Chapter 247. She Has No One

Aurora’s POV

I sat there in silence, my fingers twisted together in my lap as I tried to think of how the hell I was supposed to explain this mess to Riley. My heart felt like it was caving in on itself every time I looked at him—so small, so innocent, so impossibly broken.

I had played the moment over and over in my head for the past hour, rewriting different versions of the truth, hoping that maybe one of them would soften the blow. Maybe if I said it gently enough, slowly enough, he wouldn’t cry again. Maybe if I held his hand tight enough, he’d believe me when I told him I’d never choose anyone over him. But every single time I opened my mouth, even just to rehearse in my mind, nothing felt right. It all sounded like betrayal. It all sounded like too little, too late.

I stole a glance at Ashton, who sat on the other side of Riley’s hospital bed, jaw clenched, gaze locked on Riley with a protective fire I had grown to know all too well. The only sound in