Valentina had the best sleep of her life at the Grayson mansion. After she took a hot shower, she soaked herself in the large tub and applied all the creams and lotions in the bathroom to her face and body. There were some Valentino silk pajamas and house slippers in an unopened pack on the bed and she unashamedly put it on. After applying ointment to her bruises, she plugged her phone into a wall port and crawled into the fluffy bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was dead to the world.
She woke up when she heard some persistent knocking on her door. After rubbing the crust from her eyes, she sleepily went to open the door but forgot about the nightstand she had placed there.
After smashing her foot into it and hopping around while cursing at the pain, she successfully dragged the heavy nightstand away and opened the door.
Standing in front of her was Kaiser Grayson. He seemed more relaxed today as he only had a black button-up over black slacks. His shirt sleeves were rolled back to his elbows exposing his surprisingly corded forearms. Mmm, she knew he looked fit, but clearly, he worked out a lot. How attractive. She stared at him blankly until he cleared his throat and said,
"Good morning, Miss Valentina did you sleep well?"
"Oh, good morning Mr. Grayson. I slept very well thank you. Truly that was the best sleep of my life." Valentina replied honestly. She forcibly moved her eyes away from his arms and looked at his face.
"Good to hear it. Breakfast is being prepared right now. Is there anything in particular you want? Luca and his psychiatrist will be joining us to eat in about 30 minutes." Kaiser asked gently.
Seeing the pale-looking girl yawn while rubbing her eyes, Kaiser felt bad for forcing her to spend the night here and waking her up early.
"No, I'm not a picky eater. Anything is fine with me. I'll change and be right down Mr. Grayson." Valentina replied with another yawn.
"I had my assistant go out and buy a change of clothes for you as well. Here you go." Kaiser handed Valentina a Chanel shopping bag.
"I can't accept this it's too much." Valentina protested. It was bad enough she had already taken some expensive pajamas!
"It's worth nothing to me. We wanted to launder your clothes yesterday but…." Kaiser paused and glanced pointedly at the nightstand placed to the right of the door.
Blushing furiously, Valentina tried to kick the nightstand out of view. Of course, it didn't move even a bit and she hurt her leg again.
"Thank you for your consideration, Mr. Grayson. I will see you at breakfast in a bit!" Valentina retorted then closed the door in his face.
She quickly went to brush her teeth and wash her face before applying lotion.
"Hey System, how close am I to getting leveled up in acknowledgment?"
[Host has received the acknowledgement of 70/100 people so far]
"When did it go up? I remember it was 50 earlier?" Valentina asked confused.
[Since completing the work with the Fallen Angels MV, the host gained the acknowledgment of the director, some cast members, and some crew members. Host should continue to work hard to level up.]
Seeing that she was almost halfway to her goal, Valentina cheered up immensely. She couldn't wait for her next lucky draw. Maybe it would even be something to increase her body's physical strength.
She quickly opened the shopping bag. Inside was a two-piece button-up linen shirt and wide pants both in black. There were gold sandals inside the bag. And also, a bra and a pack of panties. Blushing at the thought of an assistant going to go select underwear for her, Valentina quickly changed into the clothing while packing her clothes and shoes inside. After making sure she left nothing behind, she made the bed and headed down the stairs.
As soon as she reached the bottom, the butler she saw yesterday immediately approached her.
"Miss Valentina please follow me to the dining room."
Valentina nodded along and walked slowly behind him while admiring the house. Everything was tastefully decorated as if it was in a magazine. Each room had a large window that viewed the garden, pool, or fountain. The crystal chandeliers shimmered in the natural daylight, and exotic statues, paintings, and vases were strategically placed.
When she arrived at the dining room she saw she was the last person to be there. Kaiser Grayson was at the head of the table with his brother Roman Grayson to his left. Luca was sitting to his father's right with an empty seat beside him. And seated next to Roman was a man she had never seen before. He was dressed in an all-white suit and had blond hair and light brown eyes. His hair brushed his shoulders and when he turned to her, she saw that his expression was cold and clinical, as if he was examining her.
"Miss Salazar, welcome to breakfast come sit down!" Roman called while waving his hand. Hearing him call her by her last name, it seemed that they had investigated her background. Although she understood why they did it, it was very displeasing to her. Valentina narrowed her eyes at Kaiser and calmly walked over to the empty seat.
"Good morning everyone, sorry for being late."
"Not a problem. Let me introduce you." Roman continued, "You've met my brother and Luca. This gentleman here is Dr. Leo Howard, Luca's psychiatrist. Leo, this is our little Luca's savior Miss Valentina Salazar."
Valentina turned and nodded her head towards Leo before greeting him, "Hello Dr. Howard, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine, Miss Salazar." He nodded back in return.
"Now that the introductions are done, let's eat! Matteo!" Roman called and a parade of maids carried over platters of food. As they arranged it on the table, Valentina turned to greet the little boy who had been staring at her the whole time. He was dressed in a black sweater and black pants and his curly hair was falling into his eyes as he looked up at her.
"Good morning Luca, did you sleep well?" she graced him with her most angelic smile and laughed when he nodded and smiled back at her.
He held his arms out to her, and she quickly gave him a hug and a kiss on top of his head. When she turned back, she noticed that all the men were staring blankly at her so stared back in confusion.
