The world was too dark, so dark and cold that she didn't want to wake up, but something was pushing her to open her eyes, and when she finally did the headache was unbearable. She was in the back seat of a parked car and looked to the side, recognizing Andrew. “What did you hit me with?” Valeria complained, but Andrew didn't smile, he was too scared. “You fainted. Luckily you were already with me, but I don't want to imagine what would have happened if you had been alone,” Andrew muttered. “How do you feel?” “My head hurts a lot and... everything is spinning,” said Valeria trying to sit better, but it seemed that all her strength had left her. Andrew took one of her hands and caressed it with a comforting gesture while Valeria tried to recover. The whole story between Nick, Miranda, and her came to her all at once, and she felt a horrible tightness in her chest. “The conversation with Nick didn't go well, did it?” asked Andrew, and Valeria shook her head, feeling that lump in her

  Andrew Davies threw his head back, sitting in the chair behind his desk in his office at Davies Inc. He had stopped by to pick up Valeria's test results more than three hours ago, but since then, he had only stared at the envelope on the table, unable to find the courage to open it. If it turned out that Valeria was not his daughter, the disappointment would be enormous for him. But if it turned out that she was, then he would start the longest and hardest war of his life to get her back since he was convinced that Valeria would not forgive so easily what he had done to Lisa, or the way he had always been absent from her life. “Damn it, Andrew! How could you make so many mistakes?” he reproached himself out loud. Valeria wasn't the only one who would get hurt. What would the twins think if they found out they had a younger sister? He closed his eyes for a second and reached for the envelope. He started to tear it open when he heard footsteps and voices outside his door and only m

Valeria fell in the middle of that circle of surprised and shocked people, and her first instinct was to curl up into a little ball. But she was naked. Naked, exposed and vulnerable in front of all those people, and that wouldn't change. The cold of the air conditioning hurt her skin, and her cheek was pressed to the floor as her tears flowed uncontrollably. Never in her whole life had she felt so humiliated and so helpless. God, Nick had thrown her naked on the foyer floor! In front of everyone! How could he be so cruel? How could he be so inhuman? She felt her whole body begin to tremble as she heard laughter, murmuring, and sounds of pictures. She cringed with a sob and it was as if her brain suddenly disconnected from reality. This would become public. Her pictures, naked, humiliated, and outraged on Bennet Designs’ floor would travel the web. They would probably go viral within hours and she would forever carry the stigma of being the whore that Nicholas Benner had kicked out of

“Girl, are you sure about this?” Emma asked sadly. Valeria had tried so hard to get ahead in life, especially having such a big responsibility as taking care of Alice, that it broke Emma's heart just to imagine that all that effort had been in vain. “Yes, friend, I can't go on without working. You know that in the restaurant you don't earn much but at least it's something... and I already realized that I won't be able to work in the fashion industry again... at least not in this country,” answered Valeria hugging her legs on the sofa. “And you haven't heard from Mr. Davies?” asked Emma with curiosity. “He could help you get a job. He said he would help you.” Valeria swallowed hard and looked down. “The truth is that I don't want to contact him anymore, Emma. I've been thinking about it a lot and however I look at it, my relationship with him is ruined.” “Why do you say that, Val?” “Because if that paper that Nick showed me is real, it means that Andrew deceived me, he set me up..

Elliot and Richard looked at each other as if their father had hit them with a baseball bat. It was almost easier to believe he was sleeping with Valeria and that they might actually have a sibling from them than to believe they'd always had one without knowing it. “You're kidding, right?” Elliot asked with a somber look on his face, and Andrew denied. “But how? Wh-when?” Richard stammered. “Well, the ‘how’ I don’t need to explain, do I?” Andrew sighed and turned to the small bar he had in the office. “But as for the ‘when’ we'd better sit down.” The twins fetched a couple of glasses and let their father pour them some whiskey to take the edge off. “Believe me, I had no idea Valeria existed until I met her and realized that her mother was the same woman I'd had a relationship with many years ago,” Andrew said, sitting down in a chair across from them. “And apparently her mother told her that her dad had died, so she doesn’t know anything either. Elliot shook his head uncomfortabl