Aurelia Cruz is a well respected club owner and madame in London, but she has things she holds very sacred and sacred things that hold her.
Thomas Shelby is a Birmingham gangster making his way up in the business world, and is trying to expand busin...
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Manchester, 1918
'Pregnant'. Aurelia thought to herself in panic.
'I'm pregnant.'
She hears footsteps walk around downstairs, the familiar harsh and messy thuds of her 'beloved husband', Steven Felton.
"Aurelia! Where the fuck are ya?!" She heard his drunken yells for her presence. She once thought she could love her husband, a foolish thought she now recognizes. Growing up as a Hispanic in England was harsh especially when your skin was darker, Aurelias father needed her married, to integrate them into society and to give her a chance at a better life. Stevens parents wanted a pretty little wife to take care of their son and tame him, though he never became tame he simply aimed all his beastliness at his bride. "Get down here!" She heard him scream, he sounded closer than before, and it made her body flinch.
'I can't raise my child like this, I can't' She thinks. Steven had only got home from war for four months ago and he was already despicable before being drafted. From the moment they stood before God and proclaimed themselves married he has treated Aurelia like his personal whore and beats her to filth. She can't bring a child into that, but she couldn't rid of the child that she already loves despite how the pregnancy came to be and with whom.
"C-coming, dear." Aurelia stuttered through a slight Spanish accent while getting up, and on her way down the stairs she came to a decision in that moment that she needed a plan, an escape. Steven had started yelling at her about her wifely duties being abandoned as soon as he saw her, blaming it on her 'little job' as an accountant that she loves because it gets her away from him. His parents had set him up with a job managing their beer brewing factory in Manchester. Partially,Z so he actually had a job and partially to get rid of him so they could upkeep their perfect image in Liverpool that his anger issues and drinking often tarnish.
Two weeks later Aurelia had received heart wrenching news.
'Miss. Cruz, We regret to inform you of your fathers passing. Due to the fact that you are Julio Cruz's only descendant as well as per his own request in his will and testament it is with respect to you and your loss that we inform you that you are now the sole inheritor of your father estate and assets..."
Her father never put in his will that while she was married; everything is hers only and while it isn't much it's enough. "What's that?" The thick accent of her husband sounded as he walked into the kitchen, hungover and looking just as foul as his soul. She closed the letter and set it down hiding her tears well, a well-practiced skill of hers. "My father sent a letter. He wants me to visit him for a bit over in Liverpool, just a week." She lied. "Best get packing then. I could use a week without your shit." He said before walking over to her gripping her face in a way that makes her jaw ache. "But if you think you can fuck around over there, I'll really treat you like a fucking worthless whore when you get back. Understand?" He asked through gritted teeth and gin breath. "Y-yes, I understand." She said tears coming to her eyes but not falling. He sighs almost in disappointment and lets her face go. "Hurry up and pack you'll leave first thing in the morning. I'm going out." He said not giving Aurelia another glance before picking up his coat and leaving for the night.
As soon as the door slammed, she ran around the house and packed as much of her things as she could fit into a large trunk, being sure to hide the letter of her father's death amongst packed clothes, she checks for any other things she may take. As she went to leave; She took off her wedding ring placing it on the kitchen table with a note that simply said, 'Fuck You'. She dragged the trunk of her belongings to the train station and was on her way to a new life, where she can protect her precious child and eventually bring the same hope to women who shared in Aurelias trauma.
She used the money left by her father and from selling his estate to move to London. On the high of new life, she bought a hotel whose previous owners went bankrupt, but the place had enough potential for her to see. She turned the lobby into a club with a bar and a stage for entertainment and the rooms above the club are where she once lived. Now, her girls conduct their work and live their lives with Aurelia's protection. Aurelia had a beautiful daughter, Marianna Cruz. She is Aurelia's spitting image. Long black hair, freckles on her apples of her cheeks and bridge of her nose, but her eyes are green where Aurelia's are hazel, the only thing she got from her father. She's the light of the Angel of London's life and Aurelia will do everything to keep from others finding out about her little light.
