Chapter 175: When the Knife Turns.
Aurora’s POV
The moment I saw her, Lena, my hand pulled away from Alessandro's.
She was under the bright hospital light, standing tall, her belly starting to show, eyes cold and sharp.
“If it isn’t the girl who hops from one brother to another,” she said, her smirk big and cutting.
Alessandro moved a bit to stand in front of me, calm but ready.
“Lena,” he spoke flatly.
Her head tilted.
“Cool it, I’m not here to fight.
Just here to clap for Aurora on her score. First Leonardo, now you. Nice set.”
I kept quiet.
Not yet.
My heart beat hard, not from fear but from anger.
By her boldness standing there, tossing words sharp as knives after all she did.
Alessandro’s jaw tightened, his tone steady.
“You don’t talk to her like that.”
“Why not?” she asked, pretending to dust off her coat.
“She’s not all clean here.”
I moved up, my voice calm even though I was shaking inside.
“You can’t change the past, Lena.”
“Oh, dear,” she cooed.
“I don’t need to change a thing. You left Leonardo, and I just...took over.”
She touched her belly.
That hit me—not just the betrayal, not just the sadness.
It was deeper than that.
It was loathing.
She didn’t even love him.
She just wanted to win.
I took a breath, stepping closer until we stood face-to-face.
"Yeah, I left Leonardo,” I said quietly.
“But not because I didn’t love him. I left because when it mattered, when I was bleeding, hurting, drowning, he didn’t fight for me.”
Her smirk wavered.
I tilted my head slightly.
I said it, slow and clear, letting every word hit.
“And you?
He’s with you now not because he loves you. Don’t flatter yourself.
He’s with you because you're pregnant.
If that baby’s even his.”
Her smirk shattered.
Her eyes darkened instantly, rage flashing in them like fire through gasoline.
“How dare you say that the baby isn’t his?” She hissed, her voice trembling not with hurt but with anger.
She took a step forward, and then another fast, shaking, her hand lifting.
She was going to slap me.
I didn’t flinch.
But before her hand could touch my skin, Alessandro’s fingers clamped around her wrist, stopping her cold.
His grip wasn’t violent, but it was firm. Unshakable.
“Don’t.” His voice was low and dangerous. Just one word, but it was enough.
Lena’s breathing was sharp and loud in the silence. She tried to yank her hand back, but he didn’t let go immediately.
He looked her dead in the eye.
“You don’t touch her.”
For a second, her bravado cracked.
And I—
I didn’t even blink.
I just looked her straight in the eye and said calmly,
I tilted my head, letting my smile stretch slowly across my lips.
“Truth hurts, doesn’t it?”
Lena didn’t respond. Her jaw clenched, her eyes burned, but her mouth stayed shut.
That silence was all the confirmation I needed my words had landed exactly where I wanted them.
“You hate that I see through you,” I said, my voice low and sharp.
“That I’m not scared of your games anymore. You’ve always been desperate to win, but not out of love.
You don’t want Leonardo. You just don’t want me to have peace.”
She flinched. Barely. But I saw it.
I stepped closer, still smiling, but there was no warmth in it now.
“You tried to kill me more than once. Kidnapping. Claws. Lies. And yet, here I am, still standing, still breathing, and stronger than you ever imagined.”
Her fists curled at her sides.
“Do you know why I survived, Lena?” I asked quietly, my tone turning cold.
“Because I had people, real people who would risk everything for me. Alessandro, Annie, Rafael, and Gabriel. Even strangers.
They came for me. Again and again.”
I paused, then let my voice drop to a dagger-sharp whisper.
“But what about you?”
“Who would come running for you, Lena?” I stepped even closer.
“Leonardo?
The man who can’t even look you in the eye when he speaks your name?”
She sucked in a sharp breath.
“If you were in danger, real danger, do you really think he’d come save you?” I asked, my voice like ice.
“Or would he secretly wish you’d disappear, just so he could finally breathe again?”
That did it.
Lena’s face twisted with rage as she raised her hand, ready to strike me across the face again.
But she never made it again.
A firm hand caught her wrist mid-air.
“Don’t test my patience, Lena,” Alessandro said coldly, his grip like steel.
“You lay a finger on her again, and I won’t be so polite next time.”
Lena yanked her hand back, trembling with anger, but she didn’t speak. She knew she’d lost.
I gave her one last look, calm and steady.
“Careful, Lena,” I said softly.
“Because one day, you’ll look around… and no one will be left on your side.”
Then I turned to Alessandro, slipping my hand into his again without looking back.
“Let’s go,” I said.
And just like that, we walked away, leaving her behind.
Because the real sting wasn’t in the words.
It was in knowing they were true.
*****
As we stepped back into the hospital, walking toward Annie’s room, I let out a breath I didn’t even know I’d been holding.
“Woah…” I muttered, almost to myself.
“I can’t believe I actually said that.”
Alessandro chuckled beside me, shaking his head with a grin.
“Aurora, I have to hand it to you,” he said, clearly impressed.
“That was… bold. I thought for a second you might let her get in your head again, but damn, you shut her down.”
I glanced at him, half-smiling, still feeling the rush of it all.
“I didn’t even plan to. It just came out.”
He nodded, eyes warm.
“Sometimes the truth just hits harder when it’s raw. You didn’t just speak; you reminded her she’s not the one holding the power anymore.”
He opened the door to Annie’s room for me, but just as I stepped into her room, a nurse came rushing towards us, breathless, panic on her face.
“Alessandro, you need to come quickly,” she said, eyes wide.
“It’s Leonardo, something’s wrong. He’s collapsed.”
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