Trigger Warning: Mention of suicide

“Valentina? Tell me. I’ll believe anything you say. Promise.”

Looking at his puppy dog eyes, she decided to partially tell the truth.

“I’m not saying this to garner any sympathy from you, but I really can’t remember. I know I was gloomy and depressed before and honestly, quite a suck-up because I was craving love and affection from my family. Since I couldn’t get such a thing, I tried to kill myself. Thankfully it failed but as a result, I lost my memories of my family and my past. Anything that I might have experienced with the Salazar family, who I was before, or anything I’ve done in the past is as unknown to me as it is to you.”

“Valentina…” As he tried to speak, she held up her hand to stop him.

“I told you, I’m not saying it for sympathy. If you knew the past me, I hate to say it, but that person doesn’t exist anymore. I’m a different person now and I’ve resolved myself to live without ever gaining my family’s love much less acknowledgement. Since I am a person who doesn’t deserve to be loved, I’m solely focused on my career now and I want to take it to the highest peak that I can. As for the Salazar family, I’ll deal with that as they come. All I know is they don’t want to acknowledge me as their daughter and only want Aaliyah. Since that’s the case, we’ll both do our own thing and minimize our interaction with each other.”

She gave him a cryptic smile and Kaiser was momentarily silent as he didn’t know what to say. despite the various ups and downs with his family and the disagreements he would have with his parents, he could undoubtedly say that they cared for him and his siblings. Hearing Valentina say such words about his family with a distant look on her face broke his heart.

Hearing that she had tried to take her own life, he didn’t know whether he should wrap her in his arms or go on a rampage and destroy the family that would drive a young girl to such an extent.

“Anyway, that’s that. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. What happened after I passed out? And when can I leave? I'm sure they found nothing wrong with my body apart from slight anemia.” Valentina immediately tried to change the subject, but he couldn’t let her carry such a burden alone.

“Valentina.” Kaiser dragged his chair even closer.

“Hmm?”

“I'm sorry once again for digging into you and forcing you to dig up unpleasant memories. And I know you don’t want to speak about it, but saying you’re not deserving of love is wrong. You can’t choose the family you're born to, but you can definitely create one. I don’t know how to comfort people, but I truly believe that everyone is deserving of love. Regardless of status, family, career, anything. Everyone deserves love including you.”

“Both my birth and adopted family don’t like me. I guess I really have the fate of a lone star.” She gave a dark chuckle and Kaiser felt his heart crack a little more.

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“You’re not alone. Not anymore. After all, Luca loves you, clearly more than he likes me, the little traitor.” Valentina rolled her eyes at his little fit of jealousy. “Roman likes you, Lia likes you. Even that bastard Rio likes you. Everyone you’ve worked with once you ‘changed’ likes you and even if you remember everything I’m sure they would still like you. You obviously know that I like you. A lot. Which is why I'm panicking and rushing and messing things up.” At that he gently brought her fingers to his lips, gently kissing each finger and then her palm.

Seeing him gently trying to comfort her despite not knowing how to, she felt her heart warm just a bit. Gently freeing her hand, she gently patted his hair before cupping his face.

“Is that right? You like me?” she asked him with a smirk, laughing as he nuzzled her palm and pressed another kiss to it.

“I do. And if you give me a chance, it will turn to love. After all, you’re the only woman I’ve ever offered the position of Luca’s stepmother. What do you say? Want to try being Mrs. Valentina Grayson? It comes with the perks of a cute son who adores you, an annoying brother-in-law, and getting to boss yours truly around any which way you wish. Isn’t that a good deal?” Kaiser gave her a sly smile as he held her hand tightly to his face.

Seeing that he had started talking nonsense again, she rolled her eyes before flicking him on the forehead, “Pass. You just think I'm pretty.”

“I do like your appearance, but I also like your insides quite a bit now that I’ve gotten to know you. I like how you’re always rolling your eyes, making snarky little comments, and not letting anyone boss you around. You’re calm, funny, get excited at little things, and are very diligent about your career and Luca. I like it when you tease me even if you always look like you regret it afterward, always say no when I ask you out, turn completely red when embarrassed before getting confident again, the way you lean back when you laugh, the way your eyes pop open when tasting something delicious, the way you play with your hair when nervous, the way you always hug and kiss Luca when he begs, and hide away to eat snacks like little bandits. I like when you touch me like this, and I wish you would do it more often.” He closed his eyes as he leaned into her hand, his soft hair tickling her wrist.

“I find myself quite liking you Valentina and I want to keep you around as much as I can. As always the offer to become Luca’s stepmother still stands. Let me know if you change your mind.” He winked at her before he became serious again.

“And…thank you for sharing something so private with me. If you remember anything of your past, let me know. And If you do feel like harming yourself or anything drastic, please tell me. Please. I don’t want to lose you.”

“I won’t do something like that again.” She reassured him.

“Even then. If you ever feel hurt or sad or angry or depressed. If you’re hurting, don’t do it in silence and solitude. Please let me know, okay? For my sake. I care about you and your mental well-being and want to know what’s going on in your life, both good and bad, and be there for you.” Kaiser urged again; his expression serious as he pleaded.

“Okay. I will. Thanks for caring Kaiser.” She gave him a bright smile, touched at his heart-felt words.

“Good. Now about the incident last…” As he was about the say something else, the door to the hospital room burst open and a familiar figure began wailing.

“Sister-in-law!!!!!! Are you awake? How are you doing?” Roman shouted as he burst through the door with bags in his hands.

Valentina: “….”

Kaiser: “……”

Even the dead would be awake after hearing that scream from hell. What happened to the touching moment she and Kaiser were having just now?

Before anybody could say anything, a short figure ran into the room and body-slammed Kaiser out of the way, almost knocking him to the floor.

“Mom! I brought your medicine!”

Looking at Luca who was not only calling her mom but also had the dreaded thermos in his hands while his sparkling eyes stared at her, Valentina felt like just passing out for the next couple of hours. What the hell was wrong with this family?

‘System, can you knock me out, please? I don’t want to drink the medicine. T^T’

[I am a system, not a knockout machine. Medicine is extremely beneficial to the host’s body. As a one-time deal, the medicine will be 10 times as potent due to injuries experienced by the host. Good luck.]

Hearing the system’s callous words, Valentina could feel tears coming to her eyes. Somebody. Anybody. Save her!

Authors Note: a bit dark but very necessary. Valentina secretly confesses to Kaiser that she’s not the OG Valentina. Kaiser tells her all the things he likes about her as a person and not her body. My OTP for real TT_TT

Anyway, their first kiss is in chapters 93/94 so look forward to it I guess. As always I take donations for extra chapters ^^