The room was still vibrating with shock when Aurora made her entrance. The air around us felt thicker, charged with a tension I hadn't anticipated.

There she was, standing tall and unapologetically fierce, the girl I once knew a distant memory. Gone was the shy, fragile Aurora I had once loved. My Petal was gone. In her place stood a woman who had clearly survived hell and come back stronger than ever.

And I couldn't stop myself from feeling a pull toward her.

Aurora's eyes met mine across the room. For a brief moment, the rest of the world disappeared. There was a storm in those eyes—anger, betrayal, and something deeper, something colder.

She didn't even blink as she walked past me, not a trace of recognition in her gaze. The smile she wore was all sharp edges, a mask of confidence that barely concealed the wound I had inflicted on her.

You deserve this, I told myself. You deserve her hate.

But that didn't make it easier.

The silence stretched, and I could feel Gianna beside me, her fingers tightened around the glass in her hand, her gaze fixed on Aurora with an intensity. She knows, I thought. Gianna knows I'm not over her. She knows I never was and it bothered her but I didn't cared.

I could feel their eyes on me as I walked through the room, but I didn't flinch. I had worked too hard to become this person to let them see any trace of doubt. I hugged my Mom and Dad. I greeted the elders.

Seokjin was staring at me like he had seen a ghost. His gaze followed every step I took, but he didn't move. Didn't speak. His eyes were filled with things I didn't care to acknowledge.

Let him watch. Let him burn.

I made my way towards my bestfriend Violet, who was standing with the others, her eyes wide with disbelief. I couldn't help the small smile that tugged at my lips as I approached her.

"Vio!" I said.

Violet was already moving to hug me, her arms wrapping around me tightly.

"You look incredible." She whispered, pulling back to take me in.

"I can't believe it's really you." She said.

I chuckled, brushing a lock of hair behind my ear.

"It's me, alright. Just... a little dangerous now." I said.

Violet laughed softly, her eyes full of wonder and a hint of worry. She had always been the only one who truly understood me. The only one who hadn't abandoned me.

I took a deep breath, pushing the memories of the past down where they belonged.

Gianna watched Aurora's every move. The way she walked. The way she held herself. The confidence radiating from her like a weapon, a stark contrast to the girl she was in the past.

Gianna thought that this Aurora was a threat. She could feel it in her bones.

Seokjin had loved Aurora once. Hell, he still loved her, and no matter how many times Gianna told herself Seokjin was hers not Aurora's, still the jealousy that gnawed at her every time she looked at Seokjin's gaze on Aurora was undeniable.

She could see how Seokjin's posture stiffened when Aurora walked into the room, how his eyes never strayed from her, even as she tried to engage him in conversation.

He's still in love with her, she thought bitterly. She thought to herself that she couldn't let that go on.

I didn't care about the stunned looks or the whispers behind my back. The Aurora they had known was dead.

Let them stare.

I had come here for a reason, and that reason wasn't to relive the past. It wasn't to beg for Seokjin's forgiveness or to let him look at me with that familiar guilt in his eyes.

I was here to remind them all who I had become. I had clawed my way to the top in a world where weakness wasn't tolerated. The girl who had once been naive, easily manipulated, and dependent on Seokjin's love was gone. That girl had died the day he betrayed me, the day he chose his goddamn legacy over me.

I met Violet's eyes, and she smiled, relief in her expression as she saw the woman standing before her. The woman who had survived and thrived.

She was the only one who knew the full extent of the hell I had gone through in —the accident, the lose of something precious, the bruises, and the betrayals. But I had come out the other side stronger. I wasn't the girl who used to cry over Seokjin anymore.

I was the woman who would make him regret ever letting me go.

I couldn't stop myself from looking at her like. I missed her so much. I want to run to her and hold her in my arms and never let her go.

My Petal

The woman who is everything to me, the woman I had betrayed so cruelly. And now, after four years of trying to deal with her absence, she stood before me, her eyes colder than I remembered, her presence commanding and distant.

I had done this to her. I had driven her away, forced her to leave, pushed her into a life I couldn't bear to think about.

And now... now I was married to someone else.

Gianna's jealousy was obvious. She stood beside me, her grip tightening on her glass, but I couldn't even focus on her. I couldn't stop thinking about Petal—how she had changed, how different she was, how strong she had become.

I hate Gianna, I thought suddenly. But I have to stay with her. My grandfather, Lucifer—the Mafia King—he's forced me into this. He says I have to marry her to secure my position as the next king. If I don't, the entire empire will collapse. And I can't let that happen.

But that didn't make the loathing I felt for Gianna any less real. And it didn't stop the guilt that ate away at me every time I saw Aurora, standing there, like she was daring me to acknowledge the love we had once shared.

