Kneeling for a Second 247

 

172 

“I’ll do anything you want me to do,” Sebastian added. He knew that Valeria might hate him for doing something like that, but it did not matter. He didn’t care about that. 

As long as Valeria divorced Shane, Sebastian would still have a small chance with her. Sebastian knew his behavior was despicable and shameless, but he just wanted her. 

Sebastian did not hear an answer for quite some time, and Valeria remained silent. After a while, with a trembling and anxious voice, he practically begged, “Valeria, could you please 

divorce him?” 

“We’re not married.” Valeria looked through the slit of the curtain and watched as Sebastian parked his car downstairs. 

Taking a deep breath, she clenched her fingers tightly and explained, “We’ve already gotten a divorce four years ago, and we only got together for our own benefit. 

“There isn’t any romantic relationship between us, so Mr. Grant, are you satisfied with this piece of news?” 

Then, Valeria closed the curtains. 

She stood by the window and closed her eyes. “Don’t disturb the Clarks anymore. They’re just ordinary people, and your power can crush them to death. Whether Shane is in the picture or not, there will never be a future between us.” 

With that, Valeria ended the call. 

That night, she dreamt of her days in high school. 

Gabriela had looked at Valeria proudly as she said, “So what if I’m the one who took your money? Who’s going to believe you?” 

The whole incident had also been suppressed by the Grant family’s power and influence. 

Valeria’s principal had also seen the video she submitted of Gabriela looking through her desk, taking a stuffed envelope, and sneaking out of the classroom. Everything had been caught on 

camera. 

However, the second the principal saw Wendy, he immediately smiled flatteringly. 

It turned out, the wealthy could indeed turn something wrong into something right. A simple sentence from them was enough to send a normal family about 1540 miles away from their original home. 

Cha644 245 

272 

By the time Mark arrived at Aurum, Sebastian was already slouched in the booth, looking slightly tipsy. There were several empty bottles on the table too. 

Mark waved his hand and instructed the waiter to clear all the bottles away. When he noticed that Sebastian seemed to be murmuring something, Mark inched closer. 

“She’s not married… She’s not married…” 

Mark had felt extremely guilty over the whole situation with Jane. After all these years, who would have thought that Sebastian had truly fallen for her. 

Wanting to help Sebastian up, Mark was quickly shoved to the side. Sebastian couldn’t even stand properly and quickly fell back to his seat. 

Sebastian’s voice was hoarse as he ordered another round of drinks. 

Seeing that Sebastian could not be stopped, Mark picked up a bottle and said, “Sebastian, I’ll drink with you. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have let my mouth run like that when I was drunk. If I ever see her again, I’ll apologize to her on the spot.” 

By the time Simon arrived, Mark and Sebastian had already drunk too much. All the bottles on 

the table were toppled over. 

Mark did not have a high alcohol tolerance, so he had fallen onto the floor after passing out 

due to how drunk he was. 

Frowning, Simon asked a waiter to carry Mark up to the lounge upstairs. 

Then, he brought the drunk Sebastian out of Aurum. 

The black Maybach sped down the road, and it was extremely quiet inside the car. 

Simon glanced at the GPS and was about to turn when Sebastian’s hoarse voice sounded from the back seat. “Simon, she’s Jane…” 

“Who?” Simon asked absentmindedly. It was 2:00 am, so he was also a bit dazed. 

“Valeria.” 

Simon immediately stepped on the brakes, causing the tires to screech out loud. He was dumbfounded and questioned whether Sebastian was just spewing nonsense due to how drunk 

he was. 

How could Valeria be Jane? He had seen them both before, and he’d never thought of them as 

the same person. 

 

1/3 

Valeria was beautiful, tall, and slender. Meanwhile, Jane was insecure and timid. She’d always keep her head down and fade into the background. 

Simon calmed himself down and started the car. He finally understood why Sebastian had 

drunk so heavily tonight. Truthfully, even Simon himself was shocked by the revelation, let 

alone Sebastian. 

It turned out Jane had been right in front of them all along. In fact, Sebastian had even 

pursued Valeria some time back, claiming he wanted to be her mistress. 

For a moment, Simon’s mind spun, and he had to slow his speed on the road. 

