Chapter 24 Fuss
In the dining room, Joshua, Celeste, Barnett, and Bertha had already taken their seats, but unusually, they refrained from beginning their meal.
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Upon Aurora’s appearance, Celeste promptly rose, approached her, and warmly took her hand, saying, “Aurora, you must be hungry after waking up so early. Come, join us for breakfast.” She then led Aurora to the dining table.
Joshua occupied the head of the table, with Barnett to his right. and Celeste to his left. Bertha, naturally, sat close to Celeste.
Aurora now had two options–to sit beside Barnett or Bertha.
Aurora hated both, but she finally opted for Barnett.
She sat beside him with a stone–faced expression, saying nothing. She picked up her spoon and ate the ravioli silently placed before her.
All four watched her intently, their expressions varying.
Joshua’s face clearly showed anger, which Celeste restrained, barely preventing him from losing his temper with Aurora.
Celeste looked slightly embarrassed, wanting to remind Aurora to greet the elders before eating but, remembering the events of the previous night, she held her tongue.
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A flicker of resentment appeared in Bertha’s eyes, but she forced a smile and said. “Aurora. Daisy specially prepared these ravioli for you How do they taste?”
Her voice carried a hint of flirtatiousness and ingratiation, but
Aurora ignored her completely, focusing solely on the ravioli in ber bowl
Observing this, Barnett took a deep breath, trying to suppress his rising anger. He flashed a forced smile and said, “Aurora, after breakfast, remove the bandage from your head. You’re not hurt. With it always on, people might think you’re being mistreated in this family.”
Aurora paused momentarily while eating, her mouth curling into a sarcastic smile, but she remained silent. Soon after, she resumed eating as if nothing had happened.
Quickly finishing her bowl of ravioli in just a few bites, she picked up a napkin from the table, wiped her mouth, and then looked up at them, saying, “I’m done. Take your time.”
Barnett’s anger finally broke free, and he began to reprimand Aurora, “Aurora, who do you think you are to give us such a poor attitude first thing in the morning?”
Aurora looked at him with an unwavering coldness in her eyes, which only fueled Barnett’s rage further.
In a fit of frustration, he reached out and roughly tore off the bandage from Aurora’s head, snarling, “I’ll see if you’re really
Chapter 24 Fuss
hurt or just faking it.”
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As the bandage was ripped away, Aurora felt a sharp pain shoot across her forehead. The sear, which had just begun to heal, was brutally reopened, and blood immediately began to gush out, slowly trickling down her cheek and staining her face with at crimson hue.
“I knew you were faking it…” Barnell spat out, but his words were cut short as he stared in disbelief at Aurora’s bleeding forehead.
Celeste gasped, her heart–wrenching and eyes welling up with tears, asking, “Aurora, how did you get that cut on your forehead?”
A fleeting sense of satisfaction crossed Bertha’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a mask of horror as she whispered, “Aurora, are you okay?”
Aurora seemed oblivious to the pain, her eyes hollow and cold. The constant flow of blood down her cheek created a red haze
before her vision.
Her gaze slowly scanned the four of them, and in that moment, they appeared to her like demons from hell, devouring her soul and trampling on her dignity. “Are you satisfied now?”
Her voice was hoarse, not hysterical, but it struck them like a blow.
However, Joshua remained unperturbed, saying indifferently,
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“It’s just a minor injury. You’re not going to die. Why make such a fuss?”
An eerie silence enveloped the entire dining room.
Aurora’s hands gripped the table tightly, her fingers turning white with the force as if she were about to overturn it.
Remembering the previous incident with the overturned table, Joshua was startled and quickly placed his hands on the table, watching Aurora intently.
Celeste, Barnett, and Bertha all feared she might snap and overturn the table once more, so they also quickly pressed down on the table.
Celeste’s hands shook, her eyes brimming with anxiety and discomfort. “Aurora, please calm down. Your father didn’t. mean it like that. He actually… He thought your injury wasn’t serious. He was just worried about you…” She hesitated, feeling the awkwardness of her words as she tried to justify Joshua’s
behavior.
Aurora fixed her gaze on Celeste, her eyes seeming to see
straight through to her soul. Celeste blushed under her intense scrutiny, her eyes flickering nervously, unable to meet Aurora’s steady look.
The tension in the dining room was almost tangible.
Aurora’s forehead continued to bleed, the crimson streams tracing paths down her cheek and onto the dining table. The
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stark red stains mirrored the fragmentation of her heart.
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“Is this how you express your concern?” She grated out, her voice tight and strained. “How wonderful it is to receive such concern, Mr. Joshua Elvador, Mrs. Celeste Elvador. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness.”
With those words, Aurora spun around and left the dining room, leaving the Elvador family without a chance to respond.
Barnett, feeling frustrated and his appetite ruined, stood up abruptly. “Dad, Mom, I’m heading to the company,” he announced and followed Aurora out the door.
*****
After settling into the car, Barnett’s eyes fell upon the blood–soaked gauze clutched in his hand.
A sharp wave of anguish spread from the pit of his stomach to every fiber of his being, causing his heart to constrict abruptly.
He leaned back in his seat, and an unbidden image of Aurora departing the house the previous morning filled his mind.
She had been fine then, but when she returned in the evening, her head was wrapped in gauze.
He wondered what she had endured yesterday.
Aurora was his own sister, and even given her past mistakes, she was not someone to be bullied with impunity.
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Barnett’s hands instinctively curled into fists, only gradually relaxing after an extended period.
He reached for his phone and dialed a number. “Adolph,” Barnett said through clenched teeth, “Did you strike Aurora on the head?”
“Is that the reason for your call on such an early morning?” The voice on the other end was dispassionate, revealing no hint of emotion.
“I’m warning you, no matter what Aurora did in the past, she has already gotten the punishment. She is my sister, and you cannot assault her whenever you please,” Barnett declared.
However, before he could conclude his statement, the call was abruptly terminated on the other end.
Barnett’s fury was such that he slammed his phone onto the passenger seat. “Fuck!”
It took Barnett a considerable amount of time to quell his tumultuous emotions. He exhaled deeply before finally starting the car and proceeding to work.
At the office, he had no inclination to work, his mind consumed by the vision of Aurora’s blood–streaked face, leaving him
restless and agitated.
After what seemed like an eternity of internal turmoil, he could no longer endure and reached for his phone to call Daisy.
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“Daisy, how is Aurora? Has her forehead injury been attended. to?”
