Aurora's POV
The water from the shower pelted my back, stinging the welts I'd tried so hard to forget were there. I leaned my forehead against the cold tiles, and for a moment, I just stood there, letting the water run over me, as if it could wash away everything I had become… everything I had done.
When I finally stepped out, I dried myself slowly, carefully avoiding the mirror. I couldn't face what I had become.
The buzzer for the lobby rang. My heart did a slow, painful somersault. I wrapped my towel tighter around me and answered it.
"Package for Ms. Aurora," the doorman's voice crackled.
A few minutes later, I was standing in front of a garment bag. I unzipped it with trembling fingers. The dress was breathtaking—a deep, navy-blue silk that felt like liquid in my hands. It was the kind of dress a man buys for the woman he wants the whole world to know he loves.
