Chapter 61

Aurora touched her mother's necklace, trying to keep her tears at bay. "I don't want to repeat the same mistake again, mom. You used to say, love always finds the way of the heart no matter how much you try to stop it. But why did my heart always find the wrong man? I don't want to be like that again, mom. It took me a lot of time to get my confidence back," she left the sob she was holding and tears found their way out of her eyes.

Suddenly, her phone started ringing. She glanced at the caller I'd and accepted the call immediately.

"Hey, dad," she was missing her mom, just now and her father called. Maybe that's what her mother used to call the connection of the soul.

Ethan King stiffened when he heard the hoarseness in his daughter's voice.

"Aurora, what's wrong, love? Why are you crying?"

She sobbed silently, not wanting her father to know the reason behind her call. "No, I am not crying. I have caught a cold," she wiped the tears off her cheek. Ethan didn't believe her and he asked her to turn the video call on.

She knew she was caught by her father, with no other option left she accepted the video call.

"Love, what happened to you, share with your old man?" He asked, concerned.

Aurora shook her head, the tears didn't stop after that. "Dad, I…" she stopped because she didn't know what to tell him. She knew her father was protective of her and if she told him how she was feeling he would want nothing except for leaving Liam and she wants to make her own decisions now.

"It's just that I am missing mom, dad. I miss being with you. I want to come to Churchill but Liam denied saying I have this contract according to which I cannot leave Vancouver for two months."

Ethan scowled. "Then you should follow your contract. Because the consequences could be deteriorating by breaching a contract," he told her in a soft voice.

But Ethan was angry at Liam. He should be taking care of Aurora but on the contrary, his daughter was hurt because of him. "But I want to meet you, dad. I want to meet Mrs Dolan."

His body went stiff, he knew if Aurora gets her mind on something she intends to do it, no matter what. He couldn't allow her to come to Churchill, not when he was at war with Mexicans.

His eyes were on Aurora who looked lost in thought, "Dad, can you do me a favour?" She whispered silently.

"Anything for you, love."

She sighed before speaking because she knew her father didn't like Gabriel. She would have told him about how she started feeling for Liam but stopped herself. She would not repeat the same mistakes she did with Gabe, this time she would not do anything in haste.

People say love is bliss. It sure is but when this blissful bubble broke emotions scattered everywhere and there is oy pain left to deal with. She was sure that she would not be reconciled with him again. Her feelings for him just vanished and she didn't even know when that happened. When she was on that island with Liam, her thoughts were focused on Liam, about Liam. Gabriel was nowhere and now, she couldn't cheat on him anymore. The guilt of doing it was there; she didn't have the strength to continue it anymore.

Still, she was not sure of Liam's love. Yes, she loves him, but she wants to be free in love not caged and if the price of being his lover was being caged, the price was too high for her to pay.

"Dad, I have been trying Gabe's number for a while but it's switched off. I tried his restaurant to get his uncle's residence address and number, again that number is also not available. Can you please find out about him?" She asked her father.

Ethan's body stiffened hearing Aurora taking Gabriel's name. His daughter was asking about her fiance which clearly indicated that Liam had not been successful in charming Aurora yet. He needed to talk about priorities with Liam. But first, he had to take Aurora's mind off Gabriel. "I will try, love but I advise you not to come here till the expiration of your contract. If you want to meet me, I will come there for you."

Aurora nodded. "Alright, dad. But please find out about him, I need to see him urgently."

Ethan talked with his daughter for a while and ended the call. His body went haywire, he called Thomas immediately to him.

"Our men handled it, Ethan. The chapter of Gabriel James is over now."

Ethan raked his hand to his face. "Aurora couldn't know, she is still not over him. She asked me to find him, Thomas. That bloody restaurant owner has become a fishbone in my throat. You are a hundred per cent sure he has been taken care of?" He grumbled.

Thomas nodded. "I asked our state partners to handle it, the bastard was with his uncle when he was attacked. His car lost control and they were burned. Dead on the spot as per the reports. It was in the local newspaper of Dallas."

Putting both his palms on the mahogany desk he leaned his head down a little, sighed and calmed his racing heart. "I am a very bad father, Right Thomas? Look how I am trying to rule my daughter's life."

Thomas patted Ethan's shoulder. "No, you are a good father, Ethan. You are trying to protect her from the horrors of our life. Don't regret what you are doing, not when you tried to quit this life once and paid with losing the love of your life. If Savannah would have been here, she would have supported you in this. At the end of the day, it's Aurora's life that mattered the most. What you did was right."

Ethan nodded. "Arrange for a flight, I want to meet Aurora. My daughter is missing me and most importantly, I need to meet Liam who only talks big but lacks in action."

On the other hand, Emily was stunned, Victor was standing in front of her, the man who ruined her faith in men. The man who ruined her reputation among the people.

Alexandrio offered his hand, "pleasure is all mine, Mr?"

"Victor Brown," he introduced himself to Alexandrio, "and this is my fiance Katelyn. "

# CHAPTER 63.

Emily's breath hitched hearing the word fiancee and Katelyn together. She gulped recalling how she insulted her, slapped her in front of the whole class. How she accused her of sleeping around for money.

