Chapter 57 What she tried to hide
Deborah sat alone in her office, the soft glow of the desk lamp illuminating the scattered files she had long abandoned. The silence was loud, unforgiving, pressing against her chest until she could barely breathe.
Her fingers gripped the edge of her desk, knuckles white, trying, begging, commanding herself not to fall apart again.
But the moment she inhaled, the memory returned.
Luther standing under the cold parking lot lights.
The quiet pain behind his eyes. The flowers that fell on the floor. The gentleness in his voice that hurt more than anger ever could.
“Good luck living with the decision you made tonight.”
“You’re cold, Deborah. So cold that even winter would envy you.”
"You’d rather break both of us than admit you care.”
Her chest tightened painfully. She squeezed her eyes shut, her breath shaking, but the tears she’d been holding back spilled over anyway....hot, relentless, humiliating.
A soft sob escaped before she could stop it, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. She slid off her chair, knees hitting the floor as her shoulders trembled uncontrollably. Everything she bottled up her guilt, her fear, her longing, her shame came crashing down all at once.
She curled in on herself behind her desk, hidden from the doorway as if hiding from the world. From her brothers. From the truth.
“Why…” she whispered to the empty room, voice cracking. “Why does it hurt like this…”
But the room didn’t answer. Only her tears did.
Minutes blurred into more minutes, the sound of her quiet crying the only thing alive in the cold office.
\---
Meanwhile… the Valmere Brothers...
Downstairs, the mood was off. Caelum was pacing with tight, impatient strides. Aston kept checking his watch like time itself had wronged him. Lucio lounged on the couch but his eyes never stopped narrowing at nothing. Lysander stood by the staircase railing, silent, calculating.
Then Knight arrived, brow furrowing when he saw all of them tense.
“You guys look like someone died,” he muttered, hanging his coat.
Caelum turned immediately. “Have you seen Deborah?”
Knight blinked. “I saw her in the office a while ago. Why?”
Lysander’s jaw flexed. “She’s still at the office? She hasn’t been home since this morning.”
“That’s normal for her,” Knight said carefully. “She works late.”
“Not this late,” Aston shot back. Lucio stretched his neck with a sigh. “She’s been very buys since what happened to Amalfi. You noticed it too, right, Knight?”
Knight paused, just long enough for everyone to notice.
“I noticed she was quiet,” he admitted. “But she didn’t look upset.”
“Which is exactly why it’s worse,” Caelum snapped. “Deborah hides everything. You know how she is.”
Lysander crossed his arms. “Something happened. I can feel it.”
Knight frowned now. “What do you mean ‘something happened’?”
Aston blew out a breath. “We think it’s about..... that young cain.”
Knight froze, not dramatically, but his eyes shifted. Just a small flicker. The brothers saw it.
Caelum’s gaze sharpened. “You knew, didn’t you? Something happened or something is between them.”
Knight shook his head quickly. “No. I only know what all of you know. Amalfi was… complicated.”
Lucio sat forward. “But you’re worri—.” Knight’s silence was answer enough.
Lysander straightened from the railing. “We’re going to her office. She's not responding to my messages. I checked all the surveillance and shw hasn't left the office.”
Caelum grabbed his keys. “Get in the car.” Knight didn’t argue. The tension in the air was too thick, too wrong.
The Valmere brothers moved with urgency now, like they were running toward a disaster they couldn’t yet see, but felt coming like a storm.
\---
Back in the Office.....
Deborah wiped her face, but the tears wouldn’t stop.
She tried standing, but her legs gave out halfway and she clung to her desk, breath trembling.
She turned toward the dark window. Her reflection was barely visible, just the faint outline of a woman who wasn’t supposed to break.
Her lips trembled. “This is..... pathetic,” she whispered hoarsely.
She dragged her fingers across her cheeks, smudging tears away, but more slid down immediately.
She tried again and again, but the tears wouldn’t obey her anymore.
A knock suddenly echoed through the office door. She froze. Her heart dropped into her stomach. Then came another knock, firmer, deeper.
“Deborah.” Caelum’s voice. Controlled. But laced with something she rarely heard, fear.
Her breath caught. A second voice joined. Lysander. Calm, sharp. “Open the door.”
Aston next, irritation masking worry. “Deborah, we’re not leaving, what happened to you?”
Lucio’s voice. Soft. Low. “Don’t make us break the lock!”
Her eyes widened. She pressed a trembling hand against her mouth, trying, desperately, to silent the sob threatening to escape again.
And then.....
Knight’s voice. Quiet. Gentle. Unusually soft.
“Deb… please open the door.”
Something inside her cracked further. A fresh tear slid down her cheek. They knew. They felt it. All of them.
Deborah swallowed hard, trying to breathe through the ache in her chest. She took a shaky step toward the door… then stopped.
Her fingers hovered above the handle.
She wasn’t ready. She wasn’t composed. She wasn’t Deborah Valmere right now. But her brothers, the men who always saw through her were right outside.
Waiting. Worried.
And breaking on the other side of the door. She closed her eyes, tears falling again. She couldn’t hide it anymore. Not tonight.Not from them.
She gripped the handle and prepared to face all four Valmere brothers at once.