Valentina pov
The ride was steeped in silence. No one spoke. Daniel and Sebastian looked awkward, constantly glancing at each other as if silently communicating, while Julian appeared almost bored, lazily crossing his legs as he yawned and scrolled through his phone.
Alexander wasn’t here with us. When I woke up this morning, he was already gone, and Martha had told me he had an important business matter to attend to. He would meet us later at the engagement ceremony.
To be honest, I didn’t know how I felt right now, but I was restless. I wasn’t sure if it had to do with what happened between Alexander and me again, or perhaps it was something else-maybe it was the place we were going to. Either way, I didn’t feel good.
My heart pounded heavily against my chest, my palms were sweaty, and I felt sick, especially with the persistent headache throbbing in my head.
“Ugh, I should have asked for some medicine before I left,” I muttered under my breath, closing my eyes and rubbing the bridge of my nose in frustration.
“D-do you feel unwell?” Daniel’s hesitant voice reached me, and I opened my eyes to find him staring at me. In fact, everyone was staring at me.
“Yes, madam. You look a bit pale. Is something wrong?” Sebastian asked with concern.
Julian, who had been casually scrolling through his phone, suddenly sat up straighter and squinted at me before nodding.
“Yes, yes. I can see it. You look sick. Don’t tell me it was Uncle who made you this way after another night with him,” he snickered, mischief glinting in his eyes.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. He should speak for himself-he was the one covered in bruises. Did he really think makeup would be enough to hide everything?
I forced a smile and nodded.
“I am fine, you don’t have to worry,” I said, sitting up straight.
I was lying. These past few days, I had barely been fine. I didn’t want to say anything that would cause concern, but I noticed it-the changes in my body. I was growing leaner with each passing day, barely eating, though that might have been because Martha hated me and had been feeding me nothing but grass.
But what truly surprised me was my hair. It had been gradually falling out.
At first, it was just small strands whenever I brushed it, but then it started coming out in clumps-in the shower, on my pillow when I woke up. It was exhausting trying to get rid of it at this point. But it was probably just stress, especially after all the shooting and nearly getting killed.
Yes, that had to be it.
“Ah, okay,” Daniel said before clearing his throat. Julian tilted his head for a brief moment before shrugging, his eyes drifting back to his phone, a smile playing at his lips.
“Emily-” Daniel began, and I shifted my gaze to him, watching as he shook his head. “No-I mean, I want to tell you something important.”
I observed him fidgeting nervously, even Sebastian, who sat beside him, pushed his glasses higher while subtly hitting Daniel on the thigh. But Daniel paid no attention to him. Instead, he took a deep breath, his blond hair falling across his face, making him look effortlessly gorgeous in his white suit.
“I have to tell you something important. I can’t keep this in anymore. I can’t even sleep at night, I can’t do anything! It’s better to just say it already. The worst that could happen is that I either go to jail or die at the hands of that bastard, but even that is better than this guilt,” Daniel suddenly blurted out, making everyone freeze and turn to him with confusion.
I raised a brow at his words, intrigued despite myself. Even Julian, who had been casually scrolling through his phone, had dropped it and leaned in closer, an excited expression on his face as he waited to hear what Daniel was about to confess.
Hmm. What did he mean?
Before I could ask, Daniel beat me to it-and to my shock, his eyes were already brimming with tears.
What the hell… Was he really crying?
“Just tell me one thing,” he pleaded, his voice shaking. “Tell me you’ll forgive me. I swear, I didn’t want to do it! That bastard held me at gunpoint-I had no choice. Do you know how terrifying Alexander is?” He patted his chest in agony. “All my life, I’ve had to live with that monster. I knew he was a psychopath from day one! You know when we were four years old, Alexander wanted a toy that I had, and when I didn’t give it to him, do you know what he did to me?”
He shut his eyes as if the memory physically pained him.
“H-he pulled down my trousers in front of the whole school! In front of the girl I had a crush on!”
I blinked, completely thrown off.
Wait… what?
Firstly, what on earth was Daniel rambling about?
And secondly… how does a four-year-old even have a crush?
“Does Alexander even think about how I feel?” Daniel cried out, his voice breaking. “I am his twin brother, for crying out loud! I’ve been with him my whole life. We share the same blood, so why can’t he just be nice to me for once? Why!”
Tears streamed down his face, his raw emotion making me freeze.
What the hell was going on?
“Well… this is embarrassing,” Julian muttered under his breath, shaking his head before stealthily raising his phone and snapping a picture of Daniel’s tear-streaked face.
Sebastian sighed and nudged Daniel. “Hmm… Dr. Daniel, you’ve gone off point.”
Daniel blinked in confusion, then sniffled and wiped his eyes before taking a deep breath. “Right… Right, where was I?”
“Where you were about to tell Madam the truth… Dr. Daniel, are you sure you want to do this? The boss will be really angry this time,” Sebastian said, his tone cautious.
Daniel, however, nodded firmly, his expression resolute.
Then, he turned to me, and I couldn’t help but swallow nervously. A strange sense of foreboding settled over me-whatever he was about to say was serious. So serious that it had brought him to tears.
Thump. Thump. My heartbeat pounded in my ears.
“I have to tell you something,” Daniel said, his voice low. “Do not trust whatever Alexander says. The truth is that you are actually not Emily and–”
“We have arrived, Sir and Ma’am,” the driver’s voice suddenly interrupted.
My eyes flickered to the driver, realizing that we had stopped and arrived at our destination- the place where the engagement ceremony would take place.
Before I knew it, the driver had gotten out of the limo and walked over to open the door for me. My hands tightened by my sides instinctively, and I drew in a shaky breath as I came face to face with the grand mansion in front of me.
My body went deadly still as an image flashed through my mind– an image of a little girl holding hands with a man whose face was blurred but it was gone as quickly as it came. Yet, I heard it-the cold words that sent a shiver down my spine.
“This is your new home now. You bear the Vance name, so you must behave as such or else, there would be consequences”.