"How long will she be asleep?"

"Probably for another two hours."


"I think we should let her rest."

"Look! She's waking."

Aurora moaned softly, her eyelids fluttering as they struggled to open. She tried to raise a hand to wipe her face but her limbs felt weak and immobile. She cracked open an eye, wincing at the bright light shining from above.


"Miss Rochester?" She heard a monotonous voice echo, "Are you okay?"

Aurora muttered something even she didn't quite understand what she had said. She tried to twist but felt cold hands clamp her down, the icy touch was enough for her eyes to fly wide open.


Her gaze finally settled on the older-looking doctor with large glasses perched on his nose.

"Miss Rochester?" He called again, pointing a flashlight to her eye and holding her lid still. He did that for the first and then the other eye before dropping his hands. "She's alright."

Aurora frowned, following the strange doctor's line of sight. Her gaze landed on her family, her mother was the first person to react,

"Oh, god, honey!" She leaned forward to hug her and Aurora winced at the overpowering scent of her perfume. "I was so worried about you."

The way she said it didn't sound so convincing. It felt like she was only putting up a show for the medical staffs that were watching and knowing her mother, the idea wouldn't be so farfetched.

Behind Miriam Rochester was her father, Harry Rochester who looked like he was about to faint any moment from now. The man never really liked hospitals in the first place.

Then her eyes found him, the devil himself and for some reason it made her heart beat spike up. The monitor beeps increasing,

"What's going on?" Miriam cried in alarm and the nurse went round, checking her vitals for any sign of trouble.

Evan, almost like he knew that he was the cause, smirked, tipping his head in form of greeting. It only served to make Aurora even more furious and she clenched her fist together.

"Miss Rochester?" The blonde nurse called warily, "Is there something bothering you that we should know of?"

She shook her head almost instantly, "I'm fine." And she was, after taking in several deep breaths, her heart rate finally calmed down.

"Err, nurse?" Miriam spoke this time, "Can you give us a few minutes alone?"

The nurse was confused but so was Aurora. If her mother was requesting for alone time then it never means anything good. As the nurse nodded, casting one perplexed look at Aurora, she braced her mind for whatever was going to happen next.

Miriam settled beside her legs and Aurora wished that she wasn't just lying like a log of wood. She felt her mother's hand on her thigh, stroking gently,

"The mad woman who did this to you has been apprehended by the police, they say she wasn't in a stable condition and had escaped from the rehabilitation center." Aurora's eyes flickered to Evan, how was he able to twist the truth?

Her mother's sharp eyes turned to her, seizing any word that she wanted to say, "Do you know how long you've been lying here?"

"No," She answered weakly.

"Two days. You've been here for two day and do you know what that means?"

At first, she was confused. Not understanding what her mother was yammering about until it hit her and she gasped,

"Yes," Her mother retorted angrily, her nails digging into the blanket and piercing Aurora's skin, "You missed the dance, you stupid stupid girl."

Her heart sunk and she suddenly felt like throwing up. The Dance. She had worked so hard and practiced even harder since it was the opening dance of the season and now, she had missed it.

Her mother leaned closer causing her to swallow the bile rising in her throat, "Why did you take the knife? Why did you have to act like a goddamn hero!?" Miriam screamed into her face. "Do you know who they chose to replace you?" Aurora silently hoped it was Natasha but her hopes were dashed when her mother hissed,

"That stupid scholarship student. They chose the scholarship blonde over you."

A small gust of air escaped her lungs. Louisa Roberts? She was the one they chose as her replacement? But that made no sense.

"Miriam, leave the child," Her father admonished warmly but he might as well be speaking to a wall.

She withdrew her fingers from Aurora's skin causing her to wince. Miriam instead grabbed her face,

"You know how important the opening dance is, why don't you ever use your head?" Miriam seethed, pushing her face to the side.

Something prickled at her eyes and she shut them tight, her mother didn't deserve to see her tears. She heard some rustling and then Miriam shouting,

"Let me go!"

When she turned she saw that her father was already escorting her outside. He looked over his shoulder to throw her a sympathetic look and Aurora glanced away, not wanting to be given pity.

When the door shut, she felt as though she could breath again. That was until he spoke,

"That was awkward to see," Evan chuckled and she shot him a glare, "Oh, don't look at me that way. I wasn't the one who blamed you for saving me from a crazy knife-wielding lady."

Her fingers bunched into a fist and she bit down hard on her tongue. Evan was very lucky that she had limited use of her hands and legs, because she'd planned on pummeling his face.

"How could you?" She breathed out weakly, "How could you!?" A scream tore out from her throat and he laughed.

The bastard laughed in her face like she has cracked a joke.

He took a step forward and then another and another until he was within reach, "You know, Miriam was right. You're indeed very stupid, why would you bother saving the woman who has tortured you since you were child?" He scoffed, shaking his head, "Now you tried to play hero and all she could think of is how you didn't make it to the opening dance."

"You-you-" was all she could manage, her fury getting the better of her.

Evan patted her stomach, precisely where she had been stabbed and she grunted in pain.

"Let this be a lesson to you, stay away and stop interrupting my plans. I have no desire to harm you but if you keep meddling then you'll give me no choice."

He pressed closer and placed a kiss on her cheek. Aurora had never felt so revolted in her entire life than in that moment. With one last devilish grin thrown in her direction, Evan too slithered out of the room leaving her alone.

When she heard the soft click of the door shutting, she took in a large inhale and then allowed herself to break down.

She cried for her pitiful life. She cried for the pain she felt in her midriff. She cried for missing the opening dance as well.

But most of all, she cried knowing that Evan was right and her mother deserved the shittiest punishment in the world. However, what kind of daughter would she be if she just stood by and watched her mother being destroyed?

You stupid, stupid girl. Her mother had called her stupid and maybe she was.

But she'd rather be a stupid girl than a bystander to someone's murder. Evan wouldn't stop here, that much she knew but somehow, somehow, she had to stop him.

Because if anyone deserved the right to punish Miriam Rochester then it wasn't her half-brother. But her, the girl who had been tortured by her own mother.