VALERIAAround quarter to six, the time the banquet will officially start, the car me and Zane was in came to a halt in front of the only six-star hotel in the country, Azure Hotel.Almost immediately, a uniformed valet walked over to open the door for me, while the driver did the same for Zane. After stepping out of the car, I waited for him to come to my side and took the initiative to put my hand in the crook of his arm before heading into the hotel.As we walked, I didn't forget to say to him softy, "Hey, don't walk too fast unless you want to embarrass us both. I am still not used to these heels, you see."Unsurprisingly, I heard a chuckle coming from him but deliberately acted like I hadn't heard it. Well, he can laugh at me for all I care.Meanwhile, the moment we stepped into the lavishly decorated hall, I could feel gazes of different kinds falling upon me - curiosity, envy, jealousy, hatred...This was exactly why I hated this kind of events - the fact that some unfamiliar
VALERIAPa! The sharp sound reverebrated through the living room.Due to the sheer force of the slap, my head was tilted to the side involuntarily and my ears kept on ringing.Time seemed to slow for me at that moment and I instinctively reached to touch my stinging cheeks while trying to process what just happened.On feeling the burst of pain coming from the part I touched, I belatedly reacted."You hit me?" I asked, my voice tinged with incredulity as I directed my gaze at the culprit—my mother."Just because I helped Nessa in escaping this damned marriage? A marriage that shouldn't have even existed in the first place?!" In response to my outburst, I saw a flash of heartache in her eyes but before I could barely manage to convince myself that she hadn't meant to really hit me, the words spoke next instantly broke apart my self-deceit. "You shouldn't have helped your sister in escaping the marriage! Now what happens when the subordinates of that man arrives to bring her away, uhn?
"Yes! How did I not think of that? !" The woman I called mom was the first to stand up and clapped her hands in excitement. Her eyes that shone brightly as she stared at me only served to make me feel disgusted since they made me feel the same way as a dog would look at a piece of fleshy and delicious bone.The description could be considered very disrespectful, especially when the person in question was my biological mother but that was how I felt.I heard her continue saying, "Nessa and you hapoen to be identical twins and most importantly, when we made the agreement with that man, we never specified which daughter it would be!""Shut up!""Mom!"The moment my mom finished saying the.last sentnce, my dad and Aaron both shouted simultaneously at her and for some reason, their reactions made my heart sink.If I hadn't seen it wrong, they seemed afraid and amxious...But afraid of what?Those two weren't people who would lose their composure normally..Wait!What had her mom just said?
Even if I were to die in his hands someday, at least it was better than staying in this den of snakes and scorpions that I call family.After making a decision in my heart, I calmly wiped away the tears on my face before standing up to face the three of them and then I couldn't help but thinking. How was it that I did not realize how selfish, hypocritical, detestable and mercenary these people I called family were all this while?Let's start with mom. She appeared to love her children very much but in fact she loved the luxurious life that only my dad could offer more. Therefore, she would never allow anyone, not even us, her children to disrupt or hinder it. And as for the man in question, he seemed like a stern and loving father normally but was in fact an hypocritical bastard who wouldn't hesitate to sell his daughter for glory as long as it brought enough benefits.As for Aaron... Like the others, today has made me realize that the brother in my memories who always had a warm and
AaronIt should be said that the issue that was hanging over their heads like a sword had been resolved however I knew that none of us who were still in the living room felt completely relieved about it. Myself in particular had a heavy heart as I gazed in the direction which Valeria had disappeared to with mixed feelings in my heart. Unable to completely understand what was really going on, I turned to my dad to talk to him about it but before that, I noticed my mom's fidgety appearance first. I didn't even have to make use of my brain cells that much to figure out what was on her mind, especially when she seemed not to be able to take her eyes off the direction of the stairs - wasn't she just worried and panicked about Valeria's dismissive attitude towards her? To be honest, sometimes not even me myself could figure out the exact kind of person my mom was even with how smart I consider myself to be. But as far as I had observed, she was a person who seeks only what benefits her an
VALERIAUpstairsInside my bedroom, I was busy stuffing my clothes and other necessities into the suitcase when I heard the door open. I looked over casually and the shadow of my mom's shrinking figure reflected in my eyes and on seeing that it was her, I disinterestedly withdrew my gaze and continued with what I was doing. Only then did I ask in an emotionless voice, "What is it that you want?"Behind me, I didn't see how my mom's face instantly fell after I said that but she probably thought of why she was here in the first place and instantly forgot or rather set aside her dissatisfaction with my attitude."Valeria, I... I had no idea that that was what they were planning from the start If I had known I would have... would have...""You would have what?" I turned around and asked in a tone literally dripping with sarcasm. "You would have risked the anger of the man who held your financial lifeline in his hands and the man who would also have that power in the future and told me
VALERIANot long after Mrs Hale left, one of the helpers around the house came to knock in the door. She told me that the people sent by the man I would be marrying were here. I wasn't surprised to hear that my to-be groom himself didn't come since I didn't consider myself important enough to make him who had never shown his face do so now.Honestly, I would be lying if I were to say that I wasn't nervous or apprehensive about the fact that I would be marrying a man I knew virtually nothing about. Nothing except for what the public generally rumored him to be - Ruthless, Vicious, Heartless.There were more, but they all roughly meant the same thing - that my groom-to-be wasn't exactly what you would call a good person.But thankfully, I had a trump card in my hand and planned to use it to negotiate with him. Initially, the trump card was meant to be used to negotiate with my dad to exchange for my freedom when the time came for him to choose me a husband that would help the family's bu
ZANELooking at the woman apologizing sincerely in front of me, I felt close to nothing in my heart. My only concern at the moment was questioning if I had been too rash in making the decision to marry Valeria Hale. True, she might have saved my life a year ago but there are many ways to repay her apart from marriage, no?While I might have no feelings for her nor plan to do so in the future, I however have no intention of being cheated on as long as she still held the title of my wife. And judging from how she had lost her composure just by how I supposedly reminded of whoever she meant, that person definitely held a special place in her heart.For some reason, I couldn't help but think back to a line in the document that recorded the information on her investigated by my men....has been in the relationship only once.Therefore, a good guess was that the person she was referring to was most likely that ex-boyfriend of hers.I was deep in thought when a hesitant 'sir?' entered my ears