Chapter 268. An Unsettling Discovery: pt. 2

Aurora’s POV

My stomach clenched at the sudden implication of the bracelet, and a couldn’t help this unsettling feeling blooming in my chest.

Maggie and Jade? Together?

How? When? What the hell was going on?

My voice wavered before I could even stop myself. “Maggie,” I said more carefully now, eyes locked on her wrist, “that bracelet… it looks just like Jade’s.” I didn’t mean to sound accusing, but maybe I did. Maybe the question was loaded, and maybe I already knew the answer. But I needed her to say it. I needed her to lie or confess—either would settle the storm brewing in my chest.

She froze, like a puppet whose strings had just been yanked tight. Her fingers stilled on the bracelet and she slowly turned to look at me. Her eyes—usually warm, always familiar—suddenly looked foreign. Scared. “Aurora…” she whispered, and then looked away, swallowing hard.

I didn’t move. I couldn’t. My stomach twisted.

“Maggie,” I said again, softer t