Gianna was so jealous as she watched Seokjin, her husband, the man she had married for power, for status, and for the Mafia empire staring at his ex-fiance. As she looked at him now, standing there, his gaze locked on Aurora like she was the only thing that mattered in the room, a cold knot twisted her stomach.

Aurora was everything Seokjin had wanted before he had been forced into marriage with Gianna. She had been the one.

And now, Gianna had to watch as Seokjin looked at Aurora like a man possessed. Gianna could feel the heat in my chest, the jealousy flaring up as she saw the way Seokjin's eyes softened just the slightest bit when he looked at Aurora.

Gianna wanted to lash out. To remind Aurora that Seokjin was hers now, that Aurora had no place here. But she knew better than to be openly hostile. Gianna was the wife, and she had to keep up appearances. So she waited. She waited for the perfect moment.

After dinner, Gianna couldn't take it anymore. She turned to Aurora, her smile tight, her tone dripping with sweet venom.

"So," She began.

"I see you've really changed." Gianna said.

Aurora didn't even flinch. She merely raised an eyebrow, her expression cool and unbothered.

"Some people do," Aurora said, her voice smooth, almost mocking.

Gianna pushed forward, her patience running thin.

"I guess all that time in Italy really changed you. From the weak, scared girl who left all behind to... whatever this is now." Gianna said.

Seokjin glared at Gianna. He signaled her to shut her mouth. Gianna could feel the weight of every word, the bite in her tone, but Aurora just smiled—an icy, dangerous smile.

"You must be confused, darling," Aurora said, her voice low and laced with sarcasm.

"You think I've changed? No. I'm just finally showing who I really am. The one who doesn't tolerate being walked on. And I'm not here to be your competition, Sweetie. I'm just here to remind you of who's the boss." Aurora said with a smirk.

The room went silent.

Gianna wanted to say something, to retaliate, but she couldn't. The words stuck in her throat, and she realized something she had been denying for far too long:

Aurora had won. She had always been the one he truly cared for.

Everyone continued talking to eachother to change the atmosphere. Seokjin was staring at his Petal with a small smile while she was busy eating.

He couldn't believed that she's the same girl who once used to believe in fairytales. He's happy that at least he could see her now and more than that she can now fight back.

The house had emptied out, leaving a haunting silence in its wake. One by one, the guests said their goodbyes, each bidding me a polite farewell, none daring to speak the things that were truly on their minds. As I watched them leave, I felt a strange sense of detachment. The people I once knew, the life I once had, were so far removed from the person I had become.

My parents lingered for a while, asking how I had been, how Italy had treated me. But their voices, though filled with concern, seemed distant.

I could see the worry in their eyes, but I was too tired to explain. Too tired to make them understand how much had changed, how much I had changed.

After a while, I excused myself, retreating to the only place I felt even the faintest sense of connection to—the room that had once been mine.

As I opened the door, a wave of nostalgia hit me like a physical blow.

The pastel walls, the soft hues that once made the room feel like a sanctuary—everything was just as it had been. The same bed, the same plushie-filled shelves. The fairy tale books I had once spent hours getting lost in.

Everything here was a testament to who I used to be—the girl who believed in love, who thought that maybe, just maybe, she could have a happily-ever-after.

But now, that girl felt like a stranger.

I stood frozen in the doorway, my chest tightening as my eyes swept over the room. I hadn't realized how much I missed it—how much I had missed myself.

The bed, with its soft, floral sheets, was where I had spent countless nights reading or falling asleep to the sound of Seokjin's whispers in the dark.

My heart stuttered painfully in my chest as I walked closer, almost as if the room were pulling me back into a past I couldn't forget. I looked at the stars on the ceiling, the ones we had stuck on together as a dream. The memories of us, of a time when everything had seemed possible, were too much to bear.

A tear slipped down my cheek, unbidden.

I walked toward the balcony door and froze. I could almost feel him there—Seokjin. The way he would climb up to the balcony, late at night, when he thought no one was watching. The way his eyes would search mine, that deep, soul-searching gaze. I hated how much I missed that look.

I looked at the bed again, and the memory hit me like a wave.

We had made love on this bed. I hadn't even realized how many of my firsts had been with him. My first kiss, my first time truly feeling like I was loved. And then... the betrayal. The choice he had made.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the memories. Trying to block out the pain that still lingered in the pit of my stomach.

No, Aurora. You're not that girl anymore.

I sighed, pushing all the old feelings down, trying to suppress them. I quickly changed into my nightclothes, choosing to bury myself in the comfort of sleep. The bed was the same, but I was no longer the same.

As I lay there, the emptiness in the room felt suffocating. I pulled the covers up to my chin, shutting my eyes and trying to block everything out. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't erase him. Seokjin was everywhere in this house—his presence was a shadow that clung to every corner.

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D'yavol

Petal

Gianna