The notion of Dominik coming to her funeral sounded unusually pleasant to her ears.
Would that monster shed a tear?
Aurora knew fully well he wouldn't. So, why does she feel shittier when she thinks about it?
Tears continued filling her eyes, blurring her vision in a watery haze.
Caesar did not speak, so Aurora felt anxious. Was he angry?
Strangely, the pressure around her neck lessened. She was allowed to breathe again. The hands holding her down were long gone the moment Caesar choked her. But the latter's hand remained where it was.
His eyes turned sharp like a blade cutting through the night. Her body instantly trembled again.
The confusion that flashed past her eyes earlier as she stared at him proved that she knew nothing about what her husband had done. That didn't mean she didn't know where Dominik was.
Dominik didn't know what was good for him. He left his pretty wife alone to fend for herself while he went and ran away.
Did he think I would be lenient to her?
Caesar scoffed.
His eyes fell on his hand around her neck. Her skin was pale and smooth to the touch, her pulse vibrating against his fingers.
He let his gaze wander over her body. Slender limbs. A slim waist. And a pair of supple, full breasts. But he couldn't see far enough for him to tell how small or big they were; her clothes were in the way.
Caesar frowned. A blurred scene of that night flashed past his eyes before he could catch it.
Damn it. Damn that woman for running away!
"Do you know what your husband did?" Caesar asked, shifting his attention to the woman before her.
Pale pink lips, a small straight nose, and a delicate face. Her skin glowed even in the dimly lit room.
Long, naturally curled eyelashes framed her large eyes. And her lips were a pale pink.
"What did he do?"
Her voice sounded better than most women he had encountered.
His pants felt a little tighter than usual. Was his manic episode still not gone? Why was he suddenly getting a reaction from just hearing her voice?
His hand squeezed lightly, drawing a sharp, pitiful gasp from her lips.
"Eighty million, five hundred thousand, and two hundred twenty-three," his voice sounded deeper as he revealed what her husband had done to her. "He took that exact amount from me and ran off."
Aurora's face quickly turned pale. It was an amount she could only dream of having.
She knew Dominik was a wealthy businessman. He owned two companies, and he once bragged that they were worth ten million dollars. That was also why Alfred was blinded by greed and readily placed his daughter in Dominik's hands.
Who knew why Dominik borrowed a huge amount of money?
And from Caesar, no less…
But what does this have anything to do with her?
"You see, the court has already seized everything he owned. The house, the two companies he built, and the luxury cars and apartments in other cities. And it's still not enough to cover what he took from me."
Before anything else could be said, Aurora felt her heart drop to her stomach. She remembered the past week when people came and started tagging things in the house. Inside and outside, everything was not spared. Out of everything that remained still untouched was Aurora.
"There are plenty of ways for me to make him pay off the remainder. But he's gone. Who do you think I should demand the rest from?"
The air grew thicker as realization finally settled in her mind.
"No… I…"
"That's right. You."
His other hand cupped her cheek as he spoke in a cold, hard tone.
Their faces were extremely close, like lovers entangled in a romantic tryst. But Aurora couldn't deceive herself.
Again, she shook her head. Tears renewed in her eyes as she understood that once again, she was pushed to catch the burden people tossed over her head.
Yet, she had no way of avoiding taking responsibilities for each one of them, as if cursed to accept the rotten ones…
"I… I don't have money."
It was true. She never had money to begin with. Before, she was just a student belonging to a poor family with a gambling-addicted father. After she married Dominik, she had never bought anything herself, nor was she allowed a cent from her husband's money.
If there was a way to describe her…
A canary in the gilded cage would be befitting her.
What should I do?
Her eyes glanced around the room. There was nothing in there that belonged to her. And with the tags over them, it made it even less possible for her to use them to repay Dominik's debt.
Finally, her eyes landed on the bed.
Light entered her eyes briefly, as bright as the stars in the night.
"W—wait a second."
With his hands loosely around her neck and cupping her face, Aurora slipped from his touch, and she frantically went to the bed. She bent over, stretching her arm underneath the bed.
A wooden box was pulled out. She held it in her arms, almost cradling it as if it were the most precious thing in the world.
Caesar stood up from his kneeling posture and indifferently watched as she scrambled to get something under the bed.
His eyebrows raised when he saw her hugging a wooden box the size of a palm.
"It wasn't there when we searched the place last week."
Romano's voice reported. He could also see the wooden box in Aurora's hands.
When the court officer arrived and seized the entire house, Romano came with some of his men to help. They left nothing untagged and were thorough on their job. Take everything of value.
Caesar didn't offer a comment on his secretary's report. He believed the man, but the item in Aurora's hands still proved they missed something.
As Romano stepped forward to take the box from her, Caesar stopped him with a glance.
He crossed his arms and stood watching as she approached him.
Inside the box were little trinkets. Some were gold, and some were made of silver. Coins with small denominations were also inside it, and crumpled paper bills. A single necklace with a white ribbon pendant stood out from the rest.
"This is everything I own."
She offered her treasures to him, a reluctant look on her face as she forced herself to part with them.
They were things she owned before getting married. It was her life savings that she kept since she was young. After getting married, she still placed some things inside the box, thinking that if she found a way to get out of this unwanted marriage, she would use these treasures to live in another city.
When he didn't take it, Aurora pushed it into his arms.
"This won't be enough," a flicker of disbelief in his eyes.
"Ah… I don't really have anything," Aurora repeated herself.
Caesar reluctantly held the box in his hand. A rare fracture to his composure slipped through his cold visage.
"Then, we'll have to take something we haven't yet."
A frown appeared between her eyebrows. Where would she get it? Everything else was already seized. Dominik still hasn't returned, his whereabouts unknown. What could she compensate for the rest of his debt?
"What do you think, Mrs. Lorenzo?"
Aurora visibly flinched at that 'Mrs. Lorenzo'. It was Dominik's surname. It felt foreign, as if it belonged to somebody else.
And no matter how many times she's been called that, it never ceases to disgust her.
Caesar did not notice her reaction to being called by that title.
He erased the distance between them again in a few steps and stopped in front of her.
"Would your organs fetch a fair price? Or would you sell better as a whole...?"
Leaning forward, he braced a hand against the bedpost beside her head.
"Though I doubt you'd be worth much."