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Valeria

T he stay in the hospital was torturously dull.

My scans and tests were okay. I could finally see through both eyes, and the marks on my body had almost faded.

The beating left no permanent effect other than bruises, so I didn’t understand why the doctors kept me there.

For six days, I watched TV, ate unsalted meals, and played games on my phone because when Zyon, Alice, or Dorian weren’t with me, I was dying of boredom.

“Why can’t I go home?” I asked for at least the tenth time, but the doctor didn’t provide a clear answer.

I suspected Zyon kept me there, but I didn’t understand why.

His men caught Chester. The city was his.

After what he had done, no one would dare go against him.

They would risk their life just thinking about it.

“If everything is all right, your discharge papers will be ready tomorrow,” the doctor eventually replied, checking her phone like she sought permission to say it.

“Did Zyon finally allow it?” I remarked, casting the doctor an annoyed look. She raised a surprised brow at me, swiftly hiding her phone in the pocket of her white coat.

“Your condition finally allowed it,” she pointed out, signing a paper and hanging it at the end of my bed. “I know you’re bored, Valeria, but a concussion is a serious injury. You need a lot of rest.”

Drifting my gaze away from her sharp eyes, I grimaced.

Zyon suspected I had a second concussion, and he was raging I was never checked out by a doctor after Chester pushed me into the wall for the first time.

When Zyon mentioned it, claiming I lied to him and hid the abuse, I blurted that it was the only reason I didn’t go to the police after he kidnapped me.

His expression was priceless but didn’t wipe out the sad truth that he was correct.

I concealed my husband’s behavior from everyone.

It wasn’t okay. Women shouldn’t be doing this.

As I opened the fashion magazine Alice had brought me, the commotion in the hall caught my attention. After checking everything, the doctor and nurses left me alone. My only companions were the bodyguards, who constantly guarded me.

Exiting the bed, I peeked behind the door because the voices grew louder. The men swapped in the morning, and the two who blocked my view were frightening. If I ever met them after sundown, I’d hide in a dumpster just to avoid them.

“I want to see my daughter-in-law.” I heard Lisa’s angry voice. The man on my left side glanced at me, almost invisibly shaking his head and giving me a pointed look to stop me from intervening, but I had other plans. Lisa was like my mother for all those years. I wanted to see her, too.

“What is going on here?” I asked firmly, trying to sound like Zyon when he gave orders to his people.

However, I didn’t possess his commanding voice, strong personality, and domineering posture, which forced even the most powerful men to bow before him.

I was only his girlfriend, but thankfully, it was enough for his lapdogs to listen.

“You aren’t allowed any outside visitors, Valeria,” the man on my left said, frowning. None of the bodyguards used my last name, and the doctor and nurses avoided it, too. I suspected Zyon forbade them from mentioning the surname Kellerman ever again.

“Lisa would never hurt me,” I claimed with absolute certainty. I understood Zyon was obsessed with my safety, but this was ridiculous.

“We have our orders,” was the dry reply from the guy standing before me.

“And I’m giving you a new one,” I retorted, becoming more and more annoyed. “Let the woman inside.” I placed my hands on my hips, glaring at them. “Or do you want me to call your boss and tell him you don’t obey?”

The men exchanged brief, hesitant glances.

I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes. Zyon was a massive pain in the ass when his commands weren’t fulfilled to the last letter, but no one knew what would happen if I reported to him like a whiny, spoiled girlfriend that his boys refused to do my bidding.

Actually, I had no idea about it as well, but I was willing to risk his anger and break the security wall he built around me.

We already argued like rabid animals anyway because he told Zara the truth about my injuries.

It would be just another reason for me to take my frustration out on him because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“This woman,” the bodyguard motioned at a scowling Lisa, “is the mother of the man who put you in the hospital—”

“She is my family,” I cut him off, refusing to listen to more bullshit. It wasn’t Lisa’s fault that Chester was a violent pig. “Let her pass.”

Reluctantly, the guard blocking my view moved to the side and allowed Lisa to enter the room.

I closed the door behind her and sat on the bed, watching her distressed expression.

Her wrinkles were deeper than usual, and her usually vivid eyes had lost their spark.

