Chapter 60 Sixty.

Chapter 60 Sixty.
VALERIE

I gulped harshly as Lucas’ eyes remained fixed on me, unmoving, unblinking. My chest felt tight, my heart hammering against my ribs like it wanted out.

“Lucas… why did you do that?” I asked, voice tight. My hand was still on the doorknob. The door had shut at his command — at the sound of his voice. The sound of his voice.

He lowered his gaze, flicked his nose, and released a low, deep chuckle. It vibrated through the floorboards, through the air, through me.

The sound sent a chill crawling up my spine. Slowly, deliberately, he lifted his head and held my gaze, blinking softly, his expression unreadable.

He took slow, measured steps toward me. “So… what do you think you’re doing, Valerie?”

I frowned, confused, uncertainty prickling my skin. “I… I’m leaving,” I whispered.

Hesitation laced my words. I didn’t know whether to be angry, frustrated, or… scared. His behavior unnerved me.

Lucas arched an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Just like that?”

I parted my lips, searching for words, but none came. He found my silence amusing.

“Umm… yes,” I finally muttered.

His smirk deepened, and my chest sank with dread. Panic danced behind his eyes now, coupled with… hurt? I couldn’t read him. I couldn’t place his expression, yet it cut me deeper than I’d expected.

I wanted to run, but my feet felt rooted. The way he stood — strong yet vulnerable — unsettled me. I didn’t know how to respond or what to feel.

“Leaving me doesn’t get easier, you know,” he said softly, voice rough, low.

I tore my gaze away, blinking slowly, already feeling the sting behind my eyes. My throat tightened, and I whispered,

“Lucas… please, just let me go.”

My voice cracked. “This is part of the contract, Lucas.” I looked up at him for understanding, but he stood there, hands clasped behind him, rigid and still.

Lucas flinched at my words, though his expression didn’t change in a way I could read.

Then his voice came, sharp, low, urgent. “You really do not get it, do you? You’re not leaving. I don’t want you to leave! Don’t you understand that?”

I jerked at the intensity in his tone, my chest tightening. I looked up at him — the tense jaw, the slight tremor in his hands — and my heart sank. I didn’t understand him.

“For weeks, Valerie… you’ve been ignoring me. Not wanting to hear a thing from me, not wanting to see me, not wanting… us to talk. And now, you just want to leave. Just because Vanessa is back… you seriously aren’t going to do a thing about it? You’re just going to let go? What happens to us?”

I blinked rapidly, my heart twisting into a painful knot. My lips parted, but no sound came. My hands clutched at my sides.

“There’s… no us, Lucas. There will never be an us. You know that.” My voice was small, brittle. “Just… open the door. Please. I’m tired.”

Tears burned behind my lashes as my chest ached. I didn’t know what to feel — part of me wanted to run, part of me wanted to stay — but I was completely broken.

Lucas stood a few steps away, panic and hurt flashing in his eyes. I couldn’t read him, couldn’t understand why he looked that way.

The hurt in Lucas’ eyes deepened as he stared at me.

It wasn’t anger.

It wasn’t pride.

It was something far more fragile.

His lips parted as if to speak, but the words were too heavy. His throat worked, yet nothing came out, and his gaze fell to the floor.

I found it odd.

Lucas Castillo did not hesitate. He did not fumble. He did not look nervous.

So why did he look like this now?

What was wrong with him?

He lifted his head again. Tried once more.

“Valerie…”

My breath hitched.

“I love you.”

The world stilled.

The air thinned. My ears rang as his words echoed in my head. I searched his face for mockery, for calculation, for any sign of cruelty.

There was none.

His expression had softened. Stripped. Bare.

That should have been enough.

This was what I had always wanted. For him to say it. For it not to be one-sided anymore.

That should have made me happy.

Instead, something bitter rose in my chest.

I turned and grabbed the doorknob, twisting hard.

It didn’t budge.

Of course it didn’t.

I had lived here for nearly two years and never knew doors locked at the sound of his voice.

What else didn’t I know about the man I loved?

The absurdity of it nearly made me laugh.

A hand wrapped around my wrist.

I yanked free with so much force he stumbled back.

“Don’t touch me!” My voice tore out of me. “Get your hands off me, Lucas Castillo. Are you out of your goddamn mind?”

His eyes widened. Even I was stunned by the volume of my voice.

“You must think I’m stupid, don’t you?” My chest heaved. “You think I didn’t see the look in your eyes when Vanessa showed up at your company? You dragged her into your office.”

His brows knitted in confusion. He shut his eyes briefly, inhaling.

“Valerie, I—”

“No.” I cut him off sharply. “You won’t say a word. I’ve had enough of your mind games. One minute you’re cold. The next you’re warm and tender? Do you think I don’t notice?”

He stepped forward. I stepped back.

“This was an agreement from the beginning,” I said, my voice trembling despite my effort to steady it. “You made it clear. The moment Vanessa returns, I leave. I was a substitute. I knew my place.”

His face twisted in pain.

“You called that night a mistake,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “It meant everything to me. And you reduced it to an error.”

His jaw tightened. “Valerie—”

“And now you stand there and say you love me? When we both know you don’t.”

“I called it a mistake because I was scared!” he snapped, his composure finally cracking.

I looked up at him.

“I was scared of how you made me feel,” he said, voice rough. “Especially when I didn’t know where things were headed. I have been terrible to you. I know that. But what you saw yesterday — I didn’t take Vanessa to make amends. I reminded her that she has no place here anymore. I don’t want her in my life.”

His voice broke. “It’s you I want.”

My throat burned.

“I hurt you,” he continued quietly. “And I hate myself for it. But don’t stand there and tell me I don’t love you. Because I do. I have for longer than I knew how to admit.”

He cupped my face gently.

A tear slid down my cheek.

He rested his forehead against mine. “I’m sorry, Valerie. Please forgive me.”

The sob that tore from me was ugly and loud.

I didn’t know whether
I was breaking… or finally giving in.

And when he pulled me into his arms, I collapsed there.

Because he was finally telling me to stay.