Chapter 12

My hands were shaking.

The message kept replaying in my mind, a gun to my mother's head, haunted every second I tried to breathe.

And Aurora. That wicked smirk she gave me across the room. She wasn't even trying to hide it.

I couldn't stop myself. I walked down the steps slowly.

I didn't feel my legs moving, I just knew I had to get to her. People were staring, whispering, confused. Some guests stood, others pulled out their phones, murmuring things I couldn't hear.

My feet dragged along the floor until I reached her row.

She looked up at me with that same calm, polished face. Her legs crossed. Like she hadn't just threatened my mother's life. I grabbed the neckline of her dress and pulled her up.

"Where is she?" I cried, voice cracking. "Where is my mother?! Why do you have my mother? What's your connection with her?”

Gasps rippled through the crowd. A woman dropped her champagne