Filed To Story: The Scarlet Vengeance: Justice of a Framed Beauty Novel (Grace & Jason)
This unexpected visit, he went straight to Camille’s place, so it seems that Camille let it slip.
“Why did you go to Camille’s place if you’re back?” Brian asked.
“Well…I’ll just go back to my own apartment then. It’s just more convenient for me to stay there,” Valda said.
“So, staying with me is not convenient?” he asked.
“Your bedroom is on the second floor, and as you can see, my legs aren’t very good at going up and down stairs,” she finally found a reason after a while.
“I’ll have someone tidy up the room on the first floor, so it’ll be easier for you to move around,” he said.
“There’s no need to make it so complicated. I’m not used to it,”
she continued to refuse, looking down.
He looked at her lowered head and her resistance, which he could see.
After hesitating for a moment, he finally asked, “Valda, do you…not want to see me again?”
Valda’s body stiffened, “No…no, of course not.”
“Really?” he asked. “Then why did you come back without me knowing, when Camille knew? If Camille hadn’t mentioned it today, when were you planning to show up in front of me?”
“I…” She didn’t know how to answer his question, so she just shrunk her shoulders and lowered her head even more.
Her appearance made his heart ache.
Even if she really doesn’t want to see him, it’s his own fault. He didn’t protect her well at that time, which caused her to become like this now.
When the car stopped at the entrance of his villa, Brian was about to carry her out of the car, but she held his hand and said, “I can actually walk by myself, but I’ll just be a bit slower without a cane. Brian, I…I want to walk by myself.”
He pursed his thin lips, stared at her for a moment, and finally hoarsely said, “Okay.”
Although he said those words, when she got off the car, he still insisted on holding her hand to help him walk. “I’ll have someone prepare a suitable crutch for you later,” he said.
“No need, actually I’m quite used to my original cane,” said Valda.
It’s just that her previous cane was left at Camille’s house and wasn’t brought out when she left.
“Okay, I’ll have someone go get it later,” said Brian.
Valda hobbled into the villa.
Everything in the villa still seemed strange to her, just as she remembered it. It was as if the past year had never happened. On the coffee table in the living room, there was still a comic book she had left there when she left Emerald City. And on the sofa, there was a pillow she had brought from her own apartment at that time.
But even though these things haven’t changed, she has changed.
She is no longer the same Valda as she was a year ago!
Valda walked over to the sofa in the living room and lovingly hugged her old pillow, then she touched her comic book.
“Are you hungry? I’ll have someone prepare dinner for you. We’ll also have someone clean and set up the new bedroom. Your clothes and belongings from before are still here, and I’ll have someone move them to the new room,”
he said, then instructed the servants to carry out his orders.
His tenderness now seems to have an added layer of caution.
But the more he acted this way, the heavier it weighed on her mind, and she… didn’t want him to be so careful around her. It only made her more aware that she was different from before.
At that moment, Brian’s phone rang. He saw that it was Camille calling and answered the call.
I heard Camille’s urgent voice coming from my phone, “Are you currently with Valda?”
“Right,” Brian said.
“Can you let Valda take the call? I want to talk to her,” Camille.
said.
Brian glanced at Valda, who was still looking down, and handed her the phone. “It’s Camille’s call. She probably couldn’t reach you, so she called my phone.”
Valda suddenly realized that her phone was still at Camille’s house.
Taking the phone, she heard Camille’s urgent voice on the other end. “Valda, I’m sorry I had to tell you about your return today. But if I didn’t, I was afraid someone might get hurt.”
Camille briefly explained what happened at the restaurant and added, “You and Brian haven’t seen each other for a year. You should talk and sort things out. You can talk about anything and everything.”
“Okay, I understand,” Valda said.
After the call ended, Valda handed the phone back to Brian and noticed the torn cloth wrapped around his right wrist.
It was only then that she realized that the cloth was a remnant of her clothes that they found after she was washed away by the water. Brian had kept it wrapped around his wrist for a year, treasuring it.
Today, he even got angry and lost his temper when the cloth was accidentally stained with a drink.
“What’s wrong?” Brian asked, following her gaze to the bandage wrapped around his wrist. Then he seemed to remember something and said, “Did Camille tell you about what happened in the restaurant?”
“Uh-huh,” Valda nodded. “Actually, it’s just a piece of torn cloth, there’s no need to…”
“Even if it’s just scraps of cloth, they were left by you. It took me a lot of effort to find them, and I don’t want them to be dirtied by anyone,” said Brian.
Valda raised her hand with mixed feelings and slowly untied the piece of cloth wrapped around Brian’s wrist under his gaze. “Don’t wear it again in the future. I… have already come back.”
She doesn’t want this piece of torn cloth to become something that holds him back. She hopes he can move on from the past and not lose control or go crazy because of something she did.
Brian stared fixedly at Valda and murmured, “Yes, you’ve come back.” Back to his side.
She instinctively wanted to avoid starting a conversation and to avoid his gaze. She felt that if she kept staring at him, she would fall for him again and might not be able to say what she wanted to say.
