One Night in Valeria - Chapter 20: Chapter 20

Mara lived in a townhouse nestled deep in the old quarter, where the buildings leaned close like gossiping widows. Jessica hadn’t called. She didn’t need to. Something about the photo in her pocket pulled her here like a magnet to metal.
Mara opened the door before Jessica knocked.
Her face was tired, lips pressed into a thin line. Not surprised just ready.
“I was expecting you.”
Jessica followed her into the kitchen, where a kettle was already steaming. The smell of cinnamon and chamomile filled the room, same as always, but the air felt heavier now. Like the past was already seated at the table, waiting for them.
Without a word, Jessica placed the photo on the counter.
Mara didn’t touch it.
“I need to know who he is,” Jessica said.
Mara’s hands trembled as she poured tea.
“Alex Devane,” she said at last. “Your mother’s first love.”
Jessica’s chest tightened. “Why haven’t I ever heard that name?”
“Because he disappeared before you were born. And your mother made us promise never to speak it again.”
“Why?”
Mara set the kettle down hard enough to rattle the cups.
“Because Alex wasn’t just her first love. He was her first betrayal.”
They sat in silence for a while, the steam from the tea curling between them.
“He was a designer too,” Mara finally said. “Brilliant. Sharp. A dreamer. He and Klara met at the Conservatory when they were still students. They talked about starting a fashion house together. Building a legacy without compromise.”
Jessica listened quietly.
“And then Dorian Velar came along.”
Mara’s gaze drifted to the window. “Alex couldn’t compete with that. Not the wealth, not the power, not the promise of protection. And Dorian… he didn’t just fall for Klara. He offered her something she’d never had: a future without fear.”
Jessica’s voice was a whisper. “So she chose him.”
“She chose survival,” Mara said. “Alex didn’t take it well. He accused her of selling out. Called her names. Said she’d abandoned everything they’d planned.”
Jessica’s stomach twisted. “Did he hurt her?”
“No,” Mara said gently. “But he hurt her reputation. Spread things. Lies. Rumors. The kind that stuck.”
“And then?”
“He left Velaria. Went underground. Changed his name. But before he disappeared, he stole some of Klara’s early work. Sketches. Concepts. Claimed them as his own. She never spoke of him again.”
Jessica sat back, her pulse thudding.
Someone had recently threatened her… using those same stolen designs.
Someone who still had Alex’s ghost in their pocket.
Mara saw the change in her face. “Why are you asking about him now?”
Jessica slid the photo closer. “Because someone wants me to.”
Back in the city, Liam stood in his late father’s private study a room preserved like a museum. Polished, locked, and curated.
But he wasn’t here to remember Dorian.
He was here to understand him.
He ran his hand across the mahogany bookshelf until his fingers caught on a loose panel. It clicked open with a soft snap, revealing a hidden compartment inside.
Liam pulled out a thin black folder labeled simply:
HALE.
Inside were photos.
Letters.
And a single contract signed by Klara Hale and Velar Global.
The date? One week before she vanished from the public eye.
At the bottom: a signature he didn’t recognize.
Witnessed by: A. Devane.
Liam closed the folder slowly.
For the first time, he wondered if protecting Jessica meant more than keeping her safe.
It might mean exposing the very house he’d spent his whole life trying to hold together.