The morning sun shone over the Los Angeles sky in shades of gold and pink, painting the precinct building in its warm light.
Aurora had been sitting on the wooden bench outside for the past three hours, her eyes fixed on the doors of the building.
She nursed a cup of coffee that had long gone cold.
The doors finally swung open, and she held her breath as Jude stepped out.
She was on her feet instantly, staring at her brother, who looked thinner than usual.
He squinted against the bright sunlight like someone who had been in the dark for far too long.
His clothes were crumpled up and torn, and the bruise on his cheek was now a deep purple.
“Jude,” she called his name, her voice cracking at the end.
He turned in her direction, his eyes snapping to hers.
The moment he saw her, his indifferent expression melted.
He crossed the distance in three long steps, crashing into his sister as she stumbled towards him as well.
Their arms wrapped around each other so tightly, like they hadn’t been together in years.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he said into her hair, his voice hoarse.
“I’m so sorry, Rory. I didn’t mean to…I never wanted to drag you into this situation.”
“Enough, it’s okay,” she said as she pulled back, cupping his face in her hands.
“Just… It’s okay. You’re okay now, and that’s all that matters.”
He shook his head, his red-rimmed eyes filled with guilt.
“Amber told me what you did. Rory, I can’t believe you—”
“I didn’t have any other choice, Jude,” she said, her voice firm.
“And I won, didn’t I? I proved that you were innocent, and you’re free now. End of story.”
Jude just stared at her, but she could see him contemplating whether he wanted to believe her.
He felt guilty and knew that there was more to the story, but he also knew not to push.
Instead, he just pulled her in for another hug, a silent thank you for her sacrifices.
“Come on,” she said softly, “let’s go home. Maggie is waiting.”
Their tiny apartment in East LA was filled with the smell of garlic and herbs with an undertone of Grandma Maggie’s lavender-scented candles.
The kitchen table was filled with dishes: rice and beans, roasted fish, fresh tortillas, and a bowl of fruit that was always a staple.
Grandma Maggie stood at the stove; her grey hair was pulled back in a smooth bun as she stirred the soup on the stovetop.
She turned around as they walked in, her face brightening up with a smile that didn’t really reach her eyes.
“There you are.” She set down the ladle and walked across the room, pulling both of them into a warm hug.
“Look at you, both. You look thin. Have you even been eating at all?”
“We’ve been busy, Maggie,” Jude said as he gave her a light peck on the cheek.
“Studying and work, you know how it is.”
“Studying?” Grandma Maggie raised a brow.
“Who studies for two days straight without coming home? Are you trying to kill yourself?”
Aurora stepped in to answer for him.
“He has tests coming up, Maggie, and I stayed over at Amber’s. I had an event at work, and it was closer, and Jude was with his study group. We just lost track of time. It won’t happen again, I promise.”
Grandma Maggie scanned her grandkids for a long moment.
Her senses had picked up that something was wrong, but she didn’t want to push them yet, so she nodded slowly and guided them towards the table.
“Come on, it’s okay. Just sit and eat, and then you can tell me all about the past two days. How about that?”
They followed her to the table and sat down as she filled their plates with food.
The energy was finally light and warm again as they cracked up over Jude’s terrible jokes and listened to Grandma Maggie’s wild stories about her youth and all the neighborhood gossip.
It felt almost normal, like the past two days hadn’t happened.
But Aurora couldn’t help but notice how her grandmother’s hands trembled when she picked up her glass to take a sip, or the way she leaned on her good leg more than usual, and the way she was also thinner than the last time she had seen her.
“Astrid called,” Grandma said casually, trying not to dampen the good energy, “she wanted to know if they needed anything.”
“Did she?” Aurora scoffed.
“After ghosting us for the past year.’
“You know, marriage changes people, Rory,” Grandma Maggie reasoned.
“It seems she wants to rekindle, so let’s give her a chance.”
“Chance for what?” Jude said, his jaw tightening.
“She married into money and forgot that we exist, Maggie.
She doesn’t get to just call us out of nowhere, pretending that she cares.
“She’s still your sister.”
“And yet she’s also forgotten that we share the same blood,” Aurora said, her voice dropping to a strangled tone.
