Valeria's POV
I pushed through the hotel lobby doors, my heart pounding like a war drum.
The man at the front desk looked up. "Good evening, ma'am. Can I help—"
"I'm meeting someone in room 2847," I said, walking past him toward the elevators.
He didn't stop me. Why would he? I looked like I belonged here. Like I had every right to be here.
If only he knew I was about to destroy everything.
The elevator climbed higher. Each floor felt like a countdown. Twenty-five. Twenty-six. Twenty-seven.
Twenty-eight.
The doors opened with a soft ding.
The hallway stretched out before me, silent and carpeted in deep red. Room numbers gleamed on polished doors. 2841. 2843. 2845.
I stood outside, my hand raised to knock. Then I stopped.
What if the photo was fake? What if someone was trying to trick me?
But deep in my gut, I knew. I had known for weeks, maybe months. I just didn't want to see it.
I knocked.
Footsteps inside. A woman's giggle. The door opened.
Sarah stood there in a hotel robe, her hair messy, her lipstick smudged. When she saw me, her eyes went wide.
"Oh," she said. Then she smiled. Actually smiled. "You really should learn to call first."
Behind her, I heard Kane's voice. "Sarah? Who is it?"
"Your wife," Sarah called back, stepping aside like she was inviting me to a party.
Kane appeared, buttoning his shirt. His face went from confused to angry in seconds.
"Valeria? What the hell are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here?" My voice came out stronger than I felt. "What are YOU doing here?"
"That's none of your business."
"None of my business?" I laughed, but it sounded wild. "You're my husband!"
"A mistake I've regretted for two years," he shot back.
The words hit me like a physical blow. Two years. Our entire marriage.
Sarah leaned against the doorframe, watching us like we were entertainment. "This is awkward. Should I give you two privacy?"
"No," Kane said. "She's leaving."
"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me the truth." I pushed past Sarah into the room.
The bed was unmade. Wine glasses sat on the nightstand. Sarah's perfume hung thick in the air.
Everything I feared was real. Right here in front of me.
"How long?" I asked quietly.
Kane sighed like I was bothering him. "Does it matter?"
"How. Long."
"Four months," Sarah answered for him. She poured herself wine, completely comfortable. "Though honestly, it feels longer. We just click, you know?"
Four months. A third of a year. While I worked double shifts. While I cooked his meals. While I believed every lie.
"Why?" The word barely made it past my lips.
Kane grabbed his jacket. "You really want to know? Fine. Because Sarah is everything you're not. She's successful. Connected. She understands my world."
"I tried to understand—"
"You tried?" He laughed cruelly. "You served coffee and played house. That's not trying. That's being useless."
Each word carved into me like a knife.
"I loved you," I whispered.
"Love?" Kane's face twisted. "You want to know about love? I never loved you, Valeria. Not once. Not even on our wedding day."
The room tilted. I grabbed the back of a chair to steady myself.
"Then why did you marry me?"
He looked me straight in the eye. "Because you were easy. Quiet. Desperate for attention. I thought I could control you while I built my empire. I thought you'd be grateful just to have someone like me."
Someone like him. Like he was doing me a favor.
"You