It happened so fast. Mother appeared out of nowhere and pushed him.”

“She didn’t see you?”

Theo shook his head, “I couldn’t remember why, but I jumped behind a pillar as soon as I saw what she did, so she couldn’t have seen me.”

Aurora looked down. Her hands were gripping Theo’s elbow. She quickly relaxed her fingers and asked in a strained voice, "Did you brother die?"

"No."

Her shoulders sagged in relief.

Theo continued softly, "But he broke his leg. He's been walking with a limp ever since."

She remarked gently, “I didn’t get to meet him when we were at the mansion.” It suddenly occurred to Aurora that the possibility of Theo having a brother never crossed her mind. Maybe because his mother had acted as if he was her only child. But why would the b*tch do that?

Wouldn’t she want two gold mines instead of one?

Theo looked down at the floor with a guilty expression, “After the incident, he returned to Japan to live with his grandparents.”

Aurora was confused, “Returned? You mean he’s from Japan?”

Theo nodded, “His mother was Japanese. She passed away, so he came to live with us.”

An illegitimate son, Aurora thought. It all made sense now. Why that greedy woman wanted the brother out of the family portrait.

All of a sudden, she recalled the trick that she used when she tried to enter Theo’s office for the first time and then felt apologetic.

As if reading her thoughts, Theo lowered his voice and affirmed, “He was the first-born, so my mother felt threatened.”

"So she planned to kill your brother by pushing him off the stairs?" Aurora asked in a dreaded whisper. She has heard stories and watched movies of family members killing each other for power or a bigger share of the inheritance, so it might have been the same with Theo's mother.

"I will never know what she was trying to do. My brother told everyone it was an accident and everyone believed him because there were no witnesses. A few days later, he said that he missed Japan terribly and left. He hasn’t been back since.”

“But why were there no witnesses? You saw what happened, didn’t you?”

Theo grew silent.

Aurora thought that he might be too shocked and young to say anything, so she held the side of his face with her hand and stroked his cheek with her thumb to comfort him.

“It’s not your fault. I would be too shocked to say anything if I were you. You shouldn’t blame yourself.”

Theo lifted his gaze and she saw the years of regret in his eyes, “I lied to my family, Aurora. When father asked if anyone saw what happened, I kept quiet."

He swallowed hard and said, "I kept quiet because I was so scared that my mother would do the same to me if I said anything.” He looked away, closed his eyes as if in shame and drew in a long, deep breath.

Aurora corrected him angrily, “You were only ten! And she was such a monster. I’d be terrified if I were you.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and then felt his arms tightened around hers.

His heart was beating fast against her, so she patted his back, when he added in her ear, "I thought that I'd be next, so I kept the lights on and guarded my door."

"That's why you sleep with the lights on?"

Theo stiffened. "Zia told you?"

"Yeah. Before we went to Gill's island."

"Ah hell," Theo groaned. Why would zia do that? He pulled away and frowned at her, "So you knew it all along?"

Aurora nodded with a chuckle.

Theo hid his eyes in his hand and shook his head in embarrassment, "All this while I've been trying to keep it from you, but you already knew. God, I'm such an idiot."

Aurora tip-toed to kiss him on the cheek, "You're a handsome idiot."

He tried to turn away from her, but she wouldn't let him, "Come on! It's no big deal, really. I'll hold your hand when you sleep."

"It's d*mn cruel to make fun of a man's phobia, Aurora."

"Alright, I'm sorry," she kissed him on the mouth this time, then hugged him again.

They stayed in each other's embrace for a while more, before Aurora asked, "Do you miss your brother?"

"I do," Theo breathed. "But it's better for him to stay away. God knows what my mother and uncle will do next."

"That uncle who stole the company's money?" Aurora asked as her throat thickened.

"Yeah. He's been taking money from my father's company for years."

"Are you going to report him to the police?" Aurora whispered.

Theo sighed, "I hope I don’t have to. He's still part of the family. That's why I'm doing all I can to stop him from taking more. If the board knows about this, or if he does it again, I'll have to make the move."

"I guess my dad might have thought the same," Aurora muttered as she broke away from him and walked back to the window.

"Aurora?"

"You saw the way my family acted around me today."

"That's because your mother has always favored your brother above you."

"Yes, but she hated me even more after what I did. My brother too. And my dad… There's a reason why I haven't returned home in the past five years."

Theo sensed a grave mood from her and grew still.

The flaming hair beauty dropped her gaze from the city lights and admitted quietly, "I stole money from my father."

Theo couldn't move. Suddenly, her last name sprung up in his mind.

Sherman.

One of Theo’s business partners had complained to him, a few years back, about a certain Tim Sherman who couldn’t manage his retail business well. There were plans for a worldwide expansion, but the man couldn’t take the pressure and gave up, so they pulled the plug on their investment.

Aurora's voice regained his attention.

"I forged my dad's signature and took out a large sum. I thought I could replace it, but the investment failed, so everything was gone."

There was no turning back, Aurora thought. She noted the strong silence from Theo and squeezed her eyes to push her fear away.

"When my dad learned that his baby girl had stolen from him, he was so heartbroken that he fell ill for a long time. By the time he recovered, he'd stopped talking."

Theo could guess how the story ended, but he held his tongue.

"Business went bad and his investors started pulling out. We went into huge debt, so I…," she took in a deep breath and added. "I took a high-interest loan."

For a long while, Theo stared at the back of the exhausted woman standing in front of him.

He understood why she had moved out of that luxurious house, gave up on the lavish lifestyle she grew up with and insisted on working her way out of the mountain of debts.

She was punishing herself.