One Night in Valeria - Chapter 44: Chapter 44
You are reading One Night in Valeria, Chapter 44: Chapter 44. Read more chapters of One Night in Valeria.
Jessica didn’t return to the stage after the final walk.
She slipped into the archive room behind the venue, pacing beneath hanging bolts of unused fabric, her mind torn in too many directions.
Dorian Velar.
Her father.
It felt like a name from a different lifetime. A name soaked in both love and betrayal, in everything her mother had fled from.
She pulled out her phone, called Tatienne.
The line clicked.
“You read it,” Tatienne said, not even asking.
“You knew?” Jessica asked quietly.
Tatienne’s silence stretched.
“I suspected. Klara never said it outright, but… she never let August touch you. Never let him name you. That told me everything.”
“Why didn’t she ever tell me?”
“Because she didn’t want you to carry their weight,” Tatienne whispered. “But blood doesn’t care about intentions.”
Liam found her minutes later, standing by a dusty window overlooking the empty street. He didn’t say anything, just walked beside her and waited.
“I need to find him,” Jessica finally said.
“Dorian?”
She nodded. “He’s been helping me from the shadows. But if he really loved Klara… if he really loves me then he owes me the truth. Face to face.”
“I’ll help,” Liam said softly. “But Jessica… be careful. A man who hides this long only does so because truth might destroy him.”
She gave him a tight nod, lips pressed together. “Then let it destroy him. I’ve earned the right to know.”
That evening, as Celeste helped load the last of the Unwritten Summit sets into the trucks, an intern rushed up to her.
“There’s a package,” she said breathlessly. “No return address. Said to give it only to Jessica.”
Celeste frowned, wiping her hands.
The envelope was thick. Heavy.
She opened it slowly.
Inside: a photo.
Jessica, from that very morning. On the roof. Alone.
And written across the bottom in typewriter font:
> You’ve made enough noise, little Hale.
Now it’s time to bleed quietly.
— V.
Celeste paled.
She ran for Liam.
Minutes later, Liam burst into the studio where Jessica sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by sketches. He held the photo like a warning flare.
“We have a problem.”
She looked up, her heart dropping as she saw the image.
And the message.
And the signature.
V.
“Velar?” she whispered.
“No. This isn't Thorne's style,” Liam muttered. “This is personal. Someone's watching you. Right now.”
They both looked toward the window.
The shadows stared back.
She slipped into the archive room behind the venue, pacing beneath hanging bolts of unused fabric, her mind torn in too many directions.
Dorian Velar.
Her father.
It felt like a name from a different lifetime. A name soaked in both love and betrayal, in everything her mother had fled from.
She pulled out her phone, called Tatienne.
The line clicked.
“You read it,” Tatienne said, not even asking.
“You knew?” Jessica asked quietly.
Tatienne’s silence stretched.
“I suspected. Klara never said it outright, but… she never let August touch you. Never let him name you. That told me everything.”
“Why didn’t she ever tell me?”
“Because she didn’t want you to carry their weight,” Tatienne whispered. “But blood doesn’t care about intentions.”
Liam found her minutes later, standing by a dusty window overlooking the empty street. He didn’t say anything, just walked beside her and waited.
“I need to find him,” Jessica finally said.
“Dorian?”
She nodded. “He’s been helping me from the shadows. But if he really loved Klara… if he really loves me then he owes me the truth. Face to face.”
“I’ll help,” Liam said softly. “But Jessica… be careful. A man who hides this long only does so because truth might destroy him.”
She gave him a tight nod, lips pressed together. “Then let it destroy him. I’ve earned the right to know.”
That evening, as Celeste helped load the last of the Unwritten Summit sets into the trucks, an intern rushed up to her.
“There’s a package,” she said breathlessly. “No return address. Said to give it only to Jessica.”
Celeste frowned, wiping her hands.
The envelope was thick. Heavy.
She opened it slowly.
Inside: a photo.
Jessica, from that very morning. On the roof. Alone.
And written across the bottom in typewriter font:
> You’ve made enough noise, little Hale.
Now it’s time to bleed quietly.
— V.
Celeste paled.
She ran for Liam.
Minutes later, Liam burst into the studio where Jessica sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by sketches. He held the photo like a warning flare.
“We have a problem.”
She looked up, her heart dropping as she saw the image.
And the message.
And the signature.
V.
“Velar?” she whispered.
“No. This isn't Thorne's style,” Liam muttered. “This is personal. Someone's watching you. Right now.”
They both looked toward the window.
The shadows stared back.
End of One Night in Valeria Chapter 44. Continue reading Chapter 45 or return to One Night in Valeria book page.