Chapter 26
Valeria pulled her hand back and was about to leave. She had taken a step forward but had failed to escape Sebastian’s reach.
Sebastian took a step forward and blocked her path. At almost six feet two inches, his height gave him a great advantage. Bracing his hands on the wall on either side of her body, he pinned her against the wall.
He leaned forward and looked at her.
The distance between them was barely a hand’s width. His gaze fixed on Valeria’s face, and not a single expression had escaped his notice.
“There’s no one named Valeria Neal in Class B of the sophomore year. So, who exactly are you?
11 he asked.
Valeria’s heart skipped a beat as she frowned.
She racked her brain to think of a response. She had randomly told him she was in Class B when he had asked her about her class when they were at Beatrice’s Ravioli.
She just never thought he’d actually look into it.
“Dr. Grant, I don’t see how my high school or class has anything to do with you. We aren’t that close, and you’re overstepping your boundaries as my doctor. I…” Her eyes flashed before she continued, “I can press charges against you.”
Sebastian smiled nonchalantly as he gave her an email handle.
He then told her the email was used for internal complaints within his department. If she wanted to submit a complaint, it’d be handled much faster if she sent it there.
Seeing that Valeria was silent, Sebastian reached out to pinch her chin. “Have you memorized
it?”
Valeria’s mind spun quickly as she lied, “My name used to be Valeria Wood. My last name was Wood, just like the one you get from trees. I transferred schools the following year and changed my last name.
“I even gave you a love letter, but you probably don’t remember it. There were a lot of girls giving you love letters back then, anyway. Are you satisfied with this answer now?”
Weaving her lies in threads of truth, Valeria’s bright eyes met his. Although she looked calm, her heart was about to jump out of her throat.
Valeria Wood was a real person who existed and had really given Sebastian a love letter.
Chapter 26
“It was during the second half of the school year, around May. You had been playing basketball at the school court when a ball hit me in the shoulders. It had been a hot day.
“You had been wearing your light blue No. 9 jersey when you asked me if I was fine. I transferred schools after our final exams in July. My hometown’s back in Juzale.
“Before I left, I had stopped you on the stairs and given you a book. I heard from classmates that you love reading mystery books, so I bought a Kieran Holt book from the bookstore by the school’s entrance. I had slipped the love letter inside.
“Just like most girls, I had a crush on you back then. I would always look at you from afar, but I doubted you had noticed me. I had been very plain and ordinary.
“You were so much different than me, shining brightly as you stood at the center of attention
“Sebastian, it doesn’t matter what my real name is. At the end of the day, I’m just an ordinary woman who used to have a crush on you. You didn’t even recognize me when we first met.”
Valeria choked back her sobs as she looked him in the eyes, not backing down for once. She
had told him a truth that was laced with a lie.
Valeria Wood was real, and she had given Sebastian that love letter.
At the end of the day, Valeria Wood and Valeria Neal were the same. They were plain, ordinary people who would blush just from looking at Sebastian from afar.
There had always been an unreachable distance between them.
They were classmates, yet they barely spoke to each other. When they met outside of school, it was like they didn’t know each other.
Valeria Wood was Taylor’s tablemate.
Back in high school, Jane would always hang out with them.
Valeria Wood had been hit by a basketball back then, and Sebastian had indeed walked over to ask if she was alright.
Back then, Jane had been standing nearby. Hence, her truths were mixed with lies. It was unable to tell them apart.
Even Valeria herself wasn’t sure whether she was telling Valeria Wood’s story or if she was just telling her own story through another name.
Chapter 26
Valeria couldn’t keep her emotions in as her eyes turned red and a tear rolled down her cheek, landing on his hand.
