vast king-sized bed. He instinctively reached for the

ing for a few seconds before the memory

nto the bathroom. He reached for his razor, but the blade hadn

anyway, nicking himself on the ch

ed a towel to dab at the cut, and walked out

e 45 degrees, waiting for him at his place sett

of black coffee and a plate of toast. Sh

mediately scowled. It was too bitter.

different?" he deman

terling is not here to provide th

stration. He pulled out his phone and tried Aurora

pening his laptop to log into the f

Aurora's supplementary card. It had almost no transa

d ease, transferring four million doll

ssive message: "Buy yourself something ni

f money was more than enough to quell any woman's anger. She w

acket, and left for the office, not botherin

ad, weary sigh escaping her lips. She tur

, the brush head moving under the bed. It grazed the

y, sending the cancer diagnosis skittering deeper in

he machine, and left the room, entirely

ingle ray of sunlight cut through the dusty window, illu

, her entire body aching. She found her

oded with notifications for missed c

f the screen. A bank transfer notificati

aw his arrogant, dismissive note.

t the money. She simply locked the

her trench coat. She went to the grimy s

ho was no longer polished and perfect, but whose eyes h

ing pencils and a sketchbook-the one habit she

cked up a pencil, and decided that with the time she h