“Are you nervous?” the twins asked in unison, then looked at each other and laughed. “A little,” Valeria admitted. “I guess I'm used to being anonymous.” “There's no such thing as ‘anonymous’ in the fashion industry, doll,” Elliot assured her. “You have an amazing studio that will soon be the most successful in town, and I hope it doesn't stop there, so get used to the camera flashes, okay?” Valeria smiled and hugged them tightly, not caring that her dress might get wrinkled. She let them go as soon as the doorbell rang and fixed her hair a little. “Don't worry, I think Alan would have a heart attack even if he saw you in your pajamas,” Richard teased. “Especially if he saw you in your pajamas!” added Elliot, and Valeria showed them her fist as a threat to make them behave. One of the service girls went to open the door and sure enough, Alan made an abandoned puppy face as soon as he saw her. “Alan, how are you?” “How are you?” said the twins as well. The doctor shook hands wi
Valeria saw him, too, as if in slow motion. The way Nick was looking at her, gasping for air and staggering. His eyes were lost and he had turned as pale as a ghost. What she hadn't expected was for him to go face first into the ground. “Call an ambulance,” she said to Alan as she went over to check on him, turning a deaf ear to Miranda's pathetic cries. “Nicky! What's wrong with him? Nicky!” “Shut up already!” Layla ordered her, coming up beside them. “He just fainted, he didn't get hit by a truck.” “It looks like a nervous breakdown. The paramedics will attend to him as soon as they arrive,” said the doctor with professionalism as he took off Nick’s tie and opened his shirt a little to make sure he was breathing. “Why don't you attend to him? Aren’t you a doctor? Or are you just a fake?” Miranda shouted at him. “I'm an off-duty doctor, and I've had several glasses of champagne,” Alan replied, annoyed. “And I'm responsible enough to know when I'm not fit to practice my professio
CHAPTER 52. An unforgiving woman That wasn't an apartment. It had suddenly become a cruel reminder of all the times he had spent there with Valeria and Alice. Alice! He remembered her little face in the hospital. Nothing justified what he had done to Alice, and he deserved every gesture of annoyance and distrust on her part. And the only reason he had returned to his apartment was because he had followed Valeria and had seen her getting off, unaccompanied, at Davies’ mansion. Otherwise, he could not have been at ease. How could he have been so stupid? Why hadn't he let her talk? Why hadn't he believed her? How could he have been so wrong? Morning broke while he was still glued to one of the apartment windows, looking out over a city where everyone went about their lives while he was all alone. How had he come to be so lonely? He showered and groomed himself as best he could and went straight out to Davies Inc., but no one in the Davies family was there, and Nick didn't dare go loo
Nick didn't know exactly how he had gotten from Valeria's office to his apartment, only that he was barely aware he was moving. He could still feel Valeria's fingers stamped against his face, but that wasn't the worst thing that had happened to him. The worst thing was knowing that he had dug his own grave and was now throwing the dirt on himself. Valeria was right about one thing: it had been his decision to believe in Miranda and not her, but he couldn't blame Miranda for trying to help him. They had known each other for many years. If the guy in the lab had given her those results, it wasn't her fault... And now he was in a worse position than between a rock and a hard place, because he had already deliberately hurt Valeria, and there was nothing he could do about that. His conscience could not afford to hurt anyone else. Valeria hated him, and Nick didn't know what to do to change that. She might never harbor good feelings for him again, and he completely deserved it. He tried
Nick couldn't even articulate a word, and he was really grateful that Jack liked his coffee cold because Valeria had left him soaking wet. “You're not going to say anything?” she asked him. “Yes, I'm following you,” he muttered, looking straight ahead and tightening his grip on the steering wheel. Valeria got angry. “And you say it like that? So coolly? Why are you following me like a ghost?” Nick opened the door and got out of the car. He looked around and then cornered her against the car. “Would you prefer that I talked to you?” Valeria pressed her lips together in a thin line. “I'd rather you didn't touch me, please,” she hissed, and Nick realized he had briefly held her by the hips. He broke away as he heard her breathing heavily and looking down at the floor. “I don't know why I'm following you, OK? I don't want to let you out of my sight, I don't want—” he swallowed dryly and covered his face with a hand. “I don't want things to happen that I know I won't be able to sto
“I asked you a question!” Nick roared, furious, as he walked towards them. “You and who else?” Anna turned as pale as a ghost. Valeria knew perfectly well what she was talking about, but she didn't expect Mr. Bennet to be listening in. “It was—It was an expression, Mr. Bennet. You misunderstood—” “I misunderstood?” Nick asked, putting himself between her and Valeria. “So the exact words that came out of your mouth were not ‘We should have gotten rid of you long ago’? Did I get it wrong?” Anna stepped back, nervous. He had listened perfectly well, so she could get a very clear idea of what was going to happen. “You and who else should have gotten rid of Valeria a long time ago? Answer me!” Nick demanded, but he only saw her press her lips together as a clear sign that she wasn't going to say a single word. “I'm warning you, Anna! I will not tolerate a behavior like this against Valeria, so you better answer me,” he threatened her. “She's not going to tell you anything, Mr. Bennet,
To say that Nick had been left thinking was an understatement. He had been haunted by Valeria's every word, for he was sure they were all true. And he had no idea how to fix anything he had done. The rest of his week boiled down to burying his head in paperwork by day and drinking at night, never letting go of the thought that Valeria would soon be making a life for herself with someone else. He had hurt her so much that he really couldn't expect anything else. He went from police station to police station, until in one of them, and after paying a substantial “gift”, someone confirmed to him that Valeria Williams had been charged with assault and sentenced on the same night. The case files were sealed, only the judge's name was on display, and Nick's stomach turned when he heard it had been Judge Vanderville. For as long as he could remember, he had known him to be a regular attendee to the Joneses' parties. But try as he might to meet with him, Vanderville refused to see him. He t
She couldn't say that everyone had heard that conversation that had been played on Valeria's cell phone, but at least two dozen people had heard it, and that was enough to spread the gossip. Miranda looked petrified and about to explode while Valeria put her cell phone away and looked at Nick. “That was a low blow.” But, incredibly, Nick smiled at her. “You can't say I didn't warn you,” Valeria replied, and suddenly she felt Nick's arm reach out in front of her, saw him turn half his body, and tuck his shoulder to take Miranda's blow. “You'd better get out of here now, troublemaker,” he said in her ear. “Things are going to get ugly, and I don't want anything to happen to you.” Her gaze swept around the room looking for the twins, but she realized they were closer than she thought. He gently pushed Valeria towards them. “Please take Valeria home... And thank you for bringing her,” he murmured, turning around to face the seven-headed monster Miranda had become. The twins looked a