Page 129 of Code of Heart

They were on every channel…every headline. The photos—those photos—plastered across the screen. Images of her unconscious, posed like a sick and twisted prize beside Kyle. The news stations had blurred the worst of it, but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

She sat there, frozen in horror, as Selene’s voice buzzed in her ear, offering soft words of comfort that Aurelia couldn’t process. Her mind was screaming, her body locked in place, and the edges of her vision had begun to go white.

Selene’s voice cut through the fog. “I’ll come over tonight after work,” she offered gently. “I’ll bring your favorite takeout, and we’ll have that long-overdue girls’ night. You shouldn’t be alone right now.”

Aurelia almost declined. After two nights of company, she had been looking forward to the silence.

However, if she was being honest…the idea of being alone tonight, in this house that felt too big and too empty without Levi…it scared her.

So, with a heavy sigh and a gloomy heart, Aurelia agreed. As soon as the call disconnected, she burst into fresh tears.

Aurelia was horrified to realize she wasn’t the only one having a newsworthy Monday. After her call with Selene, she spent most of the afternoon glued to the television, her book a distant memory.

She watched as her story became one part of the media storm surrounding Neuronix. Not only were they dealing with her personal scandal, but also a massive data breach. And then came the worst news: that Levi had been fired as CEO, along with Owen, Isaac, Grace, and Ivy.

Everyone she cared about, everyone who worked so hard to build that company, had been thrown out in one humiliating sweep. Her heart broke all over again.

Charles had called earlier to confirm that Levi was served with the divorce papers, right after they all walked away from the company for the last time.

Guilt gnawed at her. Maybe she had been too quick to file them. She was still angry with Levi, but the timing…this could have waited. Especially after seeing the video of his final meeting, which was leaked to the press.

In it, Levi accused Tyler Faulkner of playing a role in her being drugged, kidnapped, and assaulted…and of orchestrating the release of those photos alongside the data breach scandal.

She hadn’t stopped thinking about it since. The timing wasn’t a coincidence. She remembered Kyle on the phone with someone that night. She just didn’t know who.

Before she could spiral further, the doorbell rang.

Selene must be here with dinner, having texted Aurelia twenty minutes earlier to let her know she was on her way. After the day she’d had, Aurelia was starving.

“Come on in!” she called, carefully rising from the couch despite the pain. The front door opened, and Selene stepped inside.

She managed to hobble a few steps towards her friend before noticing Selene wasn’t carrying anything. Aurelia glanced past her, expecting to see a takeout bag left by the door. But there was nothing.

Confused, she turned back and saw Selene’s expression shift.

Gone was the concerned friend. In her place stood a stranger, face twisted with pure hatred.

And then Aurelia saw it—the glint of metal in Selene’s hand as it caught the light. A knife. Long, curved, and deadly.

The color drained from Aurelia’s face.

“I’ve waited a long time for this,” Selene hissed, stepping closer.

Aurelia instinctively backed away, keeping the kitchen island between them, ignoring the burning pain in her ribs.

“Kyle was supposed to keep you busy until I got there,” Selene sneered. “But things didn’t go as planned, did they?”

Aurelia tried to stay calm, tried to think. One wrong move and…she couldn’t let herself finish that thought. But the disbelief tumbled out before she could stop it.

“You…you’re the one who drugged me?”

Selene mocked her, her voice a cruel imitation.“You’re the one who drugged me?”

The memory slammed into her—the diet soda Selene handed her that night. How could she have forgotten?

Except she hadn’t. This was how their friendship always worked. Aurelia had spent years overlooking the small betrayals, desperate to hold onto the one friend she had.

That blind loyalty nearly cost her everything.Her life.