What? Did she do something wrong?
Kaiser Grayson spent the majority of the night reading the file about Valentina Salazar. Although more information was being uncovered, the few details he knew made him feel sorry for the girl and also admire her resilience.
Someone who was born into an aristocratic family and was exchanged at birth and raised as a commoner. She was sickly with an unexplained illness and ostracized by the poor family who raised her. Despite difficulties, she succeeded in becoming one of the top students in the country and was accepted on a full academic scholarship to the School of the Arts abroad at Harvard.
After coming back, she strived to enter the entertainment industry and kept hitting setbacks. The industry rumors were that despite her beauty, she was gloomy, unsociable, couldn't interact with others, and tried to abuse personal connections. The woman he had met was the complete opposite. He had seen all sorts of expression on her from her quietness to the care she showed his son, the teasing look she sometimes had, and the guarded look she always showed him.
When he went to wake her, he heard the sound of cursing as well as something heavy being dragged.
When she opened the door out of breath, he had to agree with the public opinion that she was gorgeous. Sleepy green eyes stared at him through long lashes. Her dark curly hair was loose and fell all around in a tousled look. Her pink pajamas were too big and weren't buttoned properly so her slender collarbone was exposed. As she leaned against the door, he almost felt like she was trying to seduce him.
Seeing her yawn and the slight dark circles under her eyes, he immediately felt bad. He handed her the clothing he had requested due to hearing about her injuries and seeing her reject it, he decided to tease her about the nightstand. Seeing her blush and slam the door shut on him, he couldn't help but chuckle.
Kaiser went to meet the psychiatrist Dr. Howard and explained to him everything that happened yesterday.
Dr. Howard held his chin in thought before responding.
"Kaiser, based on what you're saying, I think that Luca has temporarily formed an attachment to this Miss Salazar. It was a combination of Luca being in distress, feeling the absence of a mother, and having somebody rescue him from the distress with the position of somebody he misses. Add in Miss Salazar's disposition of willingness to initiate physical contact and that might be what is contributing to his unwillingness to separate from her. How was his behavior this morning?"
"He threw a tantrum until we told him he would wake Miss Valentina. Then he settled down and properly prepared himself as ordered." Kaiser responded in frustration.
Leo Howard didn't know if he should laugh or cry. Rather than the son receiving therapy, maybe the father should receive therapy instead? Due to his strict upbringing and time in the military, he didn't seem to understand that children needed more than their physical needs met. Still, he planned on continuing to observe everything this morning without drawing conclusions.
Kaiser led the doctor to the dining room and took his seat. Both Roman and Luca were already there. He turned to look at Luca and said sternly, "You must behave and not bother Miss Valentina. She is busy and had to stay here because you refused to be good so be polite and thankful got it?"
Luca briefly glanced at Kaiser before glancing away and staring at the entranceway.
Soon, Valentina came down. She was dressed in the clothes he had given her. Her eyes narrowed when she heard Roman refer to her as Miss Salazar and she glared at him before turning away and sitting next to Luca.
Seeing her sit next to Luca and smiling sweetly at him, he marveled at the difference in treatment.
Breakfast was an interesting affair. Valentina catered to Luca, piling his plate up with eggs, sausage, and croissants while she barely ate and Roman chattered away. Both he and Dr. Howard quietly ate and observed.
Once breakfast was done. He kicked the unwilling Roman out and led Valentina, Luca, and Dr. Howard to a private room.
As they all took their seats, Luca next to Valentina of course, Dr. Howard began.
"Miss Valentina, thank you for taking the time to be here."
"Of course. I'm assuming you have some questions to ask me regarding yesterday?" Valentina replied while looking at him curiously.
"No, I've heard the details already. I just wanted to talk to Luca while you're here since he feels comfortable with you. Is that okay with you?" Dr. Howard asked. When Valentina looked at him, she noticed he had a much gentler aura as he looked at her.
"Of course!" Valentina replied. She had already agreed yesterday since it was something the child needed.
***
The consultation finished in about an hour. Valentina simply sat there while the psychiatrist asked Luca a bunch of questions about yesterday and his actions. Throughout the whole session, Luca clutched her hand and refused to let go causing Valentina's heart to hurt for the child.
When they were finished, Valentina gave Luca one final hug as a maid came to take him for his afternoon nap.
As the child hugged her tightly, Valentina gently patted his back before letting him go. As he was led away, he kept turning back to wave at her and she continued waving back until he was out of sight.
A little sad at leaving the little nugget, Valentina turned to Kaiser and said, "Mr. Grayson, I've held up my portion of the bargain. I will head home now. Thank you for your hospitality."
Kaiser gazed at her then said, "Are you sure you don't want the doctor to come take a closer look at your injury today?"
Valentina shook her head rapidly, Big Boss, please let me go home.
"Okay. I'll have a driver take you home." Before she could protest, he continued, "Unfortunately, the estate doesn't allow taxis inside."
"Then…I'll gratefully accept your offer. Thank you for dinner and clothes." She bowed her head gratefully.
"Thank you for finding and protecting my son." Kaiser bowed his head in response.
And just like that the two separated. Valentina vowed to never be involved with him again.
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