One Night in Valeria - Chapter 5: Chapter 5
You are reading One Night in Valeria, Chapter 5: Chapter 5. Read more chapters of One Night in Valeria.
The morning after the mixer, Jessica arrived at the Velar Global design lab with tension in her shoulders and a bruise of uncertainty in her chest.
She hadn’t slept.
Not because of Theo’s flirtation.
Not because of the buzzing attention her designs were suddenly attracting.
Because of Liam Velar.
The way he stood next to her on the balcony.
The look in his eyes.
The way his voice seemed to touch places inside her she didn’t know were waiting.
She hated how her body reacted to him.
Like it knew something her mind couldn’t remember.
In the Private Observation Room
Liam watched her from the upper floor, arms crossed behind his back.
She was wearing a long cream blouse and high-waisted pants today elegant, focused, unreadable.
She hadn’t smiled once.
Good.
He didn’t want her distracted.
He didn’t want her comfortable.
He wanted her safe.
But that safety was harder to guarantee when Smith Delacourt refused to back off.
Lunch Meeting
Smith slid into the seat across from Jessica at the staff café. “So... the CEO himself, hmm?”
Jessica blinked. “What?”
“You and Liam Velar. I saw you talking. Real close.” He smirked. “Didn't know cold steel could melt.”
She shook her head. “It was just business.”
“Sure.” His gaze softened for a moment. “But be careful, Jessica. That man doesn’t get close to anything he doesn’t plan to control.”
She stared at him. “Are you warning me or testing me?”
He raised his hands playfully. “Both?”
That Night…
Jessica stood in her tiny apartment, unpacking an old box of fabric scraps from her mother’s sewing table.
At the very bottom was something she hadn’t seen in years a velvet-lined envelope, brittle with time.
Inside there is a photo.A woman in her twenties tall, regal, laughing in a red dress that looked suspiciously like something Amira had designed last month.
Her mother.
But the man beside her was a stranger.
Except… not entirely.
The sharp jaw. The stormy eyes.
Jessica’s hand trembled.
It couldn’t be.
But the resemblance to Liam Velar was undeniable.
Elsewhere...
Liam sat at his desk, a whiskey untouched beside him, staring at a photo of his own faded, torn at the edges.
A woman with wild curls and fire in her eyes.
She used to say “Don’t let the family name become a cage.”
But that’s exactly what it had become.
Especially when it came to the Hales.
He thought he’d buried those ghosts.
But Jessica's eyes brought them all back.
And neither of them knew…
That their families had once stood on the same battlefield and someone had not survived.
She hadn’t slept.
Not because of Theo’s flirtation.
Not because of the buzzing attention her designs were suddenly attracting.
Because of Liam Velar.
The way he stood next to her on the balcony.
The look in his eyes.
The way his voice seemed to touch places inside her she didn’t know were waiting.
She hated how her body reacted to him.
Like it knew something her mind couldn’t remember.
In the Private Observation Room
Liam watched her from the upper floor, arms crossed behind his back.
She was wearing a long cream blouse and high-waisted pants today elegant, focused, unreadable.
She hadn’t smiled once.
Good.
He didn’t want her distracted.
He didn’t want her comfortable.
He wanted her safe.
But that safety was harder to guarantee when Smith Delacourt refused to back off.
Lunch Meeting
Smith slid into the seat across from Jessica at the staff café. “So... the CEO himself, hmm?”
Jessica blinked. “What?”
“You and Liam Velar. I saw you talking. Real close.” He smirked. “Didn't know cold steel could melt.”
She shook her head. “It was just business.”
“Sure.” His gaze softened for a moment. “But be careful, Jessica. That man doesn’t get close to anything he doesn’t plan to control.”
She stared at him. “Are you warning me or testing me?”
He raised his hands playfully. “Both?”
That Night…
Jessica stood in her tiny apartment, unpacking an old box of fabric scraps from her mother’s sewing table.
At the very bottom was something she hadn’t seen in years a velvet-lined envelope, brittle with time.
Inside there is a photo.A woman in her twenties tall, regal, laughing in a red dress that looked suspiciously like something Amira had designed last month.
Her mother.
But the man beside her was a stranger.
Except… not entirely.
The sharp jaw. The stormy eyes.
Jessica’s hand trembled.
It couldn’t be.
But the resemblance to Liam Velar was undeniable.
Elsewhere...
Liam sat at his desk, a whiskey untouched beside him, staring at a photo of his own faded, torn at the edges.
A woman with wild curls and fire in her eyes.
She used to say “Don’t let the family name become a cage.”
But that’s exactly what it had become.
Especially when it came to the Hales.
He thought he’d buried those ghosts.
But Jessica's eyes brought them all back.
And neither of them knew…
That their families had once stood on the same battlefield and someone had not survived.
End of One Night in Valeria Chapter 5. Continue reading Chapter 6 or return to One Night in Valeria book page.