She looked at least ten years older than when I saw her last. Her hand trembled when she placed her purse on the chair, and she slowly turned to me.

“I’m so sorry, Valeria,” she whispered, her voice laced with regret and sadness that was breaking my heart. Nothing was her fault. Chester’s actions weren’t her responsibility.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Lisa,” I said kindly, moving to the head of the bed to support my back with cushions. My body was sore and needed rest, even when I claimed to be okay to keep a strong facade.

“I should’ve stopped him.” Lisa hid her wretched face behind her palms, her shoulders shaking as quiet sobs escaped her. It was a remorseful look. Her son’s wrongdoings broke the woman.

“No.” I shook my head when she raised her eyes to glance at me. “I should’ve stopped him. All that happened is my fault, not yours. I allowed him to do it.”

“I should’ve helped you more,” she mumbled, tears falling. “He almost killed you.”

“Chester would have killed me if Dorian hadn’t shown up,” I confirmed without hesitation.

Chester’s insane eyes would be imprinted into my memory for a very long time.

Dorian told me he came right on time to prevent him from raping me, but I knew it wasn’t everything he wished to do to me.

He craved to punish me for his downfall.

He wanted to finish me off because my death would hurt Zyon the most. It was Chester’s end game.

He didn’t care what would happen to him if I was six feet under as long as his biggest rival suffered.

He would walk along death row smiling, believing he won.

“I don’t understand how he changed so much,” Lisa sobbed, collapsing on the chair beside the bed. “You were such a lovely family.”

“Greed is the Devil’s favorite sin,” I repeated what my late father-in-law once said.

Lisa’s brows shot up at the remark. She was there when he lectured me in their living room when we first met.

“Chester hungered for what he couldn’t have, and in the process, he lost everything that truly mattered—himself included.

Don’t take the guilt for something you couldn’t change or influence, Lisa. He fucked up.”

“It’s easier said than done, sweetheart,” she whispered, wiping her cheeks. “He is my son. His mistakes are my failures.”

I sighed, knowing it was pointless to try to reason with her.

She was torn between her love for her child and an awareness that he was a monster.

I was furious with Chester. I hated him with my entire being.

It was easy, but for her, the situation was terrible.

If she didn’t stop torturing herself, the guilt would eventually kill her.

“Please, Lisa.” I stretched my arm toward her, calling her to join me on the bed.

She reluctantly sat on the edge, watching me sadly.

“Remember, I don’t hold you responsible for any of this.

” She inhaled sharply, overcoming an urge to cry.

“You are my and Zara’s family. Whatever Chester did won’t change that. I want you to stay in our lives.”

Lisa burst into painful sobs, her slender shoulders shaking violently. I moved to her, wrapping my arms around her. There was no way to ease her pain. She had to come to peace with it. I could only show her I was there for her.

“I’m so sorry, my girl,” she cried into my shoulder, her bitter tears soaking into the fabric of my pajamas.

Her suffering was crushing my heart and made me hate Chester even more if it was possible.

He destroyed a great woman. Lisa did everything she could to raise a good man, and how he repaid her was outrageous.

“It’s okay,” I breathed, soothingly moving my hand up and down her back. “We will be okay. ”

“And him?” she asked the dreadful question I didn’t have an answer for. Zyon refused to talk about Chester, and his men’s mouths were sealed. I knew he caught him, but that was it. How he decided to punish my ex was a mystery.

“I don’t know,” I admitted quietly, looking into her wrinkled, pale face when she pulled away. “After he ran away, I haven’t heard about him.”

It was a merciful lie. Lisa didn’t need more pain. She probably suspected something, but no one ever confirmed it. Chester was gone.

“That devil you allowed into your life won’t rest until he finds him,” Lisa said, exhaling slowly. “I will never see my son again.”

What could I say to that? I was one hundred percent sure that if Chester wasn’t dead already, he was pretty close to it. Zyon would never let him walk away from what he caused.

Some part of me was petrified of admitting that the man I loved probably murdered my ex for hurting me, but the other one—the more twisted side—was ecstatic to have someone capable of literally anything to keep me and my daughter safe.

It gave me peace, knowing that Zyon would crush anyone who would mean harm to us.