CHAPTER 26

“You will die if I leave you here alone, Aurora!” he was so angry with her but he tried his best to be patient with her as there was no way he was going to leave her.
“I don't care. It's not like anybody cares anyway. Did I do something wrong to you? Why should you all treat me this way?” she angrily yelled tears running down those sweet cheeks.
He didn't like seeing her cry and he wasn't going to keep her in this cave. So, without answering her he scooped her up and carried her while she kicked him so hard. He would bear some wounds as long he took her back home. He carefully exited the cave while he carried her.
Along the way Aurora got tired of crying and she slept. Lucian met more people who were coming to look for him and Aurora. They helped him to carry Aurora back to the mansion. The doctor was called to look at Aurora.
“Is she okay, doctor?” Lucian anxiously asked.
“I'm surprised. If she was just an ordinary person, she would have died but her body seems to be used to this kind of conditions. She just needs to sleep and she will be okay,” the doctor assured him.
“What does that mean doctor?” he asked as he didn’t understand what the doctor was talking about.
“Look closely at her. Beneath all those tattoos there are grave scars. She had been hurt or maybe abused but she hid the scars under the tattoos. She is a strong girl, she can survive anywhere,” the doctor said her tone filled with so much adoration and sympathy for what she had gone through to be where she was right no.
“That's terrible. Can you guess what hurt her?” he was just so angry when he heard the doctor diagnosing her.
“Most of her scars were at least a decade old. The scars are a bit sharp and deep, probably a knife or something like that. Like I said she is strong. Just keep watch on her and make sure she doesn't do anything again,” the doctor instructed seriously and left after that.
He looked at her and saw how peacefully she slept. Why didn't she tell anyone about all these grievances? Why did she just kept quiet and suffered alone? Wasn’t he trustful enough for her to confide in him?
“I'm sorry Lucian, I didn't know it would be this way,” his mother apologized again, looking more upset than before especially after hearing what the doctor said.
“It's okay, it wasn't your fault. You were just trying to help her,” he said weakly, he understood what his mother did and she did it for everyone.
The wedding was still a few days ago. What will he do? Will he still marry his cousin? Will they stop the wedding and announce her relation towards his family? Everything was just too much he needed to be alone. He left the room and went to the bar and poured himself a glass of scotch. His dad found him drinking and poured himself a glass too.
“I understand that you are hurt but, in the end, there should be a solution to all this and you must make a decision,” he said.
“It's difficult dad,” Lucian said as he sighed.
“It's not at all. Only the few of us knows who she is really now. So, it's either you go along with the wedding or you cancel it.”
“I don't think I can cancel it,” he told his dad the truth.
“And why is that?” the old man was curious about the answer.
“I love her dad. I know it's crazy at the moment but being without her is just something I can't do,” Lucian confessed his feelings to his father.
“You want to be with her even when she is your cousin?” the old man cocked his eyebrows as he asked.
“Yes, even if she is my cousin. It's too late to turn back the time now. I will continue with the wedding,” he said.
“Since you have made that decision, you should be ready to face the obstacles that lie ahead. Not everyone will think the way you do. Just make sure you will be able to protect yourself and those that you love when that happens,” his father said and left since there was nothing, he could say to change Lucian’s mind.
Aurora might not be able to give him a child, she might be his cousin but still she was the same woman who captured his heart. The same young woman who made his blood boil, his heart race and made his day brighter and made him want to go back home.
He was going to marry her and keep her by his side. Give her a better life and make her forget about all the nasty things that happened to her while she was growing up.
“Dad, Aurora is awake!” Jewel called out happily as she entered the bar.
He stood up immediately and ran to his room where Aurora was really wide awake. His mother left the room as soon as he got inside. Jewel disappeared too leaving just the two of them.
“I'm sorry I lied to you,” she said with her head lowered as she was afraid of his reaction.
“What did you lie about?” he asked as if he wasn't aware of the truth.
“I came into your lives for my own personal reasons. I'm sorry that I used you and I'm sorry that this ill-fated relationship of ours must come to an end,” she was very sad when she said that as she had gotten used to this family.
“Who are you to make all the decisions yourself?” he asked furiously, refusing to accept that she was just cutting off all ties like this without discussion.
“I thought this will be a lie but it wasn't. I'm your cousin and it hurts me. After everything we did and it turned out to be this. I just can't stand it. I will go back to Queensland,” she said crying, she was obviously hurt, so why was he shouting and yelling at her?
Lucian was not going to let her go. He hugged her so tightly and told her, “I will never let you go Aurora. I don't give a shit whether you are my cousin or not. You love me so why should you abandon me and Jewel?”