|| VALENTINA's POV ||
I swallowed the feelings down to my throat, kept looking down at my feet that felt too heavy. I shouldn't act so childishly. But the emotions were turbulent in my heart. It was getting impossible to act calmly in front of him.
Leaving Kylie behind, he reached out to touch my forehead first, his voice leaping with concern,
" Are you sick? Is everything okay with your health, love?"
Mumbling to him hastily, I headed inside the mansion,
" I..I am just tired, Lorenzo.."
Once I was back in the room, I let the emotions take over me, burst into tears. My throat ached from the consistent sob. How was I supposed to tell him that I didn't like him being with Kylie even as friends?
The door burst open and I wiped the tears quickly. Lorenzo entered hastily and got on his knees to tell me,
" I am so sorry! I..I didn't know about the articles.. Valentina..Trust me! I have nothing to do with her. We just had a friendly dinner together."
I continued crying hard until there were no tears left. After a short while, I told him, faking a smile,
" I trust you, Lorenzo but those comments..I mean..I just got carried away by those reporters.."
Lorenzo heavied a sigh of relief. The following moment, his face clouded in rage. Dumping his fist on the floor, he swore in a deep voice,
" How dare they!!! Damn it!! I never thought that it's going to be a headline. Please don't be sad, love! Trust me, after today, I am not going to meet Kylie ever. Although we have made friends, I don't want to cause you pain."
That's when, my heart melted for Lorenzo King again. He was always so sincere with his words and attitude that it was impossible to not love him. Wiping the tears, I cupped his face to tell honestly,
" I don't doubt you, Lorenzo but..I am just scared.. Let's not bring her here anymore..You are no less than a celebrity..I don't want our baby to read headlines about his father with anyone else."
Lorenzo kissed my palms and promised once again,
" It will never happen again. I have to be careful around her. I have got it."
We smiled at each other then hugged tightly. Later on, Lorenzo made love to me to prove that I was his one and only. I just hoped that everything would be smooth like Lorenzo said to me.
_________
" I think, I will look better in this dress. What do you think, James??", Kylie smiled at her dress, looking into the mirror. A few days later,she came to choose her dress for the ramp show. I was even more surprised to see Nana with her. Ever since they got into the store, they were giving me cold shoulders especially Nana who treated me like an outsider. As the old lady heiress, my staff was paying respect to Nana undoubtedly.
Nana made a face of proud, staring at Kylie to say with a smile,
" You look good at everything, Kylie. Look at your figure!! You are so hot like always!"
Kylie flashed her a smile, her smile hiding a little arrogant which couldn't go unnoticed,
" Thanks, Nana. You are pretty as always. The best!"
Great! She was so great at sugarcoating Nana that made my eyes roll.
I was treating them fairly since they didn't consider me family. Lorenzo stopped visiting her ever since he made that promise to me. However, that didn't stop Kylie from being close to Lorenzo's family. I heard that she visited Nana more often.
I ordered the staff, pointing at the dress,
" Wrap it for her!"
Nana stood up first to leave. Once her eyes laid on me, a flash of disgust flickered between before she told Kylie coldly,
" I am waiting for you in the car, honey. I am getting disgusted here."
She left storming outside as if I was a virus to avoid. Kylie gave me a sympathetic glance which made me wonder whether I thought wrongly of her or not. Getting closer to me, she looked down at my stomach, spoke with a rare smile,
" Have you checked the gender? Is it a boy or girl?"
I kept the news secret from everyone except Lorenzo. Since the legacy depended on an heir, I was supposed to keep it hidden until he was born safely. Shaking my head, I replied running a hand over my stomach,
" We don't know yet. Lorenzo said, he is happy with anything."
Kylie just let out a laugh which seemed like I had cracked a lame joke. Pushing her hair back, she commented in a bitter voice,
" Oh dear! You think that Lorenzo cares for you just because you are having a baby? You are so dumb, Valentina. Lorenzo just needs an heir to get his father's business. Once your baby is born, you will be out of the picture."
I retorted angrily, finally seeing her true colors,
" I love Lorenzo and he loves me. As long as we are fine, I don't care about others or their illogical comments."
Kylie's lips pulled up into a malicious smile. Pointing at my body from head to toe, she made a judgemental comment,
" Look at yourself, Valentina! Do you think that you have any chance to be with Lorenzo?? Did you see how he reacted when he saw me on his birthday? Lorenzo still loves me the most, Valentina. He is with you now because you are carrying his child. Get the facts right. Did he ever tell you that he will marry you?"
My chest tightened painfully at her words. Indeed, Lorenzo never mentioned anything about marriage. It was always just being together. Was he ashamed to have me as his wife or did he really think of taking me as his girlfriend only?
Upon my silence, she continued bitterly, sneering at my face as if I was some useless shit,
" He doesn't even love you. What are you so proud of? Did you think that he will love you after meeting for days? It took years for him to love me. Take it as an example. If we two fall into the water now, he will definitely come to rescue me first."
I had lost my calmness. Glaring up at her, I blurted in rage, challenging my love against my rival,
" I know LORENZO the best. You may be his first love but Lorenzo lived with me. He showed his scars to me which you never cared about. About cheating on me, he is free to do that because the moment I get the proof of his cheating, I will be out of the picture."
The smirk on her face grew bigger. Trotting on her heels, she forwarded to reply to me, twitching her lips in ridicule,
" Then be prepared to be heartbroken because there will be a day when Lorenzo will show you that he still cares for me the most, Valentina."
She turned around to leave the store not before showing off her attitude towards the staff. I kept crying behind her back silently. I didn't know why but it really scared me.
What if Lorenzo was betraying me again? What if Lorenzo was still doing something behind my back?
As the thoughts came across my mind, I felt hopeless because I had nowhere to go. In this whole world, Lorenzo was my one and only family now. I really wished that I had someone to lean on, to rely on so that no one else would have treated me like a shit every now and then.