Chapter 44. Is This how It Ends? pt. 2

Aurora’s POV

I stared at the door dumbfounded, astonished by the betrayal from my own father.

How could he just…abandon me like that? How could he suddenly declare that I wasn’t even his daughter?

But then, just as the door swung shut behind my father, another figure stepped inside, his heavy boots thudding against the floor. I barely had the strength to lift my head, but when I did, my blood ran cold.

Mr. Hemming.

His smile was slow, calculated, a predator watching his prey squirm before the inevitable kill. “Well, well,” he drawled, his voice filled with sick amusement. “Looks like I showed up at the perfect time.” His eyes scanned over me, lingering on my torn dress, on the way my chest rose and fell with ragged breaths, and something dark and vile gleamed in his expression.

I struggled against my assailants, panic clawing up my throat. “Stay away from me,” I rasped, but my voice barely came out above a whisper. “Please…let me go!”