Filed to story: The Scarlet Vengeance: Justice of a Framed Beauty Novel (Grace & Jason)
Even though he may have truly loved Grace in the past, she is well aware that the person he loves now is her!
“Do you really believe?” His gaze was fixed tightly on her.
She raised her eyebrows slightly and asked, “What do I need to do for you to truly believe that I believe you?”
He gazed at her and with a slightly hoarse voice, he said, “So, love me a little more every day, love me to the point where you can’t leave me, love me to the point where we are inseparable every day…”
As his voice trailed off, he kissed her lips this time.
This kiss carried endless tenderness and possessive desire, causing Valda to fall into it completely.
“Okay, I will love you a little more every day…” she promised in this way.
Love him…until the end of life.
Before that, she will love this man more and more, right?
Valda gradually began to resume her work. She thought that after disappearing for a year, her studio would have been cleared out. However, she was surprised to find out that Brian had bought the entire floor for her and preserved her studio as it was.
Even people were sent regularly to clean it, so when Valda came back to the studio, she found everything exactly the same as when she left, even without any dust in the room. Everything looked as if she had never left for a year.
Valda couldn’t help but smile.
Brian did a lot for her, but he never said anything about it. She always had to slowly discover it on her own, bit by bit.
Sitting in front of her old familiar chair, Valda opened the notebook containing her sketches. Page by page, the sketches were all ideas she had once imagined.
Although she made an agreement with Camille to resume the serialization, it has been a year since she last drew anything.
Therefore, she needs to take some time to get back into the groove and strive to restore her skills as soon as possible.
Valda started tidying up the things in the studio when she heard footsteps behind her.
“Brian, why did you come over now?” She turned around and asked. They had just talked on the phone and he had said he would come to pick her up after his meeting ended.
So at this moment, Valda naturally thought that Brian had walked
1.
The only face that met her gaze as she turned around was that of Raymond Bowman!
This man whom she once had a crush on, also made her experience the darkest moments of being attacked and criticized, leaving deep scars in her heart.
She didn’t expect him to come to her studio.
“How…did you come here?” Valda asked, puzzled.
“I came to take a look and didn’t expect to find you here today,”
Raymond said with a slightly awkward expression. He didn’t mention that he had bribed the building’s security guards to notify him if Valda returned to the studio.
So, when she came to the studio today, the security downstairs also notified him by phone.
As soon as he received the call, he immediately put down his work and rushed over.
“I went to your place, but you weren’t there,” said Raymond. After the news about her had spread all over the internet, he found out that she had already returned to Emerald City.
When he went to her place to look for her, he didn’t find her there. All he saw was a tightly closed door.
He even stayed in front of her door all night, but never saw the person he was looking for.
So she should be living with Brian now, right?
She knew the answer, which was the most normal answer possible. Nowadays, she was already Brian’s fiancée, as he had admitted himself. However, in his heart, there would still be waves of sourness.
It’s like some people, even though they know they don’t belong to each other anymore, they still feel a lot of pain when they think about how they were once so close to each other, just one step away.
If at that time, he had not been deceived and had taken Valda’s feelings for him seriously, perhaps their relationship would not have ended up as it is now.
“Long time no see, how have you been?” After a while, Raymond murmured and spoke.
“As you can see now, it’s not bad,” Valda limped over to Raymond.
“You’re busy cleaning up the studio, so if you don’t have anything important to do, please leave.”
Raymond’s gaze was fixed tightly on Valda’s legs, “Your legs…”
Even though I had already heard from the news that her leg was injured, knowing it is one thing, but actually seeing it is another thing altogether.
“When I was in the water, I got injured and now I’m limping a bit,” Valda said calmly.
“Hasn’t he found a good specialist doctor to treat your injury?” Raymond asked. “If he hasn’t arranged for a doctor to treat you, then I…”
(
“Raymond!” Valda interrupted, “Brian is much more worried about my leg than you can imagine. I don’t know why you’re here today, but I think we have nothing left to talk about. So, could you please leave?”
“I think we have nothing left to talk about.”
Her indifference made Raymond’s heart ache. “Valda, I came here today just to see you, to make sure you’re still alive and doing well.”
This year, she disappeared and he has been using his connections to search for her, but so far he hasn’t found any leads.
For him, it’s already good enough that she can come back alive now.
Valda heard Raymond’s words and looked at him with a slightly less cold gaze. “So now you see that
I’m doing well. Therefore, I ask that you don’t appear in front of me again and disturb my life. Raymond,
I told you a long time ago that we should go our separate ways and have nothing to do with each other.”
She paused for a moment before continuing, “I hope you can understand and respect my decision. It’s time for us to move on and focus on our own lives.”
Raymond looked at Valda with a hint of sadness in his eyes, but he knew that she was right. He nodded silently and turned to leave, knowing that this was the end of their relationship.
