Chapter 3: You’ll Stay By My Side

On the luxurious European-style bed, the woman's exposed skin was a bruised tapestry of blues and purples. As her thick, curly eyelashes quivered slightly, her eyes slowly opened.

"Hisss..." With a slight movement, she realized her body felt completely disjointed. Memories flooded back, and she abruptly sat up in bed.

As the silk quilt slid off, she looked at the marks on her bare skin, realizing that yesterday was not a dream!

The mysterious man was long gone. Aurora, dragging her nearly broken body, made her way to the bathroom.

The shower poured down like a curtain of water, her mind replaying the events of the last night as her fingers dug deep into her palms.

Though she was the sole legitimate heir to the Montgomery family, her mother had died early, and her father had remarried, bringing in two children, a boy and a girl.

She was too young to understand back then, but as she grew up, she realized her father had been unfaithful before her mother passed away, leading her to distance herself from him.

Although she harbored hatred for these people, she had never thought of harming them.

Yesterday was her eighteenth birthday, and according to the will of her mom, she would receive 20% of the company's shares after her eighteenth birthday.

Perhaps to prevent her from obtaining the shares, her stepmother had devised an entire plot just to disgrace her.

The affairs of Susan and Hayden added to her distress. Aurora observed the blood marks she had pinched into her own palm.

Her gaze suddenly turned cold. Since the world had betrayed her, from now on, she needed no one!

She would not spare those who had hurt her today; she intended to return every bit of suffering she had endured.

She noticed that someone had prepared clean clothes in the room, even the underwear was her size.

How did this person know so much private information about her!

But Aurora had no time to speculate. She changed into a clean skirt, dried her hair, and as she turned to look in the mirror, she saw marks on her arms and neck—did that man enjoy leaving his mark on her so much?

This room was very unfamiliar, and the events of last night were all a blur. She didn't even know where he had taken her.

She walked out the door, and a maid stood outside respectfully asking, "Miss, are you hungry?"

Aurora looked around at the large villa, nearly as big as her family's mansion, but the interior was very new, likely a recent construction.

"Miss, dinner is ready, please come with me."

"Could I have a tablet?" she requested.

"One moment, please," the maid quickly brought a tablet to her.

Aurora hurried to check the latest news headlines, her fingers trembling slightly—would there be any of those embarrassing photos of her from last night?

Instead, the screen displayed a blurred nude photo of Ivy under a massive headline: "Scandal of the Montgomery family: Crazy Nude Photos of The Daughter Viral Online"!

In just one night, that man had turned the tables!

Aurora put down the tablet, and the maid approached with a phone.

"Miss, a call from Master."

Even now, Aurora did not know his identity.

"Hello," her voice still hoarse.

"Saw the news?" came the man's deep voice.

"Yes," Aurora thought about everything he had done last night; this was no small repayment.

"Stay by my side from now on, and I will help you take back everything," he seemed to have discerned her vengeful heart.

After a pause, Aurora replied, "Okay, but I want to go home first."

"Sure," the man's tone held a hint of pleasure.

After dinner, Aurora was driven back to Montgomery Manor, it was already dark outside—she had slept the entire day.

On the drive, she made a decision; although the man had helped her, he did not do it for free.

Did he mean for her to stay as his lover?

She scoffed coldly; she would personally exact her revenge, but she had also realized that over the years, her stepmother had taken her mother's place, and her deliberate estrangement only made her father dislike her more.

Her father, easily swayed by his current wife, meant that the Montgomery family's assets were firmly in her stepmother's hands; revenge would not be easy.

This time she had failed, and it was likely they would try to strike at her again. After all her current position was simply too weak and made her a pretty easy target.

Aurora found her father, Magnus, in the study, who was apparently indifferent to his daughter’s suffering and distressed by Ivy's scandal.

"Dad, I've just received an offer from the university I was applying; I might need to leave the country for a while."

It was the only solution she could think of; she needed time to grow. Magnus did not attempt to keep her; they both knew, if she stayed here, it would only make everyone uncomfortable.

Aurora left in haste, telling no one.

Before boarding, she looked at her phone, filled with messages and missed calls from Hayden, finding it ironic.

She pulled out the SIM card, threw it in a trash can, and walked toward the boarding gate. Just as she turned around, she noticed a man angrily hurrying toward her from afar.

She looked at him, a slight smile forming as she mouthed.

"Bye."

Then she just left, decisively.