Chasing The Vengeful Villainous Heiress-Chapter 151: There was sadness in her eyes

They didn’t show Valerie the box with the dead man’s head in it but told her it was better left unseen.

"I wish I could also unsee it. It’s gruesome." Mariam said. "And Stacy wouldn’t stop shaking so I asked her to take a break."

From the sound of it, it really was gruesome. But she still hadn’t responded if she wanted to know about the contents of the box and why exactly it was classified as a gruesome sight when they decided to tell her the contents of the letter.

It was soaked in blood so it was no good showing it to her either.

"I see." She said and sighed. "It’s a threat. He’s doing crazy things just to get my attention and make me go to him." She slowly lowered her head and with a frown, she muttered, "How childish."

"How far does he intend to go?" Mariam asked.

"As long as he achieves his goal." Valerie responded. "He looks like he won’t stay silent from here." She brushed her face. "What did he send in the box?" She finally asked but they both stared at her silently, having no intention of speaking.

"It’s a human head, isn’t it?" She asked, and their eyes widened.

"You saw it?" Max asked but she shook her head.

"What could come with a box from such a man other than a human head? He wouldn’t be so polite as to send me a hand or foot." She said. "I know that much."

It was almost like she knew the exact kind of man Chris was, whereas, she had only come to know him only a few days back.

"So, did you try to hide it from me thinking I would shake in fear? That’s rather adorable." She said, but Max gritted his teeth and went to sit next to her.

"It’s a sight capable of bringing back your nightmares. Of course, I’d never want you to see it." He said and held her hand, rubbing it lightly with his thumb.

Valerie stared at him and then smiled.

"Well, I have you to thank then." She said. "I can’t be stricken with haunting nightmares at a time like this."

"I’m glad you understand." Max said, and Valerie looked up.

"Well, following this, he’ll probably call me next." She said.

"How sure are you?" Max asked. She dropped her head and turned it to look at him. She looked confident so he thought maybe she heard it from a secret source or so. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

’Did he already contact her? Was she expecting something like this?’ Those were the thoughts that were running through Max and Mariam’s head.

But then, she opened her mouth and spoke.

"He’s a villain." She said. "That’s what he would probably do."

The realization struck them hard. It was no secret source or secret contact. Rather...

"Sister Valerie, you... you’re not speaking from the novels you read, are you?" She asked and Valerie smiled at her.

"It’s actually quite reliable." She said but Mariam shook her head and sighed, feeling she was overestimating fiction.

"Reality and fiction are both different. He won’t just call you out of the blue just because he sent you a threat letter." Mariam said.

But just then, as though the timing was right, Valerie’s phone rang. The call was from an unknown caller in a different country.

She picked up the phone, stared at the caller ID, and pursed her lips.

"It’s him." She said and Mariam blinked, surprised.

"Well, I’ll be damned." She folded her arms. "He really called."

"Place it on loudspeaker." Max said and Valerie nodded. She answered the call and placed it on loudspeaker.

"Did you get my present, my dear niece?"

Valerie listened to his voice and sighed. To think he’d still be acting shameless after knowing perfectly well what he did.

"Huh? Are you there?" He asked, after hearing no response from Valerie.

"Mr Romaine," Valerie finally spoke.

"Oh, oh! You’re there after all. So, did you like my little gift?"

"I believe the Chairman of Romaine Corp is a very busy man and he does not have time to be pulling outdated pranks in broad daylight." She said, her eyes gradually turning dark. "So tell me, what is the meaning behind your gift?"

"It is as I said earlier in my letter." He said and rested his back on his chair, viewing the landscape from his office seethrough walls. "I wish to exterminate all the dangers around you and will do even better if you come back to your family."

"Don’t speak bullshit on such a hot afternoon. When did Romaine become ’my’ family? If you had come to me, let’s say, about a year ago and spilled these temptations to me, who had no one by my side and was desperate, maybe I would’ve believed you. But then again, you didn’t lift a finger because you thought I’d be dead by now, isn’t it?" She dared to say and then sighed. "I don’t have time for your games. No one would want an outcast as much as you do so hurry up and spill what your motives are."

Chris went silent, smiling at himself as he listened to her all those words said in seconds.

But instead of answering the question she laid out, he decided to comment on something else, as if trying to change the topic.

"Your sharp tongue is back." He said, "You know, your father used to... "

"I’m hanging up." She said and cut the call right away.

She didn’t want to hear him talk about her father like they were close. If they were, he would definitely not have let the family go through with their plans and tried to stop them. If he loved his brother, in the slightest.

And even if he couldn’t stop their plot, he could’ve done well by alerting him of what they were scheming.

What sort of brother was he portraying himself as and what sort of uncle did he want her to believe in?

She would never... She clenched her fists... Never believe that man.

"Are you okay?" Max asked and she lifted her head.

There was sadness in her eyes.

"I can’t say I’m a hundred percent fine but... I feel great for hanging up on him." She said, managing to smile and he hugged her, kissing the top of her head.

"Come on, let’s go have lunch. You must be starving." Max said and she nodded.

"Yeah, I feel so empty inside." She said, touching her stomach. "Let’s eat. I’ll eat to my fill."

"Good girl."

Chris Romaine, staring at the distance in his office, stared at his phone. Instead of getting angry at Valerie’s impertinence, he laughed, and April, standing next to him, wondered what he found funny.

’I don’t get it.’ he thought. ’I should be mad but I’m not. No one dared to speak to me like that. Even if she’s my niece, there should be a line she can’t cross but... She’s crossed them all and I still find it amusing.’

He tapped on the arm of his chair, lost in a bit of his thoughts.

’Maybe it’s because she resembles my brother so well.’ he thought.

Valerie’s father, his brother, never got on his nerves. Rather, his actions all seemed like useless shuffles to him but he never found it irritating.

So each time he did something, he let it slide with a little,

’He’s gone through worse. He’ll be fine.’

It always happened like that, but not until he fell in love and decided to discard the name Romaine just so he could be with his lover, who was far lower than them.

’I’m sure he’ll come to his senses and return soon.’ He thought, back then. ’He’ll be fine, as always.’

But he misjudged the situation and misjudged what the family was capable of doing.

’They made a deal so they won’t lay a hand on him unless they want to tarnish their honor.’

That was how it was supposed to go on. He was supposed to be fine and return in a few years, but the family went back on their word, secretly breaking their honor and using underhanded means to get rid of him so it would not be traced back to them.

When he heard the news of his brother’s death, he was nonchalant at first, thinking,

’I’m sure it’s just a rumor. He’ll be fine, as always. He’s tougher on the inside than he is on the outside.’ he thought but that was not true.

He was indeed dead, and though he had never been a contender for the position of Chairman or any position at all, he always considered him a great rival.

’Crazy. Rival in best joke teller, you mean.’ Brian Romaine had so heartily said and laughed like the world was filled with carefree madness and Chris stared at him, wondering if he was stupid.

Brian Romaine, in all his carefree attitude, fell victim to the family’s disgusting pride and could not even see his daughter grow.

None of that mattered anymore.

He was gone, he couldn’t do anything about it, and the goddamn honor that they so much boasted all amounted to nothing when their position felt threatened.

’So,’ he thought. ’Is this me trying to atone for my sin of negligence?’