Valda watched him go, feeling a mix of emotions. She knew that it was for the best, but a part of her couldn’t help but feel a sense of loss. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she had made the right choice. It was time to move forward and embrace the future.
“Do we have nothing to do with each other?” Raymond smiled bitterly. “But I have always regretted that when you liked me, I used you, smeared your reputation, and even later, when you needed protection, I was indifferent. If I hadn’t done that, maybe we wouldn’t be like this now.”
“Even if you had never done those things, even if we weren’t in the situation we are now, I think we still wouldn’t have fallen in love,” Valda paused for a moment and continued, “Because Raymond, you actually…don’t love me!”
“No, Valda, I love you. I know I love you, even now my feelings for you are still strong!” He took a step forward and grabbed her wrist, his face showing pain and excitement. “Valda, please don’t doubt my feelings for you, okay?”
Valda furrowed her brows slightly and looked at the other person, “I’m not doubting your feelings, I’m just being honest. Raymond, Raymond, you may have some feelings for me, perhaps out of guilt or regret, or maybe there was a moment of attraction at some point, but…these feelings are actually very shallow, so shallow that I don’t even think they can be called love.”
“If you love someone, you would never want to see them get hurt.
If they do get hurt, you would feel their pain more than your own,” she continued, and Brian’s face unexpectedly came to her mind. “If you truly loved me, you would have had plenty of time to come find me after we graduated from college all those years ago, but you didn’t.”
“I…I at that time…”
“So, you don’t love me, really,” she said. “You only have some feelings for me, but it’s not love. And as for me, I only had a crush on you at first, but it wasn’t love either. So, between us, there was never a beginning, and there’s no possibility of ‘what if’ scenarios like if we hadn’t met before, things would be different now.”
He stared at her blankly, listening to her say, “Even if you hadn’t used me back then, you and I would still only be strangers now, and there wouldn’t be any other outcome.”
A hint of sadness flickered in his eyes.
But are there any other outcomes? Her words were so cruel to him!
Over the years, he has been thinking about her, but now she tells him that his feelings for her don’t even qualify as love!
“So… does he love you?” he murmured.
Even though no names were mentioned, both of them knew that the “he” referred to in his words was who.
“Brian loves me very much. In this world, no one loves me more than him,” said Valda with a happy expression. “Similarly, I love him very much. After falling in love with him, I realized what it truly means to love someone.”
But now that you have a limp, do you really think that the Hart family will treat you the same as before?
The Hart family is a wealthy and influential family, can they withstand the scrutiny of others? If you stand by Brian’s side, how many people will gossip about you? In the long run, how much of your relationship will remain? Have you thought about these things?
Raymond spoke slowly and deliberately, even he himself couldn’t quite discern what his intentions were in saying these words. Was he really just trying to kindly remind Valda?
Or is it his own unwillingness?
Is Brian the one who won Valda’s love, while Raymond couldn’t bear to lose her?
But before Valda could respond, a cold voice sounded behind
Raymond, “Take your hands off, Valda is not someone you can touch!”
Raymond stiffened and turned to look behind him, while Valda also looked in the direction of the voice and exclaimed, “Brian!”
Brian walked up to Valda, raised his hand and directly pushed away Raymond’s hand holding Valda’s wrist. “Raymond, you better not appear in front of me and Valda again. If you dare to ruin our relationship, I will not let you go!”
Brian spoke harshly, but Raymond suddenly laughed. “Mr. Hart, what’s wrong? Are you afraid that I will ruin your relationship? If I can ruin it, it only proves that your relationship is not that strong, isn’t it?”
Brian’s face darkened, and a hint of anger appeared in his eyes!
“Well, you can try and see if you can ruin it, and then see what kind of ending you will have.” Brian’s face was as cold as ice, and even his voice was extremely cold.
“Brian!” Valda quickly pulled Brian’s sleeve. “It’s okay, don’t mind what he says. He can’t ruin our relationship!”
Valda then turned to Raymond and said, “Whether or not I have a limp leg, it’s not an obstacle between Brian and me. I will be with Brian. Mr. Bowman, I hope you don’t come to disturb me anymore. I’m living well now, and I don’t want to mention the past grievances anymore. Let it go with the wind. I’ve said all I need to say, please leave.”
Raymond looked at Brian, then turned to Valda. “Do you really think the future will be as you wish?” he asked.
“No one can know what the future holds, but I will work hard to make my life as I want it to be,” Valda replied.
Raymond’s hand, hanging at his side, tightened. This woman in front of him was no longer the weak person who used to just nod and endure when bullied by others.
Now, even with a limp, she radiated a certain brightness from within.
He suddenly had a feeling that this woman, who used to only look up to him in secret, would eventually become someone he would need to look up to, but could never touch.
He had really missed his chance!
Perhaps he would regret it for the rest of his life.
“Aren’t you leaving yet?” the cold voice rang out again.