Chasing The Vengeful Villainous Heiress-Chapter 122: They clearly didn’t keep their promise

Valerie was surprised. That was all it took? Wow, her mother was such a complicated person. She didn’t like her father. In fact, she despised him, so how is it that she suddenly got a change of heart after seeing him feed a cat by the street?

Honestly, it didn’t make sense. It felt like she was looking for an excuse to stop hating him and start liking him.

"I was as confused as you, dear." Tiana said and placed her hand on her face to sigh. "But that’s what your mother said and she never kept secrets from me so I accepted that as the truth."

"So, that was it?" Valerie asked.

"She saw him feeding the cat and kept an eye on him. She found him going to that same spot another day and followed him, only to see that he had created a house for the stray cat."

A maid approached and dropped two glasses of water before leaving. Valerie looked up the stairs to see Mariam waving at her.

She was the one who sent the maid and Valerie smiled back at her. She got the gesture.

"Your mother stuck around and listened to your father apologizing to the cat for not being able to find a suitable home for it. Guess that touched her heart more than anything in the world."

"Was my mother a serious cat lover? Cause I can’t make sense of this at all."

"Haha, your mother was one oddball." Tiana pointed out and looked away, staring into space. She missed her.

Valerie saw the longing in her eyes and expression. She also lowered her head. She didn’t miss them and it was probably because she never met them.

The only memories she had of them were practically figments of a newborn child and that didn’t do much. She couldn’t remember how they smiled at her but she remembered the warmth they gave.

Valerie shook her head. What was she doing?

"Then, were you able to find out who my father was?" Valerie asked. "Surely, my mother might’ve asked, right? Did she tell you anything?"

"Your father’s family, eh." She gave it a thought. "He had a really big family backing him but they were very secretive. They valued their heirs and inheritance more than anything so they strangely stayed away from the public. Your father happened to be the only one who got schooled outside the confines they made."

Tiana took the glass of water and gulped down a few before saying,

"They were perceived to be dragons when it came to business expertise, Valerie. And that was why they treasured their heirs and inheritance, hoping to expand even more under their name." She placed the glass down, swirled it a bit, and added. "Your mother was already the heiress of the little Ross group. Her family wasn’t such a big deal since it had to do with crafts and artistic stuff. They were great at what they did but it could not be compared to the dragons and so..."

"My father’s people opposed their relationship." Valerie said, like a gasp escaping her lips.

Tiana looked at her with sorry eyes and nodded.

"I’m afraid that’s what happened."

A long silence followed her words. Valerie was trying to comprehend this.

"From there, you can guess your father went against his family. They were furious but your father was as stubborn as your mother. He decided to fight against his family."

Valerie felt tension rising in her chest. Was this when it started? The opposition?

"Your father had already fallen deep in love with your mother and could not deny his feelings or even think of living without her, so he proposed a deal with his family."

"And what was the deal?"

"He said he’d make Ross the most powerful company in the next five years and made them promise not to interfere till it was over."

Tiana felt her head spinning so she decided to rest a bit before continuing. She rested her back on the chair and gave out a sigh.

She was too old to be recalling past events like this.

"And what would happen if he wasn’t able to fulfill it?" Valerie asked, peering straight at Tiana.

The look in her eyes made her look desperate.

"Your father would have to pay for making a promise he could not keep." Tiana said. "That’s all I know about that. Honestly, if your uncle hadn’t set up that accident and killed them before the five years were over, Ross would’ve found a way to surpass Stewart. That was for sure, seeing how it grew so much with his help."

She stared at Valerie who was trembling in anger.

’Is the little darling alright? Or was it too soon to tell her about this?’ she wondered but shook it off. ’No, she’s old enough to know of this. She’s just confused since she’s hearing about it for the first time.’

She got up, and rubbed her neck, ready to head up to her room when she heard Valerie gritting her teeth quite loudly.

She turned back and her eyes widened. Valerie looked like her face would explode in rage.

What was going on in her head? Was she mad at her uncle who had already been executed or what? She couldn’t get why she was looking so furious.

"Who are they?" Valerie asked.

"Valerie, honey, I understand you want to know your father’s people but what good would that do? You’ll just draw unnecessary attention to your life." Tiana said, still not getting what was going on.

"Mother," Valerie called and stood up. "Tiana," her eyes flared in anger. "Do you know how my uncle was able to plan my parent’s death without leaving a single clue? My uncle who had little connections and no one to back him up, how was he able to pull off such an elaborate plan?"

Tiana thought about it. Now that Valerie said it, it did seem weird. Then, she realized something and her eyes widened,

"Wait, you don’t mean..." Her words hung on her throat as she gazed into Valerie’s blazing red eyes. It couldn’t be, right?

"They clearly didn’t keep their promise." Valerie said, her fists trembling as she clenched her hands. "They’re the only suspicious party who are capable of doing such a thing and leaving not a single piece of evidence. It has to be them."

"Wait, Valerie," Tiana placed her hand on her head. She was confused. Even with this theory, it could still be a mistake.

They could be pointing fingers in the wrong direction for no reason.

"Valerie, dear, I don’t know why you came up with this sudden conclusion, but the Romaines gave their word. They..." She froze, realizing she had just spilled out Valerie’s father’s last name.

She looked at Valerie who had this scary expression on her face.

’Gosh, I can’t believe I’m getting shivers from this young one.’ Tiana shuddered and shrugged it off. "Valerie, they have their word, what would they gain from killing their own son?"

"Everything," Valerie answered. "If they killed him before he fulfilled his promise then they would take over the empire he had built for himself. But if they let him grow, they would lose his potential ability and can only watch him flourish outside the family’s hold." She explained. "That is what I believe."

It all made sense. It all made sense after putting two and two together. The Romaines were greedy and held on to their heirs very tightly so they could dominate the world.

They were like a giant tree in a garden. They were of course dominant, so seeing one of the branches break off and start to grow as a different tree most likely made them feel threatened. They didn’t want to have another standing on equal footing with them so they decided to get rid of the tree while it was still tender.

"Those bastards." Tiana growled, understanding the situation fully well now.

To think that they were the ones responsible the whole while. They had given too far.

"I can’t believe I didn’t think of that." Tiana clicked her tongue and looked up at Valerie. "But, how did you figure it out?"

"I found it strange." Valerie started. "My parents seemed to have been preparing for their deaths. They knew death was coming but could not avoid it. I wanted to think it was because of my uncle but there was no way they could’ve been scared of him to that extent when he was almost a nobody."

"Did it have something to do with the will?" Tiana asked. "I did feel it was a bit too perfect."

"Yes. And it was probably because they suspected that Romaine would act against them even when they were still trying to fulfill the promise." Valerie solemnly said. "And because they didn’t know when they would strike, they prepared a will."

Valerie shoved her fingers through her hair and sighed.

"Romaine. So, you were the mastermind." She muttered.

"Let’s not get hasty now." Tiana said. "If all this is indeed true and Romaine has something to do with your parent’s death, then it’s likely that they will act anytime in the future. Valerie, you have to be careful."

"I will."