Chapter 176
Chapter 176:
“If we send them away, they’ll sell the story anyway. ‘Kensington Heiress Hides Dark Past.’ It will bleed into the press for weeks,” Aurora said calmly. “Let them in p>
“Aurora p>
“Let them in, Grandpa,” she said, her eyes cold. “I want to end this. Permanently p>
Grandpa Vance looked at her, seeing the steel in her spine. He pressed the button on the console. “Open the gate. Escort Mr. Russo to the drawing room. Leave the press outside p>
Outside, the heavy iron gates groaned and swung open. Russo froze. He exchanged a look with his lawyer. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. It worked. Fear worked.
They drove up the long, winding driveway. They gawked at the manicured hedges, the marble statues, the sheer scale of the wealth.
Eleanor stepped out onto the porch, drawn by the noise. She stopped dead. She looked at the cheap car, the trashy man spilling out of it, and her face went pale with feigned horror.
“Who let these people in?” she gasped, though her eyes danced with malicious delight.
Russo saw Eleanor and puffed out his chest. “I’m here for my money! Aurora Vance destroyed my property! She’s a delinquent p>
Eleanor recoiled as if she had been slapped, playing her part perfectly. “Oh my. A delinquent? How dreadful p>
Before she could continue her performance, the front doors opened.
Aurora stepped out.
She stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at them. She wore black. She looked immaculate, untouched, and utterly alien to the man who had tormented her childhood.
“Hello, Dominic,” she said. Her voice was soft, carrying effortlessly over the distance.
Russo faltered for a second. The girl looked different. Taller. Colder.
“I want my money, Aurora!” Russo shouted, trying to regain control. “You think you can just leave the Bronx and forget your debts p>
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Aurora stared at him. She let the silence stretch. She let it become awkward, heavy, suffocating. She watched him squirm under her gaze.
“Come inside,” she said finally. Her voice was inviting. Like a spider inviting a fly into the web.
“We have much to discuss p>
Eleanor watched, confused by Aurora’s calmness. She followed them into the house.
The heavy oak doors closed behind them with a deep, ominous thud that sounded like the lid of a coffin slamming shut.
The drawing room was vast, filled with furniture that cost more than Russo’s entire apartment building. Russo sat on a Louis XIV chair, his muddy boots resting on the delicate Persian rug. He looked around, calculating.
“So,” Russo said, leaning back and crossing his arms. “Let’s cut the crap. You’re loaded now. You trashed Unit 4B. Water damage. Holes in the walls. I have witnesses p>
“Witnesses paid by whom?” Aurora asked. She was standing by the fireplace, pouring tea into porcelain cups. She didn’t look at him.
“Doesn’t matter,” Russo sneered. “The press is outside. You want them to know you lived like an animal? Or do you want to write a check p>
“How much?” Aurora asked.
Russo exchanged a look with his lawyer. “Two hundred thousand. For damages. And emotional distress p>