Chapter 2
The OR lights had been glowing for hours. The hallway was dead quiet except for the sound of anxious breathing.
Lorraine sat on the bench, her fingers ice-cold. Aurora was slumped across from her, eyes swollen from crying, constantly checking the operating room doors.
Finally, Aurora broke the silence: “Lorraine, I’m so sorry I keep dragging you into this mess.”
Lorraine looked up but didn’t say anything.
Aurora wiped her tears, her voice breaking: “I honestly had no idea… after all these years, Kieran still loves me this much.”
She paused, like she was lost in some memory.
“You know? Last year on my birthday, he flew all the way to Paris just to bring me this necklace… Some random piece I’d mentioned liking forever ago, and he actually remembered. But I was being such a bitch—I threw it right back at him and slammed the door in his face.”
Lorraine’s fingers clenched so hard her nails drew blood.
She remembered that trip crystal clear—Kieran said he had some urgent business in Europe for three days.
When he came back, he brought a necklace and casually gave it to her.
She was so happy she kept it at the bottom of her jewelry box like some precious treasure, barely even wore it. But now… it was just Aurora’s reject that he’d dumped on her.
Aurora kept going: “And Christmas two years ago? I had this huge fight with my boyfriend and posted something really depressing on Instagram. Kieran saw it and flew out that same night. He stood outside my building in a fucking blizzard until sunrise, but didn’t dare to actually knock.”
Lorraine’s heart twisted into a knot.
She remembered that Christmas night—Kieran had been unusually passionate, making love to her seven times. She thought he was finally starting to have feelings for her.
The next morning she woke up to an empty bed. She figured he’d just gotten some work emergency.
Turns out… he was rushing off to see Aurora.
“These past three years…” Aurora’s voice cracked again. “I’ve been such a stubborn idiot, refusing to contact him. But Kieran never stopped missing me. Not for one damn day. He wrote me a letter every day, even though I never wrote back once.”
Lorraine suddenly couldn’t breathe.
All those late nights she’d seen the study light on, thinking he was working on company stuff. She’d even made him coffee and brought it in.
He was writing love letters to Aurora.
She’d thought that at least while Aurora was gone, Kieran had genuinely tried to make their marriage real.
Now she realized it had all been her pathetic delusion.
She thought she’d finally warmed his heart, but he’d been thinking about Aurora the whole time.
Just as Aurora was about to keep talking, Lorraine shot to her feet.
Her face was ghost-white, but she kept her voice steady: “I’ve got stuff to do. I’m leaving.”
Before Aurora could respond, she turned and walked away fast, practically running by the time she hit the exit.
Back home, she silently packed all her stuff, just waiting for that divorce agreement to kick in.
For the next few days, she torture-watched Kieran’s life play out on Aurora’s Instagram stories—
His surgery went perfectly, but he didn’t rest for a second. He immediately moved Aurora’s mom to the VIP wing, flew in top medical specialists from Europe, even personally reviewed every treatment plan.
Aurora’s latest post was a photo.
Kieran sitting beside the hospital bed, IV drip in his arm, gently peeling a pomegranate for her, adoring look on his face.
The caption read: “Nobody will ever love me like this again ❤️”
Lorraine’s chest exploded with pain, tears splashing onto her phone screen and blurring Kieran’s gentle expression in the photo.
She thought about how she’d taken care of him exactly like this for years.
His stomach problems—she’d make healing bone broth every morning. His crazy work schedule—she’d always leave the lights on waiting for him. Every piece of fruit she gave him was perfectly peeled, deseeded, cut into perfect bite-sized pieces…
But now he was doing all of that for Aurora Jameson.
She took a deep breath, wiped her tears and told herself—
Whatever. Once she stopped loving him, she’d finally learn to love herself.
