"Hey, Aurora! I have been meaning to tell you this all along. I no longer see a future in our relationship. You are holding me back, and I don't love you enough to continue.
Don't bother reaching out to me. I have already moved on with someone bigger and better, who understands me.
Congratulations on your first LIVE interview by the way."
Aurora stared at her phone screen, her heart sinking with each passing second as she stared at the message her boyfriend had sent.
She had just finished removing her makeup in the powder room after her first business interview and decided to check her phone when she saw the text from Owen.
Aurora's vision blurred as tears flooded her eyes. She felt like she had been punched in the gut. Five years, gone. The memories, laughter, and their future together – all discarded like trash with just a simple text.
How could he do this to them?
Aurora quickly dialled Owen's number, her heart thumping furiously. The phone rang once and went straight to voicemail. She tried it a few more times and got the same result. Owen had blacklisted her.
Before she could process it, her phone rang. Her best friend's name flashed on the screen and she immediately slid her shaky finger across the screen to answer her call.
"Aurora, I have something to tell you," Abigail said, her voice laced with urgency. "Owen's getting engaged to Olivia tonight! Susu congratulated them on their engagement on her Instagram story! You know, that new social media influencer I talked to you about?"
Aurora's world crumbled further. Engagement? Tonight?
The thought of her boyfriend and her half-sister going behind her back to have a relationship was something Aurora never imagined.
Olivia was very good at snatching opportunities from her but never had she snatched a person from her life. But the breakup text from Owen suggested that he might just be her first successful attempt.
The nerve of him to two-time her and pick her sister for that matter instead of any other woman out there. And to think he casually sent her a breakup text when he was already getting engaged.
That bastard!
Aurora ground her teeth. "Where is the location?" she demanded, already on her feet and grabbing her bag from the vanity table.
"Garden City Hotel Ballroom, downtown. But Aurora, please—"
Aurora hung up, already racing toward her car.
Twenty minutes later, Aurora arrived at the Garden City Hotel Ballroom. She took a deep breath and stepped out of her car, her eyes scanning the entrance. A red carpet led to the venue, flanked by security guards, and she quickly made her way over. But surprisingly, her path was blocked.
"Why won't you let me in?" Aurora asked the two men in black with white earpieces in their ears. They stood tall checking the invites of the other guests and letting them in except for her.
"Don't you know who I am? Olivia is my sister!" Aurora felt a sour taste in her mouth as soon as she addressed that evil human as her sister. But what could she do? She just wanted to make her way inside by any means.
Just as she was about to plead again, her stepmother stepped out through the doors with an irritated look on her smooth face. The lack of frown lines on her face indicated the several botox injections and facelift treatments she had received.
Stella Swift, 55 years old, was dressed in expensive attire from head to toe and not even a single strand of her hair was out of place.
"You are not welcome here. Your presence is a nuisance. Go back to the slums where you belong!" Stella barked as her annoyed gaze raked Aurora from her head to her feet before stopping at her face.
It took everything in Aurora not to lose her mind and scream out her anger and frustration to her face. At first, she had come to the hotel for the benefit of the doubt but to her greatest shock, the adulterous couple were really having a feast behind those doors.
And there was her stepmother, the headline sponsor of the greatest betrayal that had befallen her.
"Did you know about Olivia dating my boyfriend?" Aurora asked carefully through gritted teeth.
"Yes, I did." The corner of Stella's lips lifted in a smirk. "I encouraged her to snatch him from you. Now, get lost!"
With a cocky smile, Stella cast her glance at the bodyguards. "If this woman here dares to cause trouble, drag her out and call the police."
Aurora watched in frustrated misery as Stella went back into the hall.
Her heart bled with excruciating pain and tears welled in her eyes. Her stepmother had never been nice to her, but this was beyond anything she had ever done!
"Would you like to go in with me?" Suddenly, a deep male voice offered kindly.
Aurora slowly turned around to see the stunningly tall handsome man with piercing blue eyes staring at her. At first glance, she was instantly bewitched.
As if under a spell, Aurora nodded. "Yes, please," she said and quickly moved to stand next to him.
"She's with me," the man said to the men blocking the door as the younger man he came with moved to pass their invitation card to them and immediately, the doors opened to them.
Not even a glance or a word was uttered by the security men to Aurora. And these were the same men who had adhered to her stepmother's instruction by keeping her locked out.
As Aurora stepped through the doors, she pondered over the identity of this man who seemed to have so much authority in the palm of his hands.
Soon, the loud cheers and the clapping of hands attracted Aurora's attention to the stage. She watched her boyfriend of five years cup her half-sister's face and capture her lips softly.
Owen had never kissed her so gently. He always attacked her lips without mercy as if he was at war with them. Yet, he held Olivia as though she was a delicate flower.
A hot tear slipped from the corner of her left eye. She was late. Owen and Olivia were already engaged, and she could do nothing about it.
Aurora watched in agony as those two people separated and stared lovingly into each other's eyes. She felt her heart tearing into a million pieces. She was an emotional wreck as her eyes turned red, with a mixture of pain and anger coursing through her veins.
Aurora couldn't stand the scene any longer and backed away. However, as she turned around, she met head-on with a waiter carrying two trays of champagne flutes. She was too late to avoid the collision and directly bumped his elbows.
The crystal flutes toppled and released the golden liquid and the loud sound of shattering glass on the floor.
Instantly, all heads turned in Aurora's direction.