"Aurora… Not Mrs. Lorenzo, but Aurora", she told him, fixing the name he should call her with.
Her focus wasn't on the fact that his words should bring her to tremble in fear at the idea of being sold, but on the name that brought her nothing but misery, fear, and disgust.
Caesar blinked his eyes, silver gleaming in the dark.
He's really handsome. Devastatingly so.
Aurora was caught in the memory of that night, of this man on top of her with muscles straining as the intensity of their actions almost ripped the paint off the wall, as the bed kept rubbing against it, his face a sensual sight that brought even more pleasure to her core.
"Do you agree… Aurora?"
How could Caesar refuse? A woman, whose life and death are now in his hands, requested him to call her by her name.
He already knew her name before coming to this place. Investigating everything about Dominik had some advantages and disadvantages. He had done it to find where he had gone after he took his money. Of course, the investigation led him to Aurora, who was his wife of younger years.
With their close proximity, Caesar could tell she was afraid, but there was something else about her that he couldn't put his finger on. As if she were a ball of yarn, tangled, and needed to be pulled to uncover what was hidden inside.
"Do you know what it means if I sell you?"
He wanted her to know the consequences of Dominik's actions and get her to hate him enough that she'd be desperate to find him. Maybe she knew something and finally pointed out his location to them.
Unfortunately, what Caesar expected from her was unknown to Aurora, or she would've laughed at it.
How would she know the whereabouts of a man who refused to tell her in the past three years? Much less when Dominik disappeared and didn't want to let anyone find him?
Aurora didn't know what she could possibly do.
But his question didn't surprise her.
Sell… me?
Strangely, it didn't feel unnatural for her. Her father, Alfred, had done it before.
Still, an instinctive emotion sprang up inside her.
Where? To who?
Aurora couldn't help but imagine the worst. If Dominik were a man with a twisted nature. Then, whoever Caesar sells her to might be unimaginably worse than him.
With how Caesar works and how her father's words resounded in her ears whenever he told her that he would sell her to an old man if she wasn't obedient before marrying Dominik, fear quickly crept into her, blanketing her entire being.
"No…"
She shook her head, and her face turned pale. There was no way she could handle it.
Slight hope that her refusal would be heard for once.
"Then help me find your husband."
Caesar removed himself from leaning toward her, straightening his body as he took a step back and turned around.
He was tall to begin with, and now that he was a meter away, Aurora noticed their height difference. His height alone could dominate the entire room. His presence, on the other hand, was oppressive and suffocating, as if the Grim Reaper were in the room with a scythe in hand.
The atmosphere in the room became thicker, making it hard for Aurora to breathe.
"Bring me Dominik, and you will be set free."
It felt like an enormous boulder was pressed on her head. Her mind went blank as she wondered how she could bring Dominik to this man.
It was an impossible task.
"W—where would I find him?"
Her question made Caesar turn his head to her, annoyance written on her face as if she was asking a stupid question.
"Figure it out."
Figure it out?
Aurora was baffled. How would she do that? The world was so vast and Dominik was only one.
She saw Caesar walking toward the door and heard him speak again.
"By the way, you can no longer stay here. This house no longer belongs to you and Dominik."
That finally broke the last bit of hope Aurora held in her.
"Romano, take her out."
Aurora thought she must have misheard him. But the man who had seized her earlier stepped forward and in no time, he held her forearm in a strong vice. She tried to resist, but it only made Romano tighten his grip around her arm.
"Ah…!"
Pain shot through her arm, drilling into her bone. She flailed her arms to lessen the pain, but it was futile. Romano firmly grabbed her arm and dragged her out with his own insistence to follow Caesar's order.
"W—wait! If you throw me out, where would I go? If not here, then I have nowhere else to…"
…go.
The last word was stuck in her mouth as Caesar disappeared from the door without even waiting for them.
He hadn't spared her a glance as he left.
"Give it up."
Aurora looked up at the man dragging her. The scar on his cheek created a long dimple across his face, making him look rough and intimidating.
Against this man, Aurora didn't think he would listen to her. His hand was rough against her skin like sandpaper, rubbing her skin raw.
She looked at the empty house, wishing someone inside could stop them and save her. But aside from herself, the housekeepers and guards from before were no longer around. Dominik wouldn't save her; he had already abandoned her and left to save himself, bringing the threat to his life in her way instead.
Caesar was already out of sight. Another man was by the door, waiting for them. He was also wearing a dark suit and looked younger than the man grabbing her.
Romano threw her to the other man and said, "Throw her out and make sure she doesn't come back."
"No…"
Aurora struggled again.
"This house, everything inside it, and you will be taken. Remember this, the man named Caesar is now the owner of it all until it's decided what's to be done with you."
Because if you don't and lose the value you have now… You will be disposed of mercilessly and more cruelly than being sold off."
After saying that, he stepped out of the house first and disappeared too.
Aurora could only follow them as tears never stopped falling from her eyes like the snowflakes in the sky.