Aurora’s Verdict
READING AGE 18+
When elite London lawyer Stella Shen receives her redundancy letter on Christmas Eve, a second message arrives: a key to her late father’s secret deposit box in Iceland, sent by the mother who never approved of her career. What begins as a reluctant pilgrimage to fulfil a dead man’s wish soon unravels into a fight for survival.
Stranded in an Icelandic blizzard, Stella is rescued by the only man she ever truly defeated in court: Hunter Wei, former NHL star turned aurora hunter. But this is no chance encounter. Hunter holds secrets about her family that rewrite everything she knows—and he has been paid to ensure she never leaves the ice alive.
In the relentless polar night, two haunted souls form a desperate pact. As they trace her father’s final footsteps, they uncover a legacy far darker than academic curiosity:
A mother who sculpted her daughter into a living masterpiece, removing every obstacle—even other lives—to perfect her creation.
A father who didn’t die, but disappeared into a labyrinth of infidelity, guilt, and a love that broke two families.
Twenty-eight silent graves beneath the Vatnajökull glacier, each holding a story her mother vowed would never be told.
A DNA report that reveals Stella and Hunter are bound by more than survival—they are pieces of the same shattered family portrait.
Aurora’s Verdict is a psychological suspense novel woven with elements of literary romance and family saga. Set against the stark beauty of Iceland and the pressured elegance of London, it explores the devastating weight of inheritance—not of wealth, but of secrets, expectations, and the identities we perform for those who claim to love us.
For readers who loved the atmospheric tension of The Sanatorium, the emotional depth of Where the Crawdads Sing, and the intricate family betrayals of Succession, this story asks: How do you rebuild your life when you discover the foundation was built on lies? And what price would you pay to write your own story, instead of living someone else’s?
Unfold
Three months later | London, Gray’s Inn
The cherry tree outside Stella’s window was blooming, a shock of pink against London’s perpetual grey. On her desk, two realities coexisted: to the left, the sleek tablet with the Shen Fund dashboard—donations, grant applications, the first cohort of “Arts & Law Fellows” selected; to the right……
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