LOGINValeria was just a wife on paper. Three years of a hellish marriage with the only man she had ever loved but it ended in divorce one rainy night. “Sign them. I can no longer stand to see your face or pretend like I don't want to strangle you with my bare hands everytime I lay eyes on you.” He barked coldly, throwing the papers on the table in front of her. She couldn't say it was unexpected. It had always been a matter of time. Once childhood friends, everything had gone to hell because of one woman, Isis Whittaker, Luka's late fianceé. An unfortunate accident. An incriminating message. Somehow, Luka came to believe Valeria was responsible for the death of the woman he loved and took it upon himself to punish her personally. Three years of torment and being labelled a murderer. She'd never thought the ending would be so…cathartic. Her hand lightly grazed her stomach as she signed the papers. Terrified of how she would explain she was pregnant from a night of passion he didn't even remember, she no longer needed to tell him. She would make sure he was never going to find out that she was carrying his son, the heir to the Thorne Empire. But then again, things never quite go as planned, she should have realized this by now… FB: Author Ireti
View MoreValeria’s POV“I'm so sorry for everything you had to go through,” I whispered brokenly, my voice barely recognizable even to my own ears. “This whole time I thought you'd abandoned me and Dad but… but you were actually… in hell.”My chest tightened so painfully it felt like something sharp had lodged itself between my ribs. I could barely breathe around the horror clawing its way through me. Every image from that file kept flashing through my mind over and over again. The restraints. The burns. The bruises. The reports documenting her suffering so clinically, as though she wasn't a human being but some failed experiment trapped inside a cage.I stared at the woman in front of me, at my mother, and suddenly all I could see was twenty-five years of unimaginable pain.“Why would Dad do that to you?” I asked shakily. “I thought he loved you. What kind of person does that to anyone? He ruined your life and he's been lying to me this whole time.”Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks despite
Valeria’s POVTerra looked exhausted as she sat across from me. The tears staining her face made her appear older somehow, more fragile than the terrifying ghost I had built up in my mind over the last twenty-six years. “Our picture perfect family image was much more important to him than my mental health and my feelings,” she resumed quietly. “He tried to gaslight me into staying, talking about how a broken home would severely affect you growing up but I told him you growing up and finding out he cheated would be far worse because of how much you idolized him.”I swallowed hard.The way she said idolized hit too close to home because it was true. Growing up, I had worshipped my father completely. In my eyes, Eren Daelmont could do no wrong. He was powerful, intelligent, protective and endlessly devoted to me after Terra disappeared.Everything I believed about love and safety had been built around him.Terra uttered, her voice trembling slightly.“He quickly switched to manipulation
Valeria’s POVThe words felt unreal at first. They hovered in the air between us like something poisonous, something too twisted and absurd for my brain to fully process. But no matter how badly I wanted to dismiss Terra as a liar or a lunatic, I couldn’t deny what I had seen with my own eyes.Those scars definitely weren’t fake.The memory of them flashed through my mind again and my stomach twisted violently. The burn marks. The raised flesh. The ugly, uneven patches spread across her skin like evidence of prolonged torture. No amount of makeup or theatrics could fabricate something that horrific.I hated that part of me softened at the sight.I hated that despite everything, despite twenty-six years of resentment and abandonment and grief, there was still a part of me that reacted instinctively to her pain.Forcing down the voice in my head that reminded me I couldn’t trust her, I let out a slow breath and moved away from the door, lowering myself back into the chair.“ You have 5
Valeria's POV “Don’t pretend like you suddenly care for me,” I cut in sharply, my patience snapping. “What is this really about, Terra?”The name slipped out with intention.I saw it hit her immediately. Her eyes widened ever so slightly, the faintest crack in her composure. Good. She didn’t deserve to be called anything else. She wasn’t my mother. Not anymore.“Valeria, please just—”“This is about money, isn’t it?” I interrupted again, my tone laced with biting sarcasm. “Going by your appearance, you’re in desperate need of some cash. Wherever the hell you’ve been didn’t favor you, huh? You couldn’t show your face to Dad so you came to me because you still think I’m that helpless little kid who couldn’t live without her Mom.”“No, sweetheart. You’ve got it all wrong. Please just listen to me for a second—”“Stop it!” I snapped, my voice rising. “Stop with the emotional blackmail, it won’t work on me. I’ve already lost all respect for you, don’t make me lose my humanity as well. If
Luka's POV The steering wheel felt cold under my hands even though the heater was on full blast. Try as I might, I couldn't stop seeing her face. I shook my head left and right but I could still see it. Her face twisted in anger and hurt, the way she looked at me with tears in her eyes, like I betr
Valeria's POV After Elliot had his ice cream, we all settled into a warm conversation. The conversation moved from the dining table to the living room, Elliot sprawled on the floor with his tablet while the adults drank coffee and munched on cookies."Remember that summer we tried to build a treeh
Valeria's POVHis face lit up when he saw me and I knelt down to catch him as he ran into my arms. But something was off. The smile didn't quite reach his eyes and when I pulled back to look at him properly, I noticed the way his shoulders slumped forward. He looked defeated in a way I had never se
Valeria's POV"Hello?""Valeria dear, this is Isabella Thorne."The relief that flooded through me was so intense. It was just Luka's mother."Mrs. Thorne, I wasn't expecting to hear from you." I couldn't keep the smile away from my tone.There was a pause on the other end of the line. When she spo












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