“I’m sorry, Maggie. I know you want us all to be together, but Astrid made her choice. She chose money and status over us, and we can never forget that.”
Grandma Maggie sighed.
She was exhausted, and so were they.
“Astrid is just lost; she’s always been too ambitious for her own good. She thinks the money will fill the emptiness inside her, but she will eventually learn that it doesn’t.”
Aurora and Jude didn’t argue any further.
There was no point, because their grandmother always sees the best in people, even when they don’t deserve it.
They finished eating in silence before Jude started gathering the dishes while Grandma Maggie rose to give him a hand.
“I’ll take those,” Aurora said, reaching for the pile of plates.
“No, it’s okay. You should rest. You’ve been working so hard,” Grandma Maggie waved her off.
“Let me…”
The plates suddenly slipped from her fingers, shattering against the tiled floor, the ceramic pieces scattering everywhere.
But Aurora wasn’t focused on the broken dinnerware; her eyes went wide as she stared at her grandmother, who had gone white-faced, her hand clutching her chest.
“Maggie!”
Jude caught her just in time before she collapsed to the floor, lowering her gently away from the ceramic pieces.
Aurora was by her side in an instant, her heart racing in her chest.
“Maggie! Look at me, are you okay? What happened? What’s hurting?” Grandma Maggie blinked several times, trying to get her view to focus, which took her a few seconds before she could see the worried faces of her grandchildren clearly.
She forced a weak smile that looked more like a grimace.
“I’m fine…I’m fine, you guys. I’m just a little dizzy. I’m so excited because I haven’t seen you both in days.”
“You’re not fine, Maggie,” Aurora’s voice cracked with tears.
She wiped at her eyes before she turned to her brother.
They half-carried and half-walked Grandma Maggie to her bedroom.
She kept protesting, saying she was fine, yet didn’t even have the energy to walk on her own.
She went quiet by the time they helped her get into bed; her eyes had fluttered closed.
“Rest, Maggie. We will take care of everything.” Aurora adjusted the blanket over her grandmother’s frail figure.
They both waited until Grandma Maggie’s breathing was finally even before they stepped out and closed the room softly behind them.
Jude turned to Aurora when they were finally in the hallway.
“She’s been like this for a while, hasn’t she? I noticed that she was moving slower than usual, but she keeps saying that she’s fine.”
“She always does,” Aurora said as they walked back into the kitchen.
Jude grabbed a broom to clean up the broken plate, while Aurora went straight to the cabinet where they kept Grandma Maggie’s medications.
The pill bottles were all lined up as she had left them, but as she pulled them all out, she realized that they were all empty.
“Jude,” she called out his name, “her medication is finished. Everything.”
Jude walked up behind her, staring at the bottles.
“How long do you think she has been without it? She told me you bought her a full refill last month.”
“She lied, Jude,” Aurora’s voice cracked.
“She’s been hiding it from us because she didn’t want us to worry or spend more money on her.”
“Her medication alone is five hundred dollars a month, and that’s on top of everything else.” Jude’s voice sounded hopeless.
“I lost my job at the bar, Rory. How are we supposed to—”
“I don’t know,” she said, dropping the bottles back inside the cabinet.
Her mind was racing, trying to come up with a plan.
The tuition, rent, and the showroom bonus were never really enough.
It was like a new problem popped up the second she solved the last one.
Cassian’s face flashed through her mind.
One night, that’s the price.
She’d already refused and chosen her dignity whilst she also secured her brother’s freedom, but at what cost?
She still had to pay for Jude’s classes and her grandmother’s medicines.
She stared at the empty bottles.
She had to work harder and sell more cars to charm more customers, even if it meant borrowing a page out of Cassian’s playbook.
She wouldn’t sleep with anyone; she would never go that far.
But she could flaunt her looks as he said and make them feel special and make them think that they are in control.
Basically be everything that Cassian Black thought she was.
The thought alone made her stomach roll.
“Rory?” Jude’s hand landed on her shoulder.
“What are you going to do?”
Aurora steeled her expression, turning to look at her brother with a forced smile.
“What I do best. I will work.”
But inside, something cold settled in her chest: a surge of determination and drive to do whatever it took to save her family, even if it meant becoming the woman Cassian Black had accused her of being all along.