Simon couldn’t understand why Sebastian was drinking. Was it because after finding out that Valeria and Jane were the same person, he felt embarrassed for pursuing Valeria for so long? 

Did Sebastian believe that he had humiliated himself due to the ridiculous circumstances? Was that why he had decided to drink so much? Was it to calm himself down? 

However, Simon understood Sebastian. Although Sebastian seemed cold and aloof, he was a 

beast deep inside. 

When Sebastian was young, his brilliance had been shadowed by Florian, and people believed he was the exact opposite of Florian. 

When they were all kids and used to play together, Sebastian had told Florian to be king, while he’d play the prince. However, Sebastian was the true king among them. Even if Florian was the one who acted as king, he was only a king in name. 

Back then, they were all too young, so they had no grasp of such power plays. 

But one day, Sebastian and Florian had disappeared. 

When they returned, Florian was dead, and the Grant family told everyone that Florian had 

died of a heart attack. 

After all, Martha had a heart condition. Hence, everyone assumed that Florian had inherited the heart condition when he was born. 

Meanwhile, Sebastian’s personality changed completely. He became cold and quiet. 

It had been a long time since Simon had seen Sebastian in such a state. 

Simon heard Sebastian’s suppressed sobs coming from behind. “I don’t have a chance with 

Chapter 247 

2/3 

her anymore. She must hate me so much. I was absolutely terrible in that relationship…” 

Simon didn’t know anything about love and affection. However, he knew Sebastian wasn’t acting like this because he felt humiliated after finding out that Valeria and Jane were the same person. 

Instead, Sebastian was acting like his due to the guilt that was suffocating him. 

Simon was the only one in their circle who had never had any relationship problems. All of his relationships had been purely physical, and he never let it evolve to anything beyond that. 

After all, he was about to enter a marriage alliance with the heiress of Pinnacle Private Bank. 

The Grant Corporation also held some shares of the Pinnacle Private Bank as well. The resources from high society would never reach the lower classes, and marriages were the same. 

Hence, Simon turned to look at the rearview mirror in shock before looking away. 

As Sebastian’s friend, Simon was shocked to see Sebastian in such a fragile state. But out of respect, Simon did not want to continue witnessing Sebastian’s current state. 

However, Simon couldn’t help but think about how love was a scary thing. It had managed to 

reduce Sebastian to such a state. 

… 

On the day when Valeria was handling Margaret’s discharge process, Valeria returned to see a middle–aged lady standing nearby Margaret’s door. 

Valeria pursed her lips as their eyes met. 

Wendy said, “Let’s have a chat.” 

The two women walked to the end of the corridor and found an empty corner. Then, Wendy 

took out a card from her bag and looked at Valeria coldly. 

Avery had mentioned offhandedly when they first met about how the mole on Valeria’s nose looked exactly like hers and how much they looked alike. Hence, suspicion had taken root in Wendy’s heart. 

“I never thought you’d change so much after all these years,” Wendy said. Valeria had changed from a fatass to a tall and slender woman. It was no wonder Wendy hadn’t been able to recognize her at first. 

Valeria looked at her. The stranger before her had the same exact proud expression she had worn when they met many years ago. 

Chapter 247 

With a card in hand, Wendy said, “Is five million dollars enough? I want you and Margaret to leave this place and never come back. Five million dollars is enough for you two to spend the rest of your lives in comfort.” 

“Have you visited Granny? She’s about to be discharged. Although she has cancer, the doctor says that everyone’s body is different, and she’ll have around five years left.” 

“I’ve already cut all ties with that family 26 years ago. Their lives and deaths are none of my concern, and I don’t want to know,” Wendy said. 

If Valeria hadn’t used the card from Pinnacle Private Bank, Wendy wouldn’t even have found 

her here. 

Valeria asked, “I just want to ask you one question. Back when I was in my senior year in high school, you had protected Gabrielle when you knew she was the one who stole my money. 

“Back when you forced me to say that I lied, did you know I was your daughter?” 

Valerie swallowed the bitter feeling rising from her throat. 

“I was the one who named you Jane.” Wendy looked at Valeria’s face and smiled sarcastically. 

Valeria clenched her fingers tightly into fists. That meant Wendy had already recognized her 

at that time.