Chapter 18
Another young lady seemed intrigued as well. “After your parents divorced, did you cut ties with the Woodward family completely?”
Aurelia cleared her throat. “Everyone at school already knows that she even got herself detained while fighting over her family’s inheritance.”
Owen’s expression hardened. “We don’t catch up over dinner often, so let’s not ruin the mood with those digs.”
The way he sided with Valerie drew Lucius’ attention. He had a feeling that this interested in her.
guy was
Aurelia hadn’t expected Owen to call her out in front of everyone, so her jealousy toward Valerie flared even hotter. “We weren’t being snide. We were just chatting. Which part did we get wrong?
“Isn’t she the child the Woodwards abandoned in the countryside? Didn’t she get detained for stirring up trouble?”
Owen was about to argue back, but Valerie smiled at Aurelia. “Why are you going out of your way to target me? Is it because your “boyfriend” called you out just now?”
Aurelia’s cheeks flushed crimson. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Valerie continued peeling her shrimp. “Do you really not know, or are you just pretending? We both know the truth.
“You see, where I come from is behind the times, but I find it honest and down-to-earth. The folks there don’t discriminate based on where someone is from, and they don’t gossip about other people’s family affairs.
“The world is multifaceted, so you need to broaden your horizons. If you don’t, you’ll only embarrass yourself in public.”
Valerie was so caught up in her words that she pricked her fingertip on a shrimp shell. She paused for a second as a bead of blood welled up.
Lucius casually pulled out a napkin and wiped the blood from her fingertip.
The air went still. Everyone wore the same bewildered look.
Were their eyes playing tricks on them? Or had Lucius really just tended to Valerie’s cut?
“Do you want to go to the hospital?” he asked.
Valerie came to her senses and shook her head. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”
This man was obviously doing it on purpose.
Halfway through dinner, Valerie excused herself to the restroom.
When she came out, Lucius was waiting by the door, blocking her path. “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“Do we know each other?”
He teased, “We woke up in the same bed the other morning. We’re close enough, don’t you think?”
Valerie instinctively reached for the mask in her pocket.
“My bodyguards are here. No one will come near us,” he added.
Valerie lowered her hand. “So, what exactly do you want me to say?”
“Tell me about yourself.”
e guess… You found out that I go to Arcton University, and it goes against the nation you dug up about me, doesn’t it?”
Her frankness made it impossible for Lucius to keep up his act. “You’re right. Until just now, I thought you were just a troublemaker who skipped school and got into fights.”
That was exactly what Keane’s investigation had shown, and Lucius had never doubted it.
Valerie chuckled. “I used to skip class and fight every day. Even after getting into Arcton last year, I hardly ever showed class. So, your intel wasn’t entirely wrong.”
Before retur
up by
ed!”
ate room, she added, “The courthouse’s network should be back e to go again.”
cted her to bring that up. “To finalize our divorce?”
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