Chasing The Vengeful Villainous Heiress-Chapter 102: They were innocent, just like her

"What?!" Valerie exclaimed, shocked. "What did you say?"

"It’s exactly what you heard." Max said.

They were currently on their way to the company after settling her discharge.

Even if she still had a fever and her temperature was still a little bit high, she refused to stay in the hospital for another minute, hating the smell and the environment. Let’s say, it gave her horrible memories of her time in the asylum.

They weren’t the same but the similarities made her nauseous.

She would rather have her treatment at home and then she remembered she didn’t really have a home to go to. She sold the house.

"What do you mean you don’t have a home?" Max asked with a disgruntled expression. "Am I your husband in name alone? How can you say you don’t have a home?"

Valerie gulped. Yeah, she kept forgetting that she had somewhere to run to when there was nowhere else to go. She should really start relying on him more.

"That’s right." Valerie said and looked up with a smile. "You’re my family now. So your home is my home."

As soon as she said this, Max’s ears flushed a bit and he cleared his throat.

"Ahem, you shouldn’t forget such important things." He said. "I’m here for you, always."

"Yes."

On their way out of the hospital, while she watched Max’s guards carry the things he had with him the whole time while she was unconscious, she asked,

"You stayed with me throughout?"

Max glanced down at her and then back at his front.

"Who else was going to do it?" He said. "You’re my wife in sickness and in health. It’s only normal that I take care of you."

"Wow." She subconsciously exclaimed and lowered her head, trying to hide her flushed face.

She was feeling special. So special that she couldn’t hide the excitement on her face.

But Max saw it and got worried.

"What’s wrong?" He stood in front of her and placed his hand on her forehead. "You’re red. Are you feeling sick again? Do you feel hot? Have trouble breathing? I should call the doctor right away."

He was panicking but then she stifled a laugh.

"Valerie, this isn’t a laughing matter. You could faint again." He said and stood up straight. "I’m going to call the doctor."

He was just about to leave when she held his sleeve and shook her head, trying hard to suppress her laughter.

"I’m fine." She said. "I feel a little hot but I’m sure I’ll feel much better once we get home."

"Are you sure?" He asked, placing his hand on her forehead again to check her temperature. "It’s really warm."

"I’m sure." She held his hand and slowly lowered it.

Max went silent. He didn’t know if to trust her words. For all he knew, she might’ve been lying to avoid going back to the hospital. He couldn’t blame her but it was dangerous to leave her be if her condition was really getting unstable.

Max nodded and said,

"Alright." But he did not just leave it at that. He suddenly bent down and stopped her off her feet, startling her. "But I won’t let you walk on your own."

She wanted to object but seeing him care so much shut her up and she simply placed her hands on his shoulder.

"I get it."

The guards in front were making sure no suspicious people were watching or lurking around. Even if a few weeks had passed since that fiasco, there were bound to be one or two reporters lurking around, trying to get news on them.

And then there were those crazy Lucy fans. Even after seeing all that Lucy had done, they were so in love with her that they refused to believe any of it and called Valerie the devil who orchestrated it all to make Lucy suffer. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

They tried stalking her, tried to throw harmful substances at her as well but the few guards Max had prepared for her were fortunately able to block them.

It was like she was a celebrity. One could even say she was more famous than celebrities.

They got to the car and Max put her down. Slowly, she entered the car while he placed his hand above her to prevent her from bumping her head.

Once she was in, he went to the other side and got in.

"Are you comfortable?" He asked and she nodded. He turned to the driver and said, "Drive."

"Are we going home straight?" Valerie suddenly asked.

"Why? Is there somewhere else you’d like to visit?" He asked but Valerie pursed her lips. What she was about to say would probably make him mad.

"Well," she darted her eyes aside. "Can we drop by at the company first?" She asked and Max’s eyes turned cold.

He looked away and did not say anything, making her feel he was mad all of a sudden.

"I’m not going to work. I..."

"Head for Ross Corp." Max suddenly said to the driver, interrupting her. She was surprised. Wasn’t he mad? "You promised you would let it go. But I don’t expect you to just ignore it. Besides," He turned his head to look at her, smiling menacingly. "... I’ll be there with you. I’ll make sure you don’t touch a single file."

Seeing the look on his face, she gulped.

’There is no need to few guilty.’ she thought to herself. ’I’m just going there to pick up my bracelet. That’s all.’ she pursed her lips. ’But... Will I really be able to ignore what I see? The company is definitely suffering.’

She went silent, feeling worried.

’Ugh! I should’ve just sold it off when I had the chance.’

"Valerie." Max suddenly called and she raised her head. "Stop worrying." He said and she once again lowered her head.

She wanted to stop worrying but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. It was easy to act nonchalant when she honestly didn’t care but with this... It was a bit difficult.

The company was one thing but what about those many people working in it? Those people who got their daily bread from their income from the company, could she really allow them to become jobless?

They were innocent, just like her. Her inability would make them suffer, and that weighed on her shoulder.

"Max," she called and started twiddling her thumb. "I never saw myself as a sentimental person. I didn’t care for anyone else but myself and I didn’t include people in my life either but knowing my decision would make a lot of people starve..." She bit her lower lip, trying to fight the sudden emotion that was tearing her up. "I was never selfless. I was selfish and I still am but..." She raised her hand and cleaned her eyes. "I’m tired." She said and looked at him, causing his eyes to widen in shock.

"Valerie, you..." Then, his face contorted in anger. Why were there tears in her eyes?

Was this something to cry about? She wasn’t the type to easily cry. It was as if after she let all of her resentment out, her heart became free so she was able to feel more than she used to feel and that included empathy.

"I don’t know what’s wrong with me." She said, covering her face. "I feel so bad all of a sudden. I feel..."

"Valerie."

"They’re not my business. They’re not. They have nothing to do with me and I don’t even know them, so why...?" She raised her head, showing her painful expression. "Why do I feel responsible? Why does knowing that they might all lose their job once I let go of the company hurt my heart?"

A tear slipped down her cheek and Max held her hand, pulled her to himself, and wiped that single tear from her cheek but then more started rolling down.

"Hey, don’t cry." He said but she shook her head. It was not as easy as it seemed.

He gritted his teeth and said,

"I don’t like this." He said. "I don’t like that you’re crying for some bastards you don’t even know. Your tears and everything belong to me. So stop it."

"I’m trying." Valerie said and sniffed. "I don’t know why I’m crying either. I... I can’t stop it."

Watching her like this frustrated him. She wasn’t supposed to think of the company anymore but here she was, crying. It took him years before he could actually see her shed tears but yet the likes of this company made her cry within minutes.

How was that fair?

"Your company’s fine." He suddenly blurted out.

"What are you talking about?"

"You heard me right. Your company’s not falling and is actually thriving better than the way you left it so stop those tears right now." He demanded.

The shock of what he said stopped her tears immediately like they had been remotely controlled.

"Damn it, I should’ve said that sooner." He said and cleaned her face with his handkerchief. "You wouldn’t have had to waste such precious tears for some sick bastards. Tsk."

"Max," Valerie called, still shocked. "What do you mean the company is... Thriving? Who’s sitting in my position right now?"