Chasing The Vengeful Villainous Heiress-Chapter 72: Tears from a weeping heart

Both hands were in Max’s grasp and he was taking out his anger pretty badly on them.

"Because of the words you said," he continued, "I worked hard, falling into a path I never wished for myself. I wanted to be a better, bigger person and one day shove those words down your throat. I wanted to mock you for looking down on me when all I did was love you. I wanted... To make you suffer the same way I suffered."

Valerie squinted her eyes, winching in pain as the grip on her hands tightened but she could not say anything in retaliation.

This was... Her punishment, wasn’t it?

"Yet," he finally looked up and met her eyes, showing a bitter and pained look in them. "...I was oblivious to your true suffering."

Well, that took a drastic turn.

"I wanted to feel nothing but hatred, but knowing that you had suffered far more than I could ever imagine, I was angry. Angry at you for keeping it a secret, angry at the people who made you like that, and angry at myself for being too stupid to realize it. But even with that anger, I kept pursuing the path I had fallen into. A path to grow stronger and one day punish you for playing with my feelings."

"Playing... With your feelings." Valerie muttered and sadly bowed her head. "I never did that." She said.

"Don’t lie, Valerie." He growled. "You saw me as no more than a boyfriend of convenience. I was the one who stood up for you when others talked bad about you, while you remained indifferent." He got angry again and this time grabbed her shoulders. "You only wanted to use me. After all, the only reason you accepted my request to date you was because I was someone who saved you and I seemed useful. I was nothing more than that to you, Valerie, and that’s what makes me crazy. You’re selfish."

Valerie was silent, refusing to raise her head and meet his gaze, as well as hiding the look in her eyes.

’Boyfriend of convenience.’ she thought. ’I guess that was how I made him feel. I was trying something new for the first time so I didn’t know how to react. I didn’t want to look desperate either so I decided to remain indifferent and let that boy who loved me do whatever he liked. I...’

Her eyes grew teary and tears slowly rolled down from her eyes. She didn’t think she would cry because of something like this. She wasn’t that weak, yet, her heart was weeping.

Max, fed up with her silence, reached for her chin and lifted her face. As soon as he did that, the anger on his face was immediately replaced by that of shock.

Valerie was crying right before his eyes. Why was that? She was never one to cry so easily. Why were there tears? Did something get in her eyes? 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"It’s surprising, isn’t it?" Valerie asked, the tears slowly slipping out down the corners of her eyes. "Even I don’t know why this is happening." She said. "But I know that it hurts, here." She touched her chest. "It happened that day as well. That day... I couldn’t say anything to you or explain why everything happened as they did, but after you left, my tears fell."

Max was stunned. She cried? Then, was that what she meant when he expressed his wish to see her tears and she said he already made her cry back at the auction house?

He didn’t understand it then but now...

Valerie turned her head. It was embarrassing to be seen crying like this. Her tears weren’t easy to form, but in a split second, they fell.

"Are you for real?" Max asked her and she darted her eyes to look at him. "You cried? You’re not lying, are you?"

"Max, do you want to hear me out now?" She asked him. "So many things happened that day and it was all done so you could hate me. They succeeded and there was nothing I could do about it."

"By they, do you mean your uncle?" He asked, his eyes furrowing in disgust. "They were involved in it?"

"Just as you did not know my true identity, I did not know yours and so I wanted to protect you by acting like I was just messing around, but my uncle, no," she shook her head. "Lucy wanted to act against me even if I clearly stated that I had no feelings for you, so she hurt my ’boy toy’, made it seem like it was my doing, and made him hate me." She explained and clenched her fists. "That’s the summary of it all."

Max stared, dumbfounded. This was too much information to download all of a sudden.

"It may be hard to believe but," she held his hand and pressed it against her cheek. "... everything you did for me, I was grateful. My heart would flutter at your little gestures and I would swoon over your kisses and hugs. The only reason I didn’t show many facial expressions was because I was new to it all. Being loved and cared for, it was a first for me. And I was scared that if I let out whatever feelings I had, it would be seen as desperation and that would cause you to distance yourself from me."

"I would never."

"But that was my greatest fear." She said. "I wanted to be with you all my life, Max. At the time, all I could think about was you. I wanted to see you, hold you, and kiss you. I wanted to feel warm and safe in your arms but my fears got the better of me and I held back."

"V-Valerie." He called, looking shocked at this revelation. "What are you saying? You detested me."

"I detested your happiness." Valerie rephrased and he flinched. "I hated that you were happy, having a family that deeply cared for you and showered you with warmth. I said this before, all those years ago and I will say it again, I hate that you flaunted your happiness in the face of us who have never felt that warmth."

"I remember, and..." Max stepped back, shoving his fingers through his hair. "You were always indifferent after that, it made me feel like you had no single interest in me."

"If I had no interest, would I let you kiss me?" Valerie asked and closed the space between them. "I wouldn’t let you hold me," she interlocked her fingers in his. "I wouldn’t let you embrace me." She tossed her gaze to meet his eyes and added. "I loved you so much back then that I felt like I had become a different person. Thus, I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life. I love you, Max. I always have."