Chapter 191
Chapter 191:
Harper linked her arm through Aurora’s. “Come on. The bar is this way. I need a drink, and you look like you need to punch someone p>
“I was considering it,” Aurora admitted, letting Harper drag her away from the center of the room.
“I heard you needed backup,” Harper whispered as they reached the bar. “Atticus texted me. Said the sharks were circling p>
“I can handle sharks,” Aurora said. “But thank you p>
“Anytime,” Harper winked. She ordered two scotches, neat. “To taking over the world p>
Aurora clinked her glass against Harper’s. “To burning it down first p>
From the shadows, Elias Thorne watched the interaction. He saw the way the Yates family deferred to Aurora. He saw the genuine respect.
He swirled his whiskey. She has connections, he realized. Deep ones. Connections I didn’t map.
He felt a spike of jealousy, hot and irrational, that someone else—even Harper—was protecting her. That was his job.
Vivian retreated to the shadows near the heavy drapes. She pulled out her phone. Her hands were shaking with rage.
She typed a text to Sebastian.
Don’t be fooled by the Yates charity case. You need to know the truth about her past. Meet me in the cigar lounge.
She hit send. Her eyes found Aurora laughing with Harper.
Laugh while you can, Vivian thought. Because I’m about to poison the well.
The cigar lounge was a sanctuary of masculinity and old leather. Smoke hung in the air in thick, lazy ribbons. It was quiet here, the noise of the party muffled by the heavy oak doors.
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Vivian sat on a plush Chesterfield sofa, dabbing at her dry eyes with a lace handkerchief. She looked fragile. Broken.
Sebastian Kensington entered. He was a tall man, stiff, with the Kensington jawline but none of the family’s renowned intelligence. He was protective, traditional, and easily led.
“Vivian?” he asked, sitting beside her. “What is it? Why are you hiding p>
“I shouldn’t say,” Vivian sniffed, looking away. “It would break Grandmother’s heart. It would ruin the family name p>
“Vivian,” Sebastian said sternly. “If it concerns the family, I need to know p>
Vivian hesitated, playing the reluctance perfectly. “It’s Aurora. I tried to be nice to her. I really did. But… the things I’ve found out p>
She leaned in, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “She was wild, Sebastian. In those missing years. She didn’t just live in poverty. She lived in… sin p>
Sebastian’s eyebrows drew together. “What do you mean p>
“She was married,” Vivian dropped the bomb. “And divorced. But not just a normal divorce. It was scandalous. Some wealthy man she seduced for money, then discarded when the cash ran out. Promiscuity. Men coming and going from that trailer. She… she used men to survive p>
It was a masterstroke of manipulation. Vivian knew Sebastian had been in Europe for the last five years, completely detached from the New York gossip columns that had covered the Sterling Thorne wedding. To him, Aurora was a blank slate, and Vivian was filling it with filth.