Page 118 of Code of Heart

But instead, Charles surprised her.

“You know,” he began, his voice distant with memory, “Eleanor went through something a lot like this once. Head over heels in love. Engaged, even.”

Aurelia’s head snapped up, frowning. “She never told me that.”

“She wouldn’t,” Charles said with a sad smile. “It was one of the most painful chapters of her life. And…it’s how we became friends.”

He leaned back in his chair, eyes faraway.

“I was working in the kitchen part-time back then while I was in college. I stumbled into one of the old pantries during her engagement party…only to find her fiancé and one of the housekeepers together.”

Aurelia gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.

Charles chuckled humorlessly. “Before I could even process what I saw, I realized Eleanor had followed me. She was practically breathing down my neck. And when she saw them…” He shook his head with a faint smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “She let out a scream so loud I couldn’t hear properly for six days.”

Aurelia’s eyes brimmed with fresh tears, not from sadness of her troubles this time, but from the heartbreak of knowing even Eleanor had once fallen so low.

“She locked herself away for weeks after that,” Charles continued softly. “Didn’t eat. Didn’t speak. I volunteered to bring her meals to help keep the gossip away. Over time, she started to talk. And little by little…she started to heal.”

Aurelia’s voice was a mere breath. “How did she come back from that?”

“I’m not sure she ever fully did. But one morning, she got out of bed, walked into the dining room like a woman reborn, and declared she was done living by anyone else’s rules. She refused to marry. Took lovers when she wanted and lived life however she saw fit. And when children never came, that’s when the search for you began.”

Aurelia’s chest clenched. “She chose me…because I reminded her of herself?”

Charles gave her a knowing look. “She said you’d figure that out eventually.”

Aurelia laughed through her tears, the sound uncomfortable but real.

Letting her process this revelation, Charles stood and gathered his things, preparing to leave. At the door, he turned back one final time.

“You’ve fulfilled the terms of her will,” he said quietly. “You opened your heart. You learned that you are enough, as you are. That’s all she ever wanted for you. My decision stands.”

Aurelia could barely speak past the lump in her throat. “Thank you,” she managed weakly.

Charles nodded, but before he left, he offered one last truth and the hardest one of all.

“I was married nearly fifty years to the love of my life. And even we had moments where we almost didn’t make it. Pain and fear…they’ll convince you to run before you even know what you’re running from.”

He paused, his eyes sharp despite the kindness in them.

“Everyone comes with baggage, Aurelia. But sometimes…it’s the way we carry it that makes all the difference. Don’t let fear choose for you. And don’t shut the door before he’s even had the chance to apologize and fight like hell for you.”

With that, he was gone, the door clicking softly shut behind him.

Though she knew, deep down, Charles was right…she wasn’t ready to believe it.Not yet.

Hours later, she was discharged.

Owen walked silently at her side, his presence steady as he escorted her through the hospital’s sliding doors and into the cool morning air. She slid into his car without a word, the familiar weight of exhaustion and heartbreak pressing down on her.

Home, she told herself.I’m home now.

But it rang hollow. The moment she stepped through her front door, the lie unraveled. What had once been her refuge, a sanctuary at the end of every long, weary day, now felt empty. Lifeless.

Precisely as she had asked, Owen had seen to it that every trace of Levi was gone before she returned. His things were gone. His scent. His presence.

Her house was exactly as it had been before him: perfectly in order, everything in its rightful place.