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Chapter 34

Author: Gracie
last update Last Updated: 2025-05-21 20:07:58

Two days later, Valerie was finally free from the Kennedy family. Two days had passed since she'd signed away five hundred million dollars for her freedom. Two days of blessed silence.

The papers had been signed, the money transferred, and just like that, she was officially alone in the world. No family. No ties to the past. Just Valerie Calder, The Duchess of New York, standing in her empire of glass and steel.

She should feel lighter, happier, but she felt empty inside. Not because she got rid of her family - no, never that - but because she felt so utterly alone with no true connection to anyone. She'd never truly realized how lonely she was until she'd signed those documents. After signing them, she'd needed someone to confide in, someone to convince her that she had done the right thing, someone to hold and make her feel better. Yet, here she was, alone and cranky.

Karen was in Tokyo closing a major fashion deal. She was unreachable except for brief text messages at odd hours. An
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  • The Duchess's Game of Seduction   Chapter 101

    Three weeks laterValerie arrived Hector's office that Monday morning, and she wasn't looking too good at all. She sat across from his desk, Sophia and Karen by her side, as the private investigator spread out a series of photographs and documents."I've traced Mr. Cameron's movements for the first 48 hours after he left the hospital," Hector explained. "Security cameras caught him withdrawing a huge amount of cash from three different ATMs across the city. After that, the trail goes cold.""Cold how?" Valerie asked, leaning forward to see - she was now seven weeks along and starting to show slightly."No credit card usage, no cell phone activity, no digital footprint whatsoever. Either he's extremely careful about staying off the grid, or..." Hector paused."Or what?" Karen pressed."Or he's had help disappearing. Professional help."Valerie didn't how she felt about that. She was beyond shocked. Professional help meant Rick had planned this. It meant he hadn't just wandered off in

  • The Duchess's Game of Seduction   Chapter 100

    It's been forty-eight hours since Rick had simply vanished from his hospital room, and Valerie felt like she was losing her mind.She'd barely slept, barely eaten, and couldn't concentrate on anything except the endless questions running through her head. Where was he? Why had he left? Was he hurt? Was he avoiding her? Had something happened to him?The morning of the second day, she'd given up any pretense of trying to be normal. Instead of going to work, she'd spent hours driving around the city with Steve, checking every place she could think of that Rick might go.His house was empty, with newspapers piling up in front on his door.His mechanic shop was closed, with a hand-written sign saying "Family Emergency" taped to the door.Even some of the bars Dante had mentioned Rick frequenting - nothing. The bartenders hadn't seen him."Miss Calder," Steve said gently as they sat outside Rick's shop for the third time that day, "maybe we should go home. You need to rest.""I can't rest,

  • The Duchess's Game of Seduction   Chapter 99

    The following week, Valerie returned to work, though she heeded Dr. Charles's advice and didn't push herself too hard. Mornings were still rough with the nausea, but Clara always provided her ginger tea and crackers.Every day after work, she made her way to the hospital. She would sit by Rick's window, talking to him about her day, about the baby, about their future together. The nurses had grown accustomed to her presence, and Sarah always made sure to update her on any changes in his condition."His brain activity is getting stronger," Sarah had told her just yesterday. "Dr. Hans thinks he could wake up any day now."That hope sustained Valerie through the difficult days, through the morning sickness and the worry and the loneliness of facing this pregnancy without Rick conscious to share it with her.On Thursday morning, she decided to have lunch at the restaurant just outside her office building. The pregnancy was making her crave strange things, and today it was their famous sal

  • The Duchess's Game of Seduction   Chapter 98

    The elevator doors opened on the fifteenth floor, and Valerie made her way to Sophia's office. Through the glass walls, she could see her best friend hunched over some documents, seriously studying them. Valerie knocked quietly before entering."Val!" Sophia looked up with surprise. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be resting? And you look... different. Are you feeling better?""Actually," Valerie said, closing the door behind her and moving to sit in the chair across from Sophia's desk, "that's exactly what I came to talk to you about."Sophia set down her pen, giving Valerie her full attention. "What's wrong? Are you still feeling sick? Did the doctors find something?""They found something," Valerie said slowly, a smile beginning to spread across her face. "Something wonderful.""What do you mean wonderful? Val, you're scaring me."Valerie took a deep breath. "Sophia, I'm pregnant."For a moment, Sophia just stared at her, blinking rapidly as if she hadn't heard correctly.

  • The Duchess's Game of Seduction   Chapter 97

    The next morning, Valerie jolted awake as another wave of nausea crashed over her. Her stomach was churning with the same violent intensity as the night before.She stumbled out of bed, her hand pressed to her mouth, and barely made it to the bathroom before her stomach heaved again. Kneeling on the floor, she gripped the toilet bowl as she threw up continuously. When the retching finally stopped, she remained on the floor, breathing heavily. This was the second time in less than twenty four hours. Something was definitely wrong."Miss Calder?" Clara's voice came from the bedroom. "Are you sick again?""I'm okay," Valerie called weakly, though she was far from it. She pulled herself up using the sink countertop, her legs shaky. "Just... give me a minute."As she splashed cool water on her face and rinsed her mouth, her mind raced through possibilities. Was it the medication the hospital had prescribed? Some kind of delayed reaction to the trauma? Internal injuries they'd missed?Clar

  • The Duchess's Game of Seduction   Chapter 96

    A week later, Valerie sat on the edge of her hospital bed, dressed in the fresh clothes Steve had brought her - dark jeans, a soft cashmere sweater, and comfortable flats. She looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and all she could see was a fragile woman. The kind of woman she'd been when married to Dominic. The bruises on her face had turned yellow, and while her ribs still ached with certain movements, she felt strong enough to leave.She hadn't told anyone she was being discharged today. Sophia and Karen had their own lives to attend to, their own businesses to run. They'd already sacrificed so much time caring for her, and she couldn't bear to be more of a burden than she already was.Steve appeared in the doorway, holding her discharge papers and a small bag containing her personal things."Ready, Miss Calder?" he asked, "Are you sure you don't want to call Miss Sophia or Miss Karen? They'd want to be here.""No," Valerie said firmly, standing up slowly. "They've done

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