Alexandrio smiled politely. "It's nice meeting you both," He tightened his hold on Emily's wait to gain her attention because she was looking down. "Meet my companion, Emily Smith." He introduced her to them.

Emily raised her face and met with their eyes. Katelyn gasped, seeing Emily standing with Alexandrio Kyschove.

Victor stiffened when he recognised Emily. "What are you doing here, Emily?" The words left his mouth before he could stop them.

Emily gulped, as the memory of her crying in front of him passed through her vision. She gulped, held Alexandrio's hand firmly, and met his gaze. "I am sorry but I didn't recognise you."

Victor frowned, Katelyn's brows jerked up hearing her. "Maybe you forgot but we used to be classmates in college four years ago."

Alexandrio felt her hand shaking a little. He held it softly and whispered in her ear. "Are you alright? You look uneasy."

She smiled a little just for the show. "Yes, I am hungry actually," she replied sheepishly. He searched into her eyes, he could see she was not telling the truth and from their talk, he got the idea that she was hiding something. What? He had yet to find out.

He nodded at her, raising his head he looked at the people informed of him. "This beautiful woman is a little hungry, I apologise but I have to leave."

"Oh yes, sure, Mr Kyschove. We can meet anytime now that your companion is my long lost classmate," Victor said, his words made Emily's skin crawl.

Alexandrio scowled. "I wish I could say it but I don't meet anyone without an appointment, so if you want to meet me, make an appointment, Mr Brown." He told him and Victor's face turned red suddenly as If someone had slapped him.

Katelyn's eyes flashed in anger but she hid her emotions well behind a smile. "Of course we understand you are a busy man, please enjoy," saying that she moved to another corner with Victor.

Alexandrio felt her body relax after they left. Now he was sure there was something not right. "Shall we leave for lunch?"

Emily nodded. "Yes."

While they were having lunch Alexandrio received a call from his brother. He sighed, "I have to take this Call, will you be fine till I come back?" He asked Emily who nodded. "Yes."

He didn't move for a second, stared at her face then nodded and walked to the corner to listen to the call.

Emily was still not over whom she saw, she was still jumpy over it and prayed that they don't meet her again but as if God was not in her favour today.

Katelyn didn't miss the opportunity to meet her when she saw Alexandrio leaving her on her own to listen to the call. "It seems you have made whoring around your profession. Nice catch! I must say," She taunted Emily, pointing at the empty chair where Alexandrio was sitting.

Emily curled her finger tightly inside her palms, her sharp nails biting the inside of her hands. She asked herself not to get affected by her jabs but she was getting affected by her.

All those moments of humiliation flashed in her memory. "Leave me alone." She mumbled.

Katelyn smiled seeing she was affecting her, "why? Does the truth hurt you, darling? I mean look at you, the girl who didn't even know how to give a decent Blowjob is now a top-notch escort. Nice, it must have taken a lot of practice to reach this perfection. Tell me, how many men did you fuck before reaching this high, Emily Smith?"

Emily stood up abruptly, "you were disgusting then and you are disgusting now," she said and Katelyn smiled mockingly, "so now you have recognized me, hm?"

Emily gave her a look of pure disgust before leaving the table and walking out of the place. Tears were rolling down her cheek, her confidence, her strength was shattered once again. She was still affected by them both, even after four years she still couldn't forget their taunts.

She could still hear their laughter. Emily put her hands on her ears and screamed to stop the voices in her head.

When Alexandrio returned back to the table he didn't find Emily there. He looked around to find her but she was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, Katelyn came to him, "are you looking for, Emily, Mr Kyschove?" She asked with a polite smile.

Alexandrio nodded with a frown, "have you seen her somewhere?"

"Yes she ran outside," she replied and took a huge gulp of her drink. "It was nice meeting you, Mr Kyschove and yes, I will not forget taking your appointment before meeting you."

Alexandrio didn't pay much attention to her and ran outside to find Emily. His gaze went to a figure standing in the park far away. He recognized her from the colour of her dress. Alexandrio ran towards her, she was sitting with her hands to her ears as if stopping the voices to reach her mind.

Alexandrio sat beside her, touching her shoulder lightly. "Are you alright, Emily?" He asked her in all seriousness.

Emily gasped when she felt someone's hands on her shoulder. She jerked away from the touch. "Don't touch me." She snapped.

Alexandrio's whole body went stiff, imaging the reason behind her behaviour. "Emily, tell me what's wrong. Who were those people? What did they do?"

That broke the dam of emotions she was trying to hold, she stood up, her eyes couldn't hold back the tears anymore and she screamed at him. "Stop pretending as if you care? Stop playing with my emotions and leave me alone. Leave me alone, please!" She couldn't hold the pain anymore.

"I am not a toy you can play with, goddamn it. I feel things and it hurts to be used by people…" she cried, running her palms to her hands to comfort herself but that was the last thing in her mind. "Please leave me alone!" She sobbed and ran away from there.

Leaving a stunned Alxandrio behind who was shocked hearing her and now he wanted nothing else except to find out what exactly happened to Emily.