From Ashes of Scandal to His Embrace (Laurinda) novel Chapter 27

“Fabian, that faker is finished this time. She always thought she was better than everyone else. Now she’s about to see how rough the world really is. Without the Austin family backing her, she’s nothing.” One of Fabian’s friends smirked as he spoke.

“To Fabian!” someone else cheered, raising his glass. “If it weren’t for you, I’d never have gotten this off my chest.”

“Yeah, cheers to that, Fabian,” another chimed in. “I’ve never liked Laurinda. She finally got what was coming to her.”

Laura leaned closer to Fabian, wrapping her arms around his. She looked up at him, her smile sweet and bashful, but inside she was practically dancing with joy. For so long, she’d thought Laurinda was untouchable. But all it took was one move from Fabian, and Laurinda’s whole world came crashing down.

Suddenly, Warner burst into the room, out of breath and panicked. “Fabian… Fabian, something’s happened!”

Everyone turned to look at him. One guy frowned and asked, “What’s wrong? Did Jared mess up and go too far with Laurinda? If something happened, it’s not like anyone could trace it back to Fabian. Even if Jared gets into trouble, he’d never snitch for the sake of the Brown family. And let’s be real, this wasn’t even Fabian’s idea, right?”

Warner shook his head. “No, it’s not that. It’s Wade. The cops found out he ignored a call on purpose. They’ve taken in his whole team for questioning. Plus, Wade heard Laurinda got taken in by the police too. That’s all I know.”

Fabian sat bolt upright on the couch, and Laura’s face drained of color. They both realized things were getting way out of hand.

“You’re saying Wade’s under investigation, and the city police are handling Laurinda’s case? Did anyone say which hospital she’s at?” Fabian’s voice was tight, suspicion growing with every word.

It was too much of a coincidence. The same police station that took in the Austins was the main department. That night, his dad hadn’t been able to reach Kinsey at all. Could Laurinda actually know someone as powerful as Kinsey?

“This doesn’t add up. Jay, try calling Jared. We need to know what’s really going on.”

Jay hurried to pull out his phone, not knowing that Jared was currently in surgery, his body broken in several places.

With that, Fabian grabbed Laura’s hand and hurried out, his steps unsteady and anxious.

The rest of the group exchanged uneasy looks. The reality of the situation was finally sinking in. No one said anything. They just slipped out, one by one, and headed home.

Laura barely remembered the ride back to the Austin house. Her mind was spinning, thoughts running wild. She pushed open her bedroom door, only for a hand to suddenly clamp around her throat, shoving her hard against the door.

“Where is your mother?” a voice growled in her ear.

Laura clawed at the hand around her neck, desperate to break free, but no matter how hard she fought, she couldn’t loosen Aiken’s iron grip.