Chapter 119 Sparks That Shouldn’t Exist
Chapter One Hundred and Nineteen
Valenticia’s POV
When I opened my eyes that morning, the first thing that hit me was the heaviness in my chest. I lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, trying to pull myself together. But the memory of last night came back fast. Stefan standing at my door. The hurt in his eyes when I told him to leave. The way he looked like the world was falling apart.
I covered my face with my hands and let out a long breath.
“I need to stop thinking about him,” I whispered to myself, even though I knew it was a lie.
I pushed myself out of bed and went to wash my face. When I walked downstairs, I found Dimitri already in the kitchen. My ex-husband. The man I once thought I would grow old with before everything fell apart between us.
He was sitting at the table, staring into a cup of tea he wasn’t drinking.
He looked up the moment he heard me.
“Good morning,” he said quietly.
“Morning,” I answered and walked past him to get water.
The kitchen felt too small. The silence felt too tight. Dimitri cleared his throat.
“Thank you for letting me stay,” he said. “I know it’s… strange. With our history.”
I nodded. “You don’t need to thank me.”
His eyes softened in a way that made me feel uneasy. “You didn’t have to open your door for me. You could have turned me away. After everything.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” I said. “You lost your father. You needed a place.”
He swallowed. “Still… I appreciate it.”
I could feel his eyes on me. I didn’t know what to do with that feeling. It made something in my chest twist in a way I didn’t like.
“I have a long day ahead,” I said, stepping back. “Eat something and rest.”
He nodded, but he didn’t stop watching me as I grabbed my bag and left the house.
By the time I got to the company, my shoulders were tight. I tried to focus on my laptop, but Stefan’s face kept creeping into my mind. His confused eyes. His tired voice. The way he said my name.
“No,” I told myself. “Focus.”
But my heart refused.
The board meeting at three made everything worse. I walked into the conference room and froze.
Dimitri was already there, representing his father’s company. He looked composed now, in a sharp suit, but still carried sadness around him.
Then the door opened again.
Stefan walked in.
My breath caught. He looked like he barely slept. His hair was messy. His eyes were tired. When he saw me, something inside him softened. But when he saw Dimitri sitting beside me, that softness turned into something sharp.
He took the seat right across from us, eyes locked on Dimitri’s position.
I tried to ignore both of them and focus on the presentation. But the tension in the room was loud. I could feel Stefan’s eyes on me every few minutes. I could feel Dimitri shifting closer as if trying to shield me.
Halfway through the meeting, one of the board members handed Dimitri a stack of new documents. He stood and moved behind me to pass one to me. I reached for it, but the page was confusing.
“Here,” Dimitri whispered. He leaned down slightly, his voice close to my ear. “This part is a budget adjustment—look here.”
I nodded, following where he pointed.
But when I looked up, Stefan’s jaw was tight. His hands were clenched under the table. He was staring at Dimitri like he wanted to break the chair he was sitting on.
Then I noticed my ex-husband’s smirk from the other end of the table. He knew exactly what was happening. And he liked the way Stefan reacted.
I wanted the meeting to end so badly.
When it finally ended, I packed my things quickly. Dimitri stood immediately and walked beside me, his presence firm but silent. We stepped into the hallway, but before I could take more than a few steps, Stefan approached us fast.
“Val,” he said, his voice deeper than usual. “Can we talk?”
I shook my head. “Not now.”
“Val, please.”
“She said not now,” Dimitri cut in, stepping half a step in front of me.
Stefan’s eyes darkened. “I wasn’t talking to you.”
“Well, I am talking to you,” Dimitri shot back. “She doesn’t owe you anything.”
Before I could tell them both to stop, another voice joined.
“Valenticia.”
I turned and saw him—my ex-husband—the one whose name still made something heavy in my stomach.
He walked toward me slowly, his eyes unreadable. “Can we speak? Alone?”
Stefan stiffened at once. Dimitri stepped closer again.
I wanted to vanish.
My ex-husband stopped right in front of me. “I miss you,” he said quietly. “I miss who you were with me.”
My stomach turned. “This isn’t the time.”
He touched my arm lightly. “Just hear me—”
Before he could continue, Stefan stormed forward.
“What do you want with her?” Stefan snapped. “Why are you even talking to her?”
My ex-husband lifted his chin. “That’s none of your concern.”
“It is,” Stefan said. “If you cause her any stress—”
Dimitri stepped in between all of us. “Enough. All of you need to step back.”
“I’m not stepping back,” Stefan growled.
“You think she needs you to save her?” Dimitri asked. “She doesn’t.”
“Oh please,” my ex-husband scoffed. “You just want to crawl back into her life because your world is falling apart.”
Stefan glared at him. “At least I didn’t throw away what I had with her.”
My ex-husband took a threatening step forward. “Say that again.”
“Stop—” I tried, but no one listened.
Dimitri pointed at Stefan. “You’re the last person who should talk about stability.”
“And you’re the last person who should speak to her like you still have rights over her,” Stefan shot back.
My ex-husband moved closer too. “She was my wife. Don’t forget that.”
They kept talking over each other.
Three men.
Three different hurts.
Three different claims they thought they had over me.
I felt trapped between them. Their voices got louder. Their anger got sharper. People were staring now.
And then something inside me snapped.
“Stop!” I yelled.
They froze.
I looked at all three of them. My voice shook.
“I can’t do this. I can’t stand all of you fighting around me like I’m some prize. I am tired. I am stressed. And I do not want this.”
None of them spoke.
I felt my hands shaking.
“Stay away from me,” I said, my voice breaking. “All of you.”
I didn’t look at their faces. I didn’t want to. I turned around and walked fast out of the hallway, out of the building, out of the suffocating mess they were pulling me into.
My heart hurt. My whole body felt drained.
I just needed to breathe.