Chasing The Vengeful Villainous Heiress-Chapter 144: What love brings

The next morning, Mariam called. She couldn’t come over because she had a lot on her plate but she made sure to convey how worried she was after hearing the accident.

"I bet it’s that old man who’s behind it." Mariam said, yelling over the phone.

They were on video call and were seeing each other clearly but Mariam saw it necessary to put her face close to the phone as if trying to enter the screen.

"He made it clear that he wouldn’t let you two be in peace and then this happens."

"Calm down, Mariam. We don’t know that for sure." Valerie said, and Mariam shifted back with squinted eyes of suspicion.

"Wait, are you trying to defend him?" Mariam asked, drawing close to the screen.

"Of course not. Rather, I’m certain he had a hand in it but... We can’t rule out the fact that there are other parties out to get us. He did say there were people in the family who wanted me dead."

"Isn’t he the one with the highest position?" Mariam asked. "If he willed it, he would’ve been able to stop their attacks."

"Yeah, but he won’t do that." She rubbed her face. "He wants me to come back to Romaine. Only then will he shield him. So for now, whether he’s involved in the assassination or not, he’s not going to try and step in unless I yield."

"So..."

"I don’t plan to yield any time soon." She declared and a sudden silence enveloped them.

To lift the atmosphere, Valerie decided to change the topic.

"So, how’s the company?" She asked.

"Oh, that reminds me." She snapped her fingers. "There’s a board meeting tomorrow. With what happened, I don’t know if you’re okay to attend."

"Hey, it’s not like I’m injured or anything. I can definitely make it." Valerie said with a smile.

"Alright. But just so you know, the topic of discussion is mostly going to be about the shares that were sold and distributed after Ross shook." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"I understand. Just get the files ready for me. And also," she bit her lip. "... Nevermind. I’ll look over the files tomorrow."

Her sudden pause made Mariam skeptical. What was she about to say?

Anyway, she would hear about it later.

"Then from today, rest a lot." She said. "Mom would’ve dropped by but you know,"

"Yeah, she can’t risk the family knowing she’s alive." Valerie completed, nodding her head in understanding. "I know. I’ll call her, don’t worry."

"Alright, I’ll see you then."

The call ended and Valerie sighed. She dropped back on the bed and stared at her ceiling. She raised her hand, stared at it, and clenched it into a fist.

Then, she dropped it and turned to her side, curling her legs up to hug her knee.

She was still at Stewart’s mansion because they deemed it dangerous to go back to their house. Who knows if the perpetrator had succeeded in buying their helpers over or, worse, messing with all the cars?

Max thought it was best and safer to leave her in his room.

With that, he wouldn’t worry unnecessarily and focus on his work.

He had gone to work a few hours back while she was still asleep, so she was alone, but she didn’t feel like doing anything. She didn’t want to go out for a stroll and didn’t want to meet anyone either.

She just wanted to be alone.

She didn’t even have the appetite to eat that morning and her stomach felt uneasy.

’I guess the incident affected me more than I thought. I don’t even have an appetite for food.’ she thought and sat up again. ’I feel uncomfortable as well.’

She held up her phone and started playing a recording of Max confessing. Hearing his voice as he said such sweet words calmed her heart.

"Phew, I’m glad I always record his words." She muttered to herself.

Just then, a knock came on the door, and she paused the recording.

"Who is it?" She asked but there was no response.

She decided to check who it was and got up from her bed.

She reached the door and opened it, only to see Tiana wearing a maid’s outfit and covering half her face with a nose mask.

Valerie’s eyes widened.

"You... What are you doing here?" She asked and looked out, left and right before pulling her in.

Tiana smiled sheepishly.

"How did you get here? You could’ve been caught." Valerie said, closing the door quietly.

"Well, that won’t happen, hehe. Besides, I took a safe route." She said, snickering to herself. "I loved her all my life so of course I know the secret passages more than anyone."

"Secret pass..." Valerie shook her head. "Still, you could’ve been caught."

