Chapter 108 The Invitation With Fangs
Chapter One Hundred and Eight
Valenticia’s POV~
I first heard the news while I was in my office. I was reading through some documents when Lena pushed the door open. She looked nervous, and her eyes were wide in a way that made me look up right away.
“Val… have you checked the news today?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “Why?”
She held out her tablet. “It’s everywhere. Everyone is talking about it. Stefan is getting married.”
The words strangely hit me. I froze. For a moment, I thought I didn’t hear her well. I blinked and looked at the screen. There it was—Stefan, smiling stiffly next to Natasha. The headline said they were finally announcing their wedding date after months of partnership.
My stomach tightened. I tried to breathe normally as
Lena watched me carefully. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said quickly. “It’s just news. I don’t care.”
But that was a lie. The moment I said the words, my chest squeezed so tight I had to look away from the screen. Seeing his face next to hers made something inside me ache. I didn’t want to think about the past. I didn’t want to remember the contract marriage we dissolved. I didn’t want to think about the way he used to look at me, or the way he tried to talk to me lately.
I shook my head and stood.
“Let’s get back to work,” I said.
Lena nodded but she didn’t look convinced.
I forced myself to focus on my documents. I forced myself not to check my phone, and I forced myself not to read another headline. But everywhere I turned, even my phone buzzed with notifications, and every message was the same:
Stefan Blake and Natasha Stone announce their wedding.
I clenched my jaw. I told myself it didn’t matter. I told myself I had moved on. I told myself I was fine.
But I felt something heavy in my chest the whole day.
By evening, I had just left the office when my phone rang. I looked at the screen and froze.
Natasha.
I almost rejected the call, but my thumb hovered over the button. But part of me wanted to know why she was calling. So I answered.
I held the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
Her voice came out sharp and sweet at the same time. “Valenticia. Finally, I thought you were hiding.”
“I’m not hiding,” I said. “Why are you calling?”
“I’m calling because I want to invite you,” she said. “You will attend the wedding.”
I frowned. “I don’t have to attend anything.”
“Oh, but you do.” Her tone changed. It became mocking, cold. “You used to be Stefan’s little charity project. His little contract wife. People will talk if you don’t show up. They’ll think you are hurt. They’ll think you are still attached. And we don’t want that, do we?”
My jaw tightened. “Natasha, don’t start.”
“Oh, I’m just getting started,” she said. I could hear her smiling through the phone. “Let’s be honest. You were never enough for him. You were a job. A contract. A temporary responsibility. But me? I’m the real one. This wedding will prove it. This wedding shows he moved on to someone on his level.”
My hand shook a little. I hated that she could still affect me.
I stayed silent.
She kept talking. “You should come. I want you in the front row. I want you to watch. It will help you accept reality. I don’t want you dreaming anymore.”
I swallowed, trying to calm the anger burning in my chest. “Natasha, I don’t dream about him.”
She laughed. “Of course you don’t. That’s what you tell yourself. But everyone knows why you refused all his invitations. You were scared. Scared of seeing him with me.”
I closed my eyes, holding back the sudden sting behind them. She kept going.
“And please, Valenticia… try not to cry when you see what a real bride looks like.”
“Enough,” I said, my voice low. “Say what you want, but don’t expect me to stand here and listen.”
“Oh, you listened,” she replied. “You always listen when it’s about him.”
I almost hung up. My thumb pressed against the screen.
But she wasn’t done. “He’s mine now. And I want everyone to see that. Including you.”
Click.
She ended the call.
I lowered my phone and stared at it. My heart was beating too fast. I felt anger. I felt hurt. I felt confused. I felt everything at once.
I walked to my couch and sat down. I put my phone on the table and covered my face with my hands. I tried to breathe, but my breath came fast and shallow. I didn’t understand why it hurt this much. I didn’t want Stefan back. I didn’t plan to. I told myself I was okay without him.
So why did her words affect me?
I stayed like that for a long moment. Then my phone buzzed again.
A new message.
You have received an invitation.
I clicked it, and the wedding details appeared. The address. The date. The exact seat is reserved for me.
I stared at the screen, my chest shaking with so many mixed feelings that I couldn’t even name them one by one.
Anger. Hurt. Confusion. Pride. Fear. Frustration.
But above everything, I felt something else.
Determination.
I wasn’t going to let Natasha see me break. I wasn’t going to let her think she won. I wasn’t going to sit at home and pretend I was weak.
I stood from the couch and walked to my bedroom. I pulled open my drawer and looked at myself in the mirror.
“She wants me there?” I whispered. “Fine. I’ll be there. But I won’t crumble.”
I picked up the invitation printed on the screen. I zoomed in, reading every detail slowly. My hand stopped shaking. My face became calm. My heartbeat steadied.
I looked at the date again.
“One day,” I whispered. “Just one day. I can handle that.”
But deep inside, something heavy still pressed against my chest. Something quiet and painful that I didn’t want to face.
I sat on the edge of my bed and held the phone in my hand. The room was silent. My breathing was loud in my ears. My thoughts were loud too.
Why did it still hurt? Why did I still care? Why did she have the power to break me with one call? Why does he still affect me?
I didn’t have the answers.
But I knew one thing.
I would not cry. Not for him. Not for her. Not for any of this.
I closed the screen and held the phone tightly. I stared at the dark glass of my window, the city lights glowing outside.
I breathed in. I breathed out.
I looked down at the invitation one last time.
I told myself I was fine.
Even if I wasn’t.
I opened my palm and let the phone rest on it. I stared at the wedding details printed on the screen. My chest felt tight again, but my face stayed calm.
And I whispered to myself:
“You won’t break. Not today.”