#Chapter 144: New Power New Enemies New Betrayal

Aurora POV I try to keep my eyes on the lecture slides, but the words blur into meaningless shapes, floating in front of me like smoke. Economics of Transitional States. Market Forces in Post-Industrial Regions. All this could be useful someday to the family’s business. And yet my pen taps restlessly against my notebook, the sound sharp, quick, betraying the nerves twisting in my stomach. Dominic is in a meeting right now. An important meeting with the old guard of his family’s syndicate, men whose loyalty still lies buried under the shadow of his father. Men who, no matter how much respect they show to Dominic’s face, still question the truth of his father’s and Matteo’s death and with that Dominic’s right to lead. I know how important today is. I also know he didn’t want me worrying, which of course means I’m worrying twice as hard. The professor drones on but my mind is nowhere near campus. I imagine Dominic sitting at a long table, his posture decepti