But his fingers held onto her chin, forcing her face to be directly in front of him.
“Valda, please don’t avoid me. If you hate me or blame me for not protecting you, you can hit me or curse me, but please don’t avoid me. Don’t refuse to look at me,” Brian said. Compared to his usual indifferent and cold tone, he sounded urgent and pleading.
Her eyes met his, and she pursed her lips slightly before saying, “Brian, I don’t blame you, hate you, or even think about blaming you. When I chose to let Jasmine into the basket, it was my own decision, and no one forced me to do it! And the words I said to you before I was swept away by the water were all sincere, so you don’t need to feel guilty about me.”
A hint of pain flashed in his eyes. The last words she said to him echoed in his mind countless times over the past year. But every time he thought about it, it only added to his pain.
“Valda, you said before that I would definitely meet the person I truly fall in love with! But have you ever thought that I have actually met that person a long time ago?” he said, as his hand gently caressed her cheek. “In fact, I have already met that person, but I was unaware of it and foolishly denied it all this time.”
He took a deep breath and passionately opened his lips, “Valda, I love you. I’ve actually fallen in love with you a long time ago, and I won’t love anyone else in the future!”
Valda’s body suddenly trembled, and her round eyes widened in surprise as she looked at him.
Her shocked expression made the corners of his lips lift slightly. “What, does the fact that I love you surprise you?”
He spoke and lowered his head, his forehead touching hers. His warm breath sprayed onto her face.
“Actually, I should have said this to you a long time ago. I said it too late, making you wait for this sentence, waiting for so long.”
Even just a little bit more, he would have missed the chance to say. this to her.
Fortunately, God finally showed him mercy and let her survive, returning her to his side and giving him the chance to say these words!
Valda’s body stiffened. Although this was the sentence she had always wanted to hear, at this moment, listening to it, she felt an indescribable sadness in her heart.
I never imagined that one day, when she heard these words, she would feel this way.
He never thought that when he said these words to her, one of her legs was already lame and could never be cured again.
“Brian, thank you for saying those words to me.” Even though they were just words of sympathy and pity, at least he gave her a satisfactory ending.
Valda thought to herself, “This way, even if we separate in the future, she will have fewer regrets.”
“Valda, I…” Brian wanted to say something more, but Valda took a step back and interrupted him, saying, “I’m tired, I want to rest first.”
Brian looked at her with a sad expression, but he knew he had to respect her wishes.
Valda walked away without looking back, leaving Brian standing there alone.
He sighed and turned to leave, feeling disappointed and unsure of what to do next.
As he walked away, he couldn’t help but wonder if he had lost.
Valda forever.
Brian was taken aback, feeling that her current reaction was somewhat different from what he had previously imagined.
He had thought of many possible reactions she might have, but he never imagined she would be so calm, as if what he had just said was just an ordinary thing.
Just as she was about to turn around, Brian suddenly grabbed Valda’s hand and said, “Valda, I was serious just now. I love you, really love you. Besides you, I can never love anyone else in the future.”
Valda stared at the person in front of her, then looked at the hand he was holding, feeling a sour sensation in her nose.
“I know you were serious just now, so I really appreciate you for saying these words to me. It meant a lot to me and made me feel satisfied. But Brian…” She paused, trying to make her expression look normal. “You don’t need to say anything about not being able to love anyone else in the future except for me. You will definitely meet a good woman in the future, and I will bless you, really.”
His pupils suddenly shrank, and he looked at her in shock. After a while, he hoarsely asked, “Do you think that what I said just now…wasn’t true?”
“I… want it to be real. I want to believe those words are true. So… please don’t make me say things I don’t want to say, okay?” Valda murmured.
Upon hearing this, Brian’s heart sank.
So, she didn’t actually take these as his sincere words. “Do you think that I said these things to you because of guilt or self-blame?” he asked.
Valda remained silent.
But her expression had already given him the answer.
Brian took a deep breath and placed his hand on Valda’s shoulder. He said solemnly, “Valda, listen to me carefully. I, Brian, will never fall in love with someone out of guilt or self-blame. Moreover, I promised you before that I will never lie to you again. There will be no more lies between us!”
She was stunned, he… loves her? Does he really love her?
But even though he spoke those words, Grace didn’t feel reassured in her heart.
Her leg, and the decision she made back then… “Brian, do your really think that you’re only saying these things because of guilt and self-blame?” Valda murmured, “Because I saved Jasmine, you transferred the guilt and self-blame you had towards Grace onto me, and because my leg was disabled, your guilt and self-blame became even deeper. That’s why… you pity me and are willing to say that you love me.”
Brian’s expression was pained as he listened to Valda’s words. He knew that what she said was true.
He had been carrying the guilt and self-blame for so long that it had become a part of him.
“I’m sorry, Valda,” Brian said, his voice filled with regret. “I never meant to hurt you. I just… I didn’t know how to deal with my own feelings.”