Lost Heiress: Mr Right Offers Me a Second Chance のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 11 - チャプター 20

NATALIE’S POV I closed my eyes and stepped closer, barely processing Lucas’s snarling words. Whatever tantrum he was throwing—I didn’t have the energy. Not after today. Not after everything. I just needed to pack and leave. “Natalie!” he barked, storming toward me as I brushed past him towards where a new suitcase laid on our former bed. I ignored him. My hands trembled as I shoved clothes into the half-zipped suitcase. Becks was outside waiting in her car for me, I didn’t have time for this chaos. He grabbed my arm without warning and spun me around. “What the hell is wrong with you?!” I snapped, ripping free. My chest heaved, rage and exhaustion colliding. “I should be asking you that!” he shouted, wild-eyed, hair a mess, shirt half-untucked like he’d been pacing in circles, unraveling. A direct contrast on how I had left him a few hours ago. “You humiliate me in front of my family and suddenly you’re packing like a thief in the night? You think you can just run off withou

Natalie’s POV I tried to stay numb as Becks drove, but my thoughts relentlessly crashed through the walls I had built up. No matter how hard I fought, I kept remembering the lie I’d told Lucas—that I was relieved about the miscarriage. My stomach turned, and I fought the tremor in my hands. The car slowed, and I snapped my attention to the outside. I hadn’t even realized we’d reached the destination until Becks cut the engine. I looked at her, expecting her to reassure me, but she was already stepping out, a wide grin plastered across her face. “What is this?” I murmured under my breath, my eyes scanning the neighborhood in disbelief. I couldn’t move. I wouldn’t. There was no way Becks had brought me here, not after everything. I remembered all the times she mentioned a “perfect” sanctuary, but this? This was no sanctuary—it was a palace. Becks’ cheerful voice snapped me out of my spiral, “You coming?” Her smile faltered when I didn’t move. I shook my head, but I couldn’t speak

NATALIE’S POV “Natalie?” His voice curled around my name like warm velvet, low, smooth and disarming. I blinked, jolted from whatever memory I’d been trapped in. “I—I’m so sorry,” I stammered, heat prickling my neck. But he only chuckled, deep and warm like it was nothing.But Valen just chuckled, deep and easy, like it was nothing.“No harm done.”I smiled and took a breath, trying to steady myself. “Sir, thank you for hiring me. You don’t know how much this job means to me. I’ve had a rough time... I guess it’s because of the day we met that you made this decision, and I just want you to know I’ll do better. I won’t let you down.”His gaze dipped—brief, respectful, but somehow it still left a trail of heat across my skin. Then his voice came, steady as ever.“I believe that.”I smiled, caught off guard by how sincere he sounded.There was something unnervingly easy about Valen. The way he stood. The way he listened. The way his eyes held you like they already knew something you

NATALIE I walked into the mini boardroom thinking maybe, just maybe, the air would be lighter than yesterday. It wasn’t. The tension still lingered, silent and sharp like a knife pressed against skin. I ignored the sideways glances and slid into my seat, my posture straight, my heart steady. I’d been burned before, this was child’s play. And I wasn’t here to make friends. I was here to conquer. Richard walked in, sleeves rolled, swaggering like he owned the damn building while Mia trailed behind him, painting on a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Her lips matched the red of a warning sign, and her heels clicked with a threat. “Great!” Richard clapped, jolting the room. “We’ve got a major project with a tight deadline. Two hours in fact. Summaries are in front of you.”Murmurs broke out as people flipped through the briefing sheets. Two hours wasn’t generous, but I’d seen worse.I was already scanning the material when Mia’s voice cut through the room like perfume with too

NATALIE“Are you ready?”Those were the last words I heard before Valen opened the car door. I took three seconds of deep breathing before the door swung open on my side. The cameras blinding, my eyes winced and my hands turned to ball fists. Anxiety filled my chest and my feet stayed rooted to the floor of the car, afraid to let go but then Valen’s hands came out of nowhere, guiding me out of the car and suddenly, confidence sprang up in my chest. Warmth filled me and when I glimpsed at those eyes of his, I smiled despite the drumming of my heart.Stepping out of the sleek Rolls, my body glittered against the moonlit night.His hands were at a respectable distance from my waist, giving the perfect illusion as I pressed my body against his for the camera spotlight.“Lets go inside,” he whispered in my ear, his hands helping me walk up the stairs. No one would believe it but after the drama at the office, Valen had made some calls and surprised me at my house with dressers, designers a