Forgotten Vows

"I can't do this with you anymore, Lucian," I said as I slid the divorce papers over the desk in his home office for him to look at it.

He looked down at the paper as if it was a piece of something disgusting before his eyes looked up at me. I was trying to avoid eye contact, but I couldn't. I wanted him to see that I was done.

"Is this really what you want, Aurora?" He asked, a hand hovering over the paper with a pen in his hand. He was ready to sign it. He wasn't even going to ask why I was leaving. He didn't care enough to. I tried to pretend like it didn't hurt me, but it really did.

"It is." I nodded, taking a deep breath as the point of the pen hit the paper and he signed it without another word.

That was the nail on the coffin. He didn't feel anything. It was safe to say he never loved me.

"Did you ever love me at all, Lucian?" I asked before I could stop myself.

He never answered that question.

"Get him out of your head, Aurora," I said to myself as I stared at my bloodshot eyes in the mirror in front of me. I had just wiped the tears off my face, but a person could still tell that I had just cried.

The worst part about trying to forget someone was just how much your heart reminded you that you still felt something when you think about them.

Right now, I was thinking about someone who most likely wasn't thinking about me. My ex husband, Lucian Blackthorn. The man who took my heart in his hands and shattered it without caring about me.

It had been three years since our divorce was finalized. Even with all those years between us, I still found myself thinking about him when I was alone.

"Divorce anniversary," I muttered, chuckling bitterly. It was tragic that I had a word for it. I bet he didn't even remember what today was.

Three years ago today, I walked out of the Blackthorn mansion for the last time. It's been three years since Lucian settled me with money that didn't compare to how hurt I was. Lucian Blackthorn, my first love. My biggest regret.

"No. I'm not doing this. Not today. I shouldn't." I shook my head at how pathetic I was being.

As if it could sense my desperation to not be alone with my thoughts, my phone rang. Mira's name displayed on the screen, making me sigh in relief as I picked it up in record time.

"Please tell me you're calling with something to distract me," I said, pressing the phone to my ear so hard that it could stick to my skin. "I really need you to tell me something that can get me out of my own head."

"I'm calling with a distraction," Mira said dryly. "Pack your bags. We have to make an emergency trip to Vermont."

"What? Why?" I asked, already moving towards my closet.

"There's a leak in the northeast wing of the Harrington building. The client's threatening to drop us. We need eyes on it. Not just any eyes. We need yours."

My shoulders slumped as I sighed again. Mira was my guardian angel in that moment. Work was just what I needed to get Lucian and what could have been out of my mind.

"I'll be over at your apartment in an hour. We'll drive in our cars. I have to take my sick dog with me, if you don't mind. I just don't know when he'll cave, and I don't want him to be alone when he does," she said.

"You know I don't mind. I'll follow right behind your car," I said with a smile.

After hanging up, I packed whatever I could with my sketchbook into a small bag. My mind didn't even have time to drift back to Lucien, and I was thankful for that.

Two hours later, I was trailing behind Mira on a country road after we left Manhattan and took a shortcut that Mira swore by.

For a second, my phone buzzed with a call from Grayson. My heart skipped a beat when I saw his name. Grayson Blackthorn, Lucian's brother. What could he possibly be calling me for?

I grabbed the phone and picked it up, putting it on loudspeaker.

"Grayson," I called, trying to hide how shaky my voice was.

"Aurora, how are you doing?" He asked. "I wanted to talk to you about something. Are you free right now? It's really important."

"Are you calling me to talk about Lucian? If you are, I suggest you hang up right now. I'm on a work trip and I'm driving. It's not the best time to talk about your brother. Besides, we got divorced three years ago. I don't think there's anything for us to reconcile."

"I'm not calling to talk about Lucian. You know I wouldn't do that to you. We're friends, regardless of whatever my brother did to you. I wanted to check up on you and ask for your availability. I want to work on a building, and you're the best architect I know."

I smiled at his compliment, but I couldn't forget that I was on the road. "I'll call you as soon as I'm off the wheel. Is that fine with you or would you like to go on?"

"I'll talk to you when you're out of the car. Wouldn't want to cause an accident. Drive safe, Aurora."

It was only for half a second. I turned to my phone to hang up, and when I looked back up, there was no sign of Mira's car in front of me.

I must have taken the wrong road. But how was that possible? Did she make a turn while I was on the phone?

"Oh, no."

I slowed down, pulling over to the side to make a call to Mira, but there was no signal all of a sudden. There was nothing but trees and even more of the road up ahead.

Frustrated, I drove forward, eyes scanning for landmarks, but the road only got narrower. My heart picked up its pace at the feeling of something being wrong.

"Maybe I should turn around," I said to myself, stopping and making a U-turn before the road would become too narrow for that.

And then it happened.

A flash of silver grazed past my vision. Before I could figure that it was another car speeding towards me, it was too late.

The car hit my side of the car and the next thing I knew, I was upside down in the car. My blood was starting to blur my vision. I couldn't feel my head.

"Help," I managed to breathe through my throat, but there was no sound. "Someone, please..."

Darkness took over me, and I was gone.