Chapter 182. Hope and Despair

Aurora’s POV

I paced outside the room, my fingers twisting together as I tried to calm the storm raging inside me. The muffled voices behind the heavy wooden doors were impossible to decipher, leaving me with nothing but my own racing thoughts. What if they didn’t accept Ashton, Maggie and Avery? What if they refused to acknowledge the possibility? I hated the uncertainty. It was a cruel thing, filling my chest with tight knots that refused to loosen.

Time stretched, but when the doors finally creaked open, my breath caught. One by one, they stepped out. Caleb was the first, his eyes searching for mine, his lips pressing into a small smile that made my heart jolt. Then, one after the other, the rest followed, and I didn’t need words to tell me how it had gone. Their smiles—Maggie’s a bit hesitant, and Ashton’s more certain—were enough. The tension that had been gripping my spine loosened just a fraction. Maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t going to be a disaster.