Chapter 45 Chapter 46
Valerie POV
When he pushed the brown envelope toward me, I paused for a moment. I hadn’t even noticed when he walked into the dining room. That alone irritated me. He always moved like that quiet, controlled, like he owned every space he stepped into. I forced myself to stay calm as I reached for the envelope, trying to act like it meant nothing. Like he meant nothing. I opened it slowly, my fingers steady, but the moment my eyes landed on the contents, everything inside me stopped.
I froze.
The words blurred for a second before they became clear again, and when they did, my heart dropped. My grip tightened on the paper as I slowly lifted my gaze to him. That smug look on his face made something snap inside me.
“What the hell is this?” I yelled, slamming the paper hard against the table. My voice shook, but not from fear or anger.Luciano didn’t react, Not even a little.
Instead, he calmly picked up his glass of wine, raised it slightly toward me like he was making a toast. and drank it in one smooth gulp. That only made it worse. The way he acted like everything was under control. Like I had no say in any of this.
“Remember what I told you,” he said finally, his voice calm, and smooth
“When the time comes, I will ask for something. This is it.”I stared at him in disbelief, shaking my head slowly.
“No,” I said, my voice firm despite the storm building inside me. “You can’t ask me to stay with you. Not like this. Not when you know our contract is about to end.”
For a second, I thought he would argue. But instead, he raised his hands slightly, like he was surrendering. But I knew better. Luciano never surrendered.
“You still don’t understand anything, Valerie,” he said, his tone sharper now. “You may have conquered the business world, but look at you.” His eyes locked onto mine. “Without your father’s name, what do you really have?”His words hit harder than I expected.“And you think he will just let you go?” he continued. “You think you can walk away from all of this so easily? The moment you step out of here… Noah Boneman will be waiting for you.”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t even think properly. Because deep down… I knew he was right, That was the worst part. I hated that he was right.
My father would never let me go that easily. Noah wouldn’t either. Leaving this place didn’t mean freedom. It meant walking into another trap. Another cage.
I closed my eyes tightly, trying to block out his words, but they stayed. They echoed in my head, louder than anything else. I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. I didn’t want to argue anymore. I didn’t have the strength for it.
A part of me wanted to leave, Desperately.
The realization settled in slowly, painfully.
Never.
I was always the one in control. Always the one making decisions, leading, winning. But now I could barely even stand on my own.
“You have to trust me, Valerie.”His voice came softly, right beside me, I flinched.
I didn’t even hear him move.
I turned my head quickly and found him standing next to me, closer than I expected. My heart skipped from his presence.
“I’m doing everything to keep you safe,” he continued quietly. “With time… you will understand.”That word again, I didn’t know whether to believe him or hate him for saying it. Without replying, I stood up slowly. I couldn’t stay there any longer. I couldn’t look at him, couldn’t listen to him, couldn’t think clearly with him so close to me.
I placed the napkin gently on the table, my movements controlled, even though everything inside me was breaking apart.
Then I walked away, I didn’t look back.
I left the dining room and headed straight to my room, my steps quick at first, then slower as my thoughts caught up with me. By the time I reached the hallway, the anger had faded, leaving nothing but regret, a deep, painful regret.
If I had known it would turn out like this… maybe I would have stayed. Maybe I would have gone through with the engagement to Noah Boneman. Maybe that would have been easier than this constant fight, this confusion, this feeling of being trapped between two worlds.
But even as that thought crossed my mind, something inside me rejected it.
Because I knew the truth, that life would have been another prison, just a different one.
Everything I thought I wanted felt distant.
Everything I tried to escape… kept pulling me back, and Luciano.
I closed my eyes. Why did it feel like the more I tried to run from him the harder it became to actually leave?I slid down slowly, sitting on the floor, staring at nothing.
Just two days, That was all that was supposed to be left but Luciano ruined it for the first time, I wasn’t sure if I would make it out at all.