Chapter 35 No One Can Replace Her
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“All this time, you all knew she was planning something, and you didn’t tell me?!” Deborah’s furious voice echoed through the grand halls of the Valmere mansion.
A day had passed since Selene was arrested. The news had spread like wildfire, her schemes, her manipulation, her lies. It turned out she had been hiding far more than anyone imagined. She had done the same thing to nearly half of the other companies she had ties with. The marriage she planned with Aston wasn’t for love, but for power, to gain control over the Valmere wealth and inheritance. She was smart, calculated, and dangerously good at pretending. Too good… until she didn’t realize that the Valmere brothers had been watching her all along.
“Because we knew you could handle it,” Caelum said with a faint smirk, his tone calm but proud.
Deborah frowned, still seething. “Handle it? What do you mean by that?”
Caelum leaned casually against the marble counter, arms crossed, his eyes gleaming with something between admiration and relief. “You could uncover her secrets. We trusted you, your instincts. You’ve always seen what others miss Deborah. Some of your brothers stayed quiet around Selene, acted like they didn’t care, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t paying attention. They were watching. Observing. Waiting for the moment she slipped.”
Deborah blinked, her anger slowly fading into realization. “So… you all knew she was dangerous, but you waited for me to expose her?”
Knight, who had been silent by the window, finally turned to face her. “Not waited, trusted. You’re sharper than you think, Deborah. You just needed to see what we already knew.”
Deborah fell quiet, her heart pounding. For the first time, she realized, this wasn’t just her fight. It never was. Deborah’s eyes softened as she looked around the grand living room, the same place where they had once argued, doubted, and nearly broken apart. The heavy silence that used to fill the Valmere mansion was gone, replaced by a warmth she hadn’t felt in a long time. For the first time in years, she wasn’t the outcast, the one blamed for chaos, or the one fighting alone. She was home.
“You idiots,” she muttered with a shaky laugh, brushing away a tear that dared to fall. “You really let me go through all that stress without saying anything?”
Lysander, who was leaning against the fireplace, let out a low chuckle. “You would’ve gone through it anyway. You’re too stubborn to stop once you start digging.”
“Excuse me?” Deborah said, half laughing, half glaring at him.
Caelum smirked, his usual mischief returning now that the storm had passed. “He’s right, you know. You’d never listen. You’d just tell us you could handle it and apparently, you did. I cannot forget the first time you saw her, it feels like you wanna kill her in instant.”
Deborah groaned and covered her face, embarrassed. “You all drive me crazy.”
Knight, who had been standing by the window quietly watching, finally turned. His expression, once so stern and controlled, softened into something brotherly and proud. “Crazy or not… you’re still our one and only sister. You’ve always been, Deb, no one can replace you, the way you said that she is something.... off, we immediatly dig her informations.”
Her chest tightened at his words. All those moments she thought she was alone, misunderstood, fighting for their name while everyone stayed silent, it hadn’t been loneliness. It was trust. They had believed in her strength when she didn’t believe in herself.
Then Aston stepped forward. His usually stoic face held something gentler now, relief, maybe even pride. “You did more than handle it,” he said quietly. “You protected this family... again.”
That was all it took. The walls Deborah built around herself crumbled. Her lips trembled as she tried to hold back her tears, but they came anyway. Caelum was the first to move, pulling her into a tight embrace before she could protest.
“Come here, my little sister,” he murmured against her hair.
She laughed weakly, tears still running down her cheeks. “You’re crushing me—”
Knight joined in, wrapping an arm around them both, followed by Lysander, who ruffled her hair with a teasing grin. “That’s what you get for being the emotional one.”
“Emotional?!” Deborah gasped, her words muffled by their laughter.
Luther came last, sighing before joining the group hug. “Alright, fine. Come here, you dramatic woman.”
Their laughter echoed through the mansion, light, genuine, free of the bitterness that used to linger. For the first time, the Valmere home felt alive again. The tension, the secrets, the fear, all replaced by laughter, warmth, and the unspoken promise that no matter what came next, they’d face it together.
Deborah looked up at them through teary eyes, her voice soft but sure. “I guess… we’re finally okay?”
Knight smiled, squeezing her shoulder. “We’ve always been okay, Deborah. We just forgot how to show it.”
Aston nodded. “But from now on… we’ll make sure you never fight alone again.”
Deborah’s smile widened, her heart full. “Good,” she whispered, voice trembling. “Because I don’t plan on going anywhere.”
And for the first time in forever, surrounded by laughter, family, and forgiveness, the Valmere mansion no longer felt like a place of war. It felt like home.
"We love you, deborah..."