Billionaire’s Regret After Losing Her (Aurelia) novel Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Done Playing Nice

Hospital. Patient room.

The sharp smell of disinfectant made Aurelia Sterling’s stomach turn as she lay weakly in the hospital bed.

When the call connected, Aurelia spoke first. “I need a family member to sign the consent form for the abortion procedure. Can you come to the hospital?”

A beat of silence on the other end.

Then a man’s deep voice cut through. “Wait, when did you even get pregnant? How would I not know? You’re being ridiculous, Aurelia!”

“Are you coming or not?”

That word—ridiculous—made Aurelia’s temper flare.

“I really don’t have time for your drama today!”

Facing Aurelia’s anger, Dominic Hawthorne tried to keep the irritation out of his voice.

Aurelia’s blood ran cold. She stopped talking and pulled the phone away from her ear.

Just as she was about to hang up, a woman’s voice came through the speaker. “Mr. Hawthorne, the delivery went perfectly! It’s twins—a boy and a girl!”

Aurelia’s world went dark.

While their baby was about to be aborted.

He was here, at this same hospital. But he chose to stay with his sister-in-law.

While their baby was about to be aborted.

Aurelia hit the end-call button without hesitation.

A doctor with black-rimmed glasses entered and stood beside the bed, pulling out a pen to write notes on a form.

“When will your husband be here to sign?” she asked. “The OR is ready.”

Aurelia fought back her rage. “Does it have to be him?”

The doctor paused, confused.

Her pen stopped moving.

Aurelia looked at her, her gaze ice cold. “He’s busy helping his sister-in-law with her delivery. Can I sign it myself?”

That word twins from the phone call stabbed into Aurelia’s heart like a knife.

The doctor’s expression softened with sympathy.

She handed over the form. “Yes, you can.”

Aurelia took the pen and quickly signed her name.

The doctor handed her a pill. “Take this. We’ll start in thirty minutes.”

Aurelia took it and swallowed it without water.

She’d always hated anything bitter, but right now she let the pill’s bitterness fill her entire mouth.

…

Evening.

After post-surgery observation, Aurelia drove herself home to the house she shared with Dominic.

Mary, their housekeeper, saw her pale face and was startled. “Aurelia, what happened? You look terrible.”

Aurelia’s gaze was distant and cold when she heard Mary’s voice.

Her pale face managed a weak smile. “Mary, I’m a little hungry.”

This morning, Dominic had taken her to his parents’ place.

At lunch, she’d barely taken two bites when Lauren’s water suddenly broke, and there was also blood everywhere.

The entire house erupted into chaos over Lauren’s delivery.

Lauren Drake was Dominic’s sister-in-law—his brother Adrian’s widow. Adrian had died in a plane crash six months ago. They never found his body.

Ever since then, whenever Lauren or her unborn child needed anything, one phone call and Dominic would drop everything.

Aurelia’s mind flashed back to today’s chaos.

In the chaos, Lauren had shoved Aurelia so hard that Aurelia fell to the ground, unable to get up.

But everyone’s attention was on Lauren, who was screaming and crying.

Dominic carried Lauren right past where Aurelia lay.

She had grabbed his leg. “My stomach hurts so much!”

But Dominic had only given her a look that said not now before carrying Lauren away without looking back.

Noticing how weak she looked, Mary helped Aurelia sit in the dining room. “I just made some soup. Let me get you some.”

Hot chicken soup and crackers.

Aurelia managed two spoonfuls before voices drifted in from outside. Laughter. Multiple people.

The door swung open.

It was Dominic with his mother, Eleanor.

Seeing Aurelia, and with today being such a happy day for the family, Eleanor actually didn’t give her the cold shoulder for once.

Of course, she didn’t really look at Aurelia either.

She just said to Dominic, “I’ll go get it.”

She could still feel the agony of losing her child.

Aurelia’s gaze was arctic as she stared at Dominic. “Twenty people from your family surrounding her wasn’t enough? You were just so essential?”

Dominic’s chest rose and fell heavily.

He was silent for several seconds, forcing himself to stay calm. He grabbed Aurelia’s cold hand and felt her forehead—it was burning.

She always ran a fever when she was stressed.

“Look, I know you’ve always wanted kids, but these things take time. You can’t force it, okay?”

His patronizing, dismissive tone made Aurelia’s blood boil.

“What are you saying? That you think I was lying about being pregnant?”

Dominic pulled her into his arms. “Okay, okay, you were pregnant. I was wrong, alright?”

This was his standard response.

For the past six months, every time she got angry about Lauren, this was how he handled it—half-hearted apologies and fake concern, completely dismissive.

But this time—this was definitely not something he could just brush off.

Eleanor came back downstairs with her things. She acted like she couldn’t see the tension between them.

Still coming down the stairs, she said to Aurelia. “Aurelia, Lauren can’t keep anything down after her surgery, but she’s craving your chicken soup. Get up early tomorrow to make some and bring it to the hospital.

“Oh, and make sure to use fresh chicken. She just gave birth and can’t handle anything too heavy.”

She looked at Dominic. “Let’s go.”

Lauren giving birth to twins was huge right now. They couldn’t let the new mother feel neglected.

Especially with Dominic there—with that face identical to Adrian’s—Lauren would feel more secure.

And sure enough, Dominic released Aurelia.

He gently touched her cheek. “I’ll be back late tonight. Don’t wait up, okay?”

With that, Dominic turned to leave with Eleanor.

The two had just reached the door when Aurelia, her fury finally hitting its breaking point, grabbed the dining table and flipped it over.

CRASH—CLATTER—everything on the table smashed to the floor.

The thunderous sound made the two who were about to leave freeze.

Eleanor and Dominic both turned around.

“Aurelia, what are you doing?” Eleanor jumped, then started yelling. “We just had twins born into this family today! This is supposed to be a celebration. Why are you making a scene?”

Aurelia’s face was like stone. “Lauren wants my chicken soup? Since when do I even cook?”