Chapter 144:

Aurora didn’t confirm or deny. “Rumors are often exaggerated.”

“Indeed. But my friend, Matriarch Kensington, has a condition. Chronic migraines. Debilitating. Western medicine has failed her. She is… traditional. She believes in the old ways. She is looking for a healer she calls The Phoenix.”

Aurora’s heart skipped a beat. Kensington. The name was heavy with power in New York. And Phoenix was the alias she used for her underground medical consultations.

“I’m not a licensed doctor,” Aurora said carefully.

“No. But you have the touch. I’ve seen your notes on herbal interactions in the library. You’re a prodigy.” Calloway leaned forward. “She pays well. Very well. And she is desperate.”

Aurora thought about her bank account. It was healthy, thanks to the shorting of Sterling’s stock, but she needed more capital for her next move against him.

“I can take a look,” Aurora said. “Consultation only.”

“Excellent.” Calloway picked up the phone. “I’ll call the estate.”

He dialed. He put it on speaker.

“Eleanor?” Calloway said. “It’s Calloway. I found someone for the Matriarch. I believe she is the one you are looking for.”

A woman’s voice answered. It was sharp, cold, dripping with disdain.

“A doctor? A specialist?”

“A student. A prodigy. Her name is Aurora Vance.”

There was a silence on the line. Then, a scoff.

“Vance?” Eleanor Kensington said. “That Vance? The one involved in the Sterling scandal? The one in the tabloids?”

Aurora flinched. The insults still had a way of finding the cracks in her armor.

“She is brilliant, Eleanor,” Calloway argued.

𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖊 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 gⲁ𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀⧴ℭ𝗈𝗺

“We do not need social climbers practicing voodoo on my aunt,” Eleanor snapped. “We have real doctors attending to Julian. We don’t need a scandal-magnet anywhere near this family. My daughter Vivian has already secured a specialist from Switzerland. Do not waste my time.”

Click.

Calloway looked at the phone, then at Aurora. He looked apologetic.

“I’m sorry, my dear. Politics. Eleanor is… protective of the family image.”

Aurora stood up. Her face was calm, but her eyes were cold.

“Their loss,” she said.

She walked out of the office.

Her phone buzzed.

Elias: I am currently at the estate in the Hamptons. I can deploy a driver to the city to collect you. The trains are unreliable.

Aurora looked at the text. She thought about Eleanor Kensington’s voice. Social climber. Scandal.

She needed a friend. She needed someone who saw her value.

But she also needed to prove she wasn’t dependent on anyone.

Aurora: The train is fine, Elias. But coffee when we get there? I’m buying.

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