Broken Ring, Broken Bond Chapter 10

Broken Ring, Broken Bond Chapter 10

Tessa showed up the day I went back to the old Pack territory for the court hearing.

She wasn’t put-together and polished like she used to be. Her hair was thrown up in a messy bun, and the exhaustion under her eyes was impossible to hide.

When she saw me, she smiled out of nowhere.

“Aurora, you won,” she said.

“Evidence won,” I replied.

Her face darkened.

“Don’t act so high and mighty. Alpha never would’ve come after me like this if it wasn’t for you.”

I stared at her.

“How he treats you is his own choice.”

Tessa’s eyes burned red.

“He wasn’t like this before. He’d drive me to the Pack Hospital, stay up all night with me when I was in pain, and promise he’d make it up to me later.”

She laughed so hard her whole body shook.

“But now he turned over every single piece of evidence and left me to take all the blame alone.”

I didn’t say anything back.

—

Tessa stepped closer suddenly.

“You know what the funniest part is?”

I looked at her.

She spoke.

“When he came to me and told me to issue a public apology, he was still wearing that ring of yours.”

I froze for a split second.

Raw poison glinted in Tessa’s eyes.

“He said it was the only thing he managed to save.”

The trial started.

Evidence was presented one by one.

Tessa’s assistant testified in court that Tessa ordered her to swap the documents and frame me for leaking private information.

The former legal counsel of Crestmoon Pack Group submitted emails proving that the change of lead creator credit was ordered by Julian’s mother, and Julian knew about it and did nothing to stop it.

Julian sat in the gallery.

When he heard those words, he looked up at me.

I didn’t look back.

The verdict wasn’t read in open court, but the writing was already on the wall.

—

After adjournment, Julian chased me out into the hallway.

“Aurora.”

I stopped.

He handed me a stack of papers.

“This is the public apology statement from Crestmoon Pack Group, and the agreement to restore your credit. You can negotiate the compensation amount further on your end.”

I took it and glanced over the document.

“Thank you.”

He gave a bitter laugh.

“So now all that’s left between us is ‘thank you’?”

I passed the file to my lawyer.

“Still a lawsuit relationship.”

A sharp pain flashed across his eyes.

Just then, Tessa stormed out from the courtroom, a wad of papers crumpled in her fist.

“Julian, how dare you throw me under the bus?”

She slammed the papers straight into his chest.

“Every single one of those things had your implicit approval! I stole her designs, don’t you dare say you didn’t know! I targeted her, don’t you dare say you didn’t encourage it!”

—

Half the people in the hallway stopped to stare.

Julian went pale.

“Tessa, don’t make a scene here.”

“Scared now?”

Tessa let out a sharp, biting laugh.

“Why are you playing victim all of a sudden? You loved every second of two women fighting over you. She’s reasonable, I’m pathetic, you get to stand in the middle and play savior. Must feel so good, right?”

Julian’s face darkened so completely it looked unrecognizable.

Then she turned to me.

“Aurora, don’t think he’s actually pining for you. He doesn’t regret hurting you. He just regrets losing the one that always did what he told her.”

“Enough!” Julian barked.

Tessa froze from the force of his yell.

Then she laughed through her tears.

“See? You yell at me now too.”

She was escorted out by court staff.

The hallway went quiet again.

Julian stood rooted to the spot, like he’d just been publicly flayed.

—

He turned to look at me, his voice rough and raw.

“That’s not how it was.”

I looked at him.

“What it was doesn’t matter anymore.”

He pulled the old ring out of his pocket suddenly.

It wasn’t the new one he’d made.

It was the one I’d thrown away.

The engraving on the inner band was faded and worn thin.

“Aurora, I know you don’t want it anymore.” He set the ring down on the windowsill. “But I still wanted to give it back to you.”

I didn’t pick it up.

“It doesn’t belong to me anymore.”

“Then who does it belong to?”

I thought for a second.

“It belongs to the past.”

Julian’s eyes were bright red with unshed tears.

“Can the past ever come back?”

I shook my head.

“No.”

—

The sky outside was gray and overcast.

My lawyer reminded me it was time to leave.

I followed him toward the elevator.

A very low voice came from behind me.

“I’m sorry.”

I didn’t turn around.

Right before the elevator doors slid shut, I saw the ring sitting alone on the windowsill.

Like a promise no one wanted anymore.