Page 130 of Code of Heart

Selene took another step forward, the knife glinting ominously. “I’m so tired of you getting everything I worked for,”she spat. “Since the day you showed up at the Hayder house, you’ve taken everything from me.”

Aurelia’s mind flashed back to those early days in foster care, remembering Selene’s bullying, the stolen possessions, the endless fights. Until one day, Selene had simply…changed. She apologized. Pretended to be her friend. And Aurelia, desperate and lonely, had accepted it.

But that version of her wasgone. The old Aurelia would have cowered and apologized, doing anything to avoid conflict. But that woman died the night she smashed a lamp over Kyle’s head.

The woman standing here now had walked through fire. And she wasn’t about to break.

Looking at Selene—at the stranger holding a knife in her own home—Aurelia felt something she hadn’t expected.

Undiluted rage.

She stood tall, refusing to cower, and met Selene’s glare with a cold, steady gaze.

“You and I have very different memories of how things went back then,” Aurelia said coolly. “From what I recall, you were a nasty little brat who couldn’t keep her hands off things that didn’t belong to her. And when I asked nicely, you didn’t listen. You always had to learn the hard way.”

Selene’s entire body vibrated with rage.

“No!” she screamed. “I came to visit Eleanor’sheir! I worked for that old witch for years, and she gave it all to you! You’re nothing without me!”

“You’re the one who introduced me to her!” Aurelia snapped back. “You told me to apply for the job!”

Selene laughed, bitter and sharp. “I did it as a joke! I wanted to see you fail, but of course, you got the job and the matchmaker.” Her face darkened further. “You gotmylife. Even your husband should have been mine!”

The mention of Levi made something inside Aurelia rupture.

“The highlight of my life,” Selene went on, her voice sickeningly sweet, “was when you were dating Kyle. Seeing his bruises all over you? That was a masterpiece. And knowing he’d get to do it again? That was the cherry on top.”

Aurelia’s stomach turned, bile rising in her throat.

Selene smirked, enjoying her cruelty. “You thought you were free of him when you got that no-contact order, didn’t you?” she sneered. “But guess what? I stayed in touch with Kyle the whole time, just waiting for the perfect moment for us to both get our revenge.”

She took another step, her smirk deepening. “It was so easy to get him to share those photos—saved me the trouble of leaking them myself. And it turns out, I’m not the only one you’ve pissed off.”

Something cold and deadly settled over Aurelia’s heart.

This wasn’t her friend. This was a threat.

Selene rolled her shoulders back, bracing herself. “I’m done talking,” she said coldly, her voice like steel. “Consider this a mercy…putting you out ofmymisery.”

Aurelia’s patience cracked. Her vision burned red as pure, blinding rage took over.

She’d had enough.

Enough of the lies. Enough of being used. Enough of being someone else’s punching bag.

Enough of this bitch standing in her house.

The lingering pain from her injuries faded under the surge of adrenaline. Her body moved on instinct as Selene lunged, knife aimed low.

Foster care had made her scrappy. But the self-defense training she had forced herself through over the last few years took that scrappiness to the next level.

Aurelia deflected Selene’s knife with her forearm and grabbed her wrist in one smooth motion. Selene let out a startled yelp as Aurelia twisted her arm hard, forcing the knife free.

The blade clattered across the floor as Aurelia swept Selene’s legs out from under her and shoved her back.

Caught completely off guard—exactly as Aurelia intended—Selene crashed to the floor, her head bouncing off the hardwood with a sickening bang.

Before she could react, Aurelia was on her, straddling her chest, pinning her down.