A GOLDEN EMPIRE

CHAPTER THIRTY- THREE

AURORA, ODETTE, JULIETTE, and CHARLES make no move to greet Michael. Hell, Aurora does everything possible to hide from the man. She just knows that if he notices her, she'll get pulled into something. So she's upstairs with the rest of the Empire and Blake. Brandon was about to beg her to let the man come upstairs with them but she said yes before he could say anything.

"This dress has to go. It's starting to seriously annoy me." Right after saying that, it dawns on her that she has a brand new black sequin MARKARIAN dress in her closet. So she grabs it and a new pair of black Louboutins that she forgot she even purchased, then proceeds to dash into the bathroom.

While she changes dresses, Carter opens the door to see all of Aurora's friends but not her. He looks at Justin with a furrowed brow.

"She's in the bathroom changing."

Just as he says that, out she walks, stunning per usual. The air in the room has unexpectedly shifted. Aurora, being her intuitive self, automatically knows that some foul shit is about to happen. She also knows that her grandfather is behind it. Now she just has to find out whatever it is.

"Carter, where are they gathered?" As she's asking this, her attention is directed towards her friends. They watch as her stone-grey eyes turn dark. When they do that, that means that she's about to go off. "And is my grandfather involved?" She already knows that the answer is yes but she wants clarification anyway.

Carter nods even though she can't see him. "They're outside by the pool and yes, he is. Your parents aren't happy about it and neither is Odette who's also out there." He, like anyone else currently sitting in the room, can tell by her tense body language that Aurora is not liking where the hell this is going. She and Odette are about to get roped into another of that man's useless ass schemes.

"Alright, I'm coming," She's still looking at her friends as she speaks, "Keep your phones on in case I need you. I may."

Amid her statement, she notices Blake's eyebrow raising inquisitively. "Brandon, you can tell Blake what's happening here. It's okay with me."

Brandon nods in understanding, using his knuckle to turn his boyfriend's face back in his direction. It's silent as the group watches Aurora leave the room, her heels clicking loudly as she walks downstairs with Carter in tow. She snags a glass of DOM PERIGNON Rosé off of a nearby silver tray, drains the champagne in one go, and places it back on the tray.

"I feel like breaking something." She says to no one in particular, even though Carter is standing there. He slyly gestures Robert over. The other man makes his way over and in a hushed manner, Carter tells him what she just said. They silently agree that if she lunges at someone (Michael), they need to pull her away quickly.

Once outside in the backyard, the heiress locks eyes with her parents and heads in their direction. It's silent for five minutes before she decides to speak. She takes a seat on the arm of the pool chaise with her arms and legs crossed. "Alright, what is it now?"

"Well granddaughter of mine," Michael starts off but stops talking when he takes notice of the eye roll Aurora gives him."I'm going to ignore that. Anyway, I am going to be doing business with William Winchester and he, along with myself and his wife Evelyn, have agreed. You and their grandson are going to date-"

Right off the bat, Aurora knows exactly where he's going with this, so she holds her hand up, effectively shutting him right up. "A couple of things. One: I'm already dating Justin. Two: I am not letting you do this to me or Odette anymore. Grandpa, I don't know if you're aware of this but we're human beings with actual feelings, not toys that you can use repeatedly and then throw away when you get what you want out of it. I got my heart broken due to that last one, just so you know."

Juliette can feel her eyes welling up with tears as she listens to her daughter speak her mind.

"This is not happening again. I want to be happy, damn it. Justin Winchester makes me feel loved, feel special. You are not," Aurora closes her eyes, trying and failing to keep the tears from streaming down her face. "You are not going to ruin my relationship with Justin. I'm sick of this." She bursts into full-on loud sobs, leading Juliette and Charles to pull her into their arms, immediately consoling her.

Odette shakes her head at Michael and then turns to her grandmother, Emilia, who's sitting there not saying anything. "You knew about this, grandma?"

"Yeah, I did know. I was told not to say anything."

Charles is the one to scoff and roll his eyes this time. His mother can be full of shit at times, and this particular time is no different. The woman uses any opportunity that she has to open her mouth and talk about how ridiculous her husband's ideas are but the one time it's needed, she chooses not to say anything.

"I'm going to go stay at a hotel. Can't be here right now." With that, Aurora wipes her tears away and runs back into the house, upstairs to her room. "Someone, anyone, get me out of here."

Justin wordlessly pulls her into his arms. Whatever is going on, he will not be leaving her side whatsoever, I'll tell you that. "Come on, we'll go to the Intercontinental Hotel. We'll stay with you tonight. We can talk or lay/sit in silence all night but we're not leaving you alone."

"We can all pack an overnight bag and meet y'all there. Have dinner and cheer our favorite human up. An unhappy Aurora makes the rest of us unhappy. Now let's go."

The sad heiress smiles through her tears. Now matter what, she can always count on her best friends (Blake as well. He makes Brandon happy so he's all right in her book and she plans to let him know this) to stick by her side. She loves them so much.