"But I wasn’t. There’s not a lot of people who can recognize me, and unless someone is looking out for my face, they wouldn’t know it was me." Tiana explained. "But I doubt there’s anyone like that."

"Still..."

Tiana stepped closer to her and said, "I was just too worried, dear. To think such a thing happened as soon as you got back. I’m starting to think it was safer when you stayed back. At least, it was his turf."

"Mother, you... " Valerie looked at her, stunned. "You believe he wasn’t the one who planned it?"

Tiana looked at her oddly.

"Do you?" She asked.

"Well, I was suspicious of it but not so much." Valerie said.

"Come on, think about it." She said, taking a seat on the couch. "We don’t know what kind of man Chris Romaine is, but he made it clear that he wanted you back in the family and he would go through any means."

"Yes?" Valerie nodded.

"So, why would he decide to get rid of you already?" Tiana asked. "That would just mean he’s given up, right? But how can he give up when he hasn’t tried anything? If you ask me, he’s not involved."

Valerie pursed her lips, thinking deeply about it.

Well, she had been so cautious about him, thinking of what he might do, and after the assassination, she had every right to believe he had a hand in it.

But hearing the logic from Tiana, she guessed he was ruled out as a suspect. Then, was it really the mysterious people from Romaine that were responsible? The ones responsible for her parents death?

She clenched her fists. Ah, how she wished she knew who they were. But then what? After discovering who they were, what would she do to them?

She sighed, releasing her fists.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Tiana asked taking her hand in hers. "You were scared, weren’t you? I can’t imagine how horrible that experience was but I’m sure you’re quite shaken, so I came here for you."

Valerie hugged her.

"It was so terrifying." She said, her eyes tearing up. "It was like my life was flashing before my eyes."

"It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s over now." Tiana said, patting her back.

"I thought I would lose everything in that single moment. I thought it would all end there but more importantly, I was scared I would lose Max. I was so scared, but..." She sniffed. "I decided to trust him and held on to hope. I... I decided to put my life in his hands even if our fate wasn’t clear. Is that normal?"

"Yes, it’s normal, dear." Tiana said. "When you love someone, your life is equal to theirs. You may even value their life more." She laughed. "I’m sure my boy felt the same way during that crisis. The one whom he wanted to save more than anything wasn’t himself but you." She brushed the tears away from Valerie’s eyelids. "He values you more than his own life because he loves you."

"There seems to be another meaning to love that I don’t know of." Valerie said and Tiana laughed more.

"Yes, love sacrifices." She said and smiled warmly. "And love heals."

A little silence followed with Tiana cleaning up Valerie’s tears. She felt so ashamed for crying like a baby but Tiana didn’t care. She was glad she was able to pour out her heart in front of her.

If she had no one to talk to, she would gladly be the wall she needed. Though, she wouldn’t be a quiet wall, Keke.

"So, why haven’t you eaten? You need your strength, you know." Tiana said and Valerie looked at her, shocked and wondering how she knew. "I stopped by the kitchen and it turned out you refused to eat. Or should I say, you had no appetite?"

"Yeah, I... I haven’t had the greatest appetite and I feel rather nauseous." She said which immediately picked Tiana’s interest. "It’s been like that for a while. I think something strange is happening to my body."

"How strange?" Tiana asked, paying keen interest as she was up to something.

"Well, my breasts seem to have gotten bigger." She said with a little flush of embarrassment on her cheeks. "And I haven’t seen my period either. I missed it last month, and this month seems to be delayed quite a lot as well. Is... Is there something wrong with me?"

Tiana stared at her, blinked twice, and then laughed.

"Well, I’ll be damned." She said.

"What? Is it serious? Is there really something wrong with me?" She asked but Tiana simply placed her hand on her shoulders and said,

"There’s one more thing love does. It doesn’t just sacrifice, heal, bring together, or, forgive. Love... Love brings to life." She said, looking intently at Valerie. "And I believe, at this point in time, your love has brought forth a new life."

"What are you talking about?" Valerie asked, a little confused with Tiana’s riddles.

"Valerie, sweetie, I believe you’re pregnant." She said, and Valerie’s eyes widened.

"What?!"