Tangled Hearts

Chapter 7

Aurora Woods

After the bath, Heather kindly bandaged up the wounds and showed me to my room. My room was 2 doors away from his room and I could not help but to wonder if he had fell asleep or was still wide awake. Despite the soft and comfortable bed, I tossed and turned multiple times throughout the night. 

Morning soon arrived and I have yet to close my eyes for a single second. I got out of the bed and headed for the bathroom. I almost cursed out loud the moment I saw the reflection in the mirror. Puffy red eyes, smudged eyeliner and mascara, and a slightly red nose. Overall, I look hideous. 

I quickly took a quick shower and got out of the bathroom before heading downstairs. Grayson's door remained closed so I had no idea if he was awake or already out of the house. Heather was as usual in the kitchen as I greeted her the moment I stepped into the place. 

"Is he..." Heather got my question immediately and sighed as she replied, "He left for the company early this morning." I nodded as I looked down at the plate of breakfast in front of me. It was only the sight of food made me realised how hungry I was. I cleared the plate within minutes and thanked Heather for her food before heading out of the kitchen. 

My phone, which was sitting on the vanity table, started ringing. It was Isabelle.

"Morning, Aurora." 

"Morning, Isabelle. Did you manage to settle the stuff at company?" 

"Yes. Just wanted to check up on you since I heard Heather that both of you were caught in the rain last night. Are you okay?" 

"I'm fine, thanks for asking. I heard Grayson went to the company. Is he...doing well?" 

"Working his head off and not speaking to anyone. Oh right, I've sent Daniel over to drive you back home to pack your things and move over."

"Hm, thank you Isabelle." 

"If there's anything you need, feel free to let me or Heather know about it. I'm just sorry that you've to put up with this." 

"Isabelle, you really need to stop apologising. Everything will be okay, really. So you should stop feeling guilty about it, okay?" 

"Gosh, you sound more adult than I ever did. I know, but still, thank you so much Aurora." 

After the call with Isabelle, I changed into the clothes which I wore yesterday and headed downstairs, only to realise that Daniel was already there.

"Miss Aurora." He bows slightly at me. I returned the same bow back as I replied, "Daniel, right? Just Aurora will do, please." 

We then set off towards father's house which was about an hour drive away. Upon arriving, the house was empty and in complete silence. Entering my room, I took out a medium sized luggage as I slowly took out all the clothes I have in the wardrobe and packed into the luggage. I carefully took out the small box which was hidden at the back of the drawer and opened it. It was a small bracelet Grayson had given me back then, it's been decades since I've last wore it.

Packing that box into the luggage, I stacked some of the photographs which I had in the drawer by my bedside and placed them into the luggage as well. I was thankful that I did not own much clothes nor accessories, for that made my packing so much easier. I took one last glance at the bedroom before pushing the luggage out of the room and down the stairs. 

Daniel came forward and took the luggage off my hand as I thanked him politely. As he drove me back to Grayson's house, he made sure to place my luggage back into my room before leaving the house. 

I then went to work after that.

Upon arriving to the store, Olivia was the first to came running to me as she looked at me with concerned eyes. 

"Gosh, you all right? I thought you wouldn't turn up today. You need to update me what the heck was going on yesterday. I had such a hard time controlling myself not to text or call you and ask about it." She blabbered all in one breath as she took in a large gulp of breath after she finished talking. 

"All right, all right. You got to relax yourself. Let me just check on some stuff and we will talk about it, okay?" I set my bag down on the chair as I headed straight for the kitchen with Olivia following right behind me. 

We then set down at the corner of the store as I narrated the whole story yesterday and how I ended up becoming the bride instead. Replacement, I mean. Olivia's jaw was left opened after I finished the story. It was probably the first time she had ever been speechless. 

"Holy fuck, I mean, is this shit even possible? I thought I could only read this in books! But putting everything aside, how could your sister be so damn selfish to just leave behind a fucking piece of note on her own wedding day? And how could you just agree to become a replacement for her?" She lamented, as I shrugged a little. 

"Honestly, I questioned my own sanity at the very point when I stepped into the altar. I was even thinking to run away before reaching there but all thoughts of escaping left me after I saw him. I couldn't leave him standing all alone again, so I went ahead with it." 

"You know, I always thought you were crazy, but never this crazy. As much as I'm against this, I would support whatever crazy decisions you make. So Claire, make sure to keep yourself happy and not suffer in silence. I'm always ready to kick some dicks any day." Olivia can always say the craziest thing with the most serious face. 

I chuckled at her words as I nodded, "Got it. There's a reason why we are friends for years."