Chapter 142. Horrifying Reality

Aurora’s POV

I stare at the wall across from me, my breath caught somewhere between my throat and my lungs, unable to move, unable to think, unable to do anything but let the horror wash over me. My mind refuses to process what I’m seeing, but my eyes won’t look away. There, trapped inside a tall, enclosed glass case, stands a skeleton—dressed in a green dress and wearing a brown wig.

I swallow hard, my hands shaking at my sides, my heart hammering so loudly that I can hear it in my ears. That dress. That hair.

No. No, no, no. This isn’t real. It can’t be real.

A memory flickers to life in my head, hazy at first but growing clearer with every passing second. My mother, standing in front of the mirror, adjusting that very same dress, smiling at me as I tugged on the hem, telling me I’d grow up to be just as beautiful as she was. I can almost hear her voice, soft and warm, calling my name. If I wasn’t already on the ground, I don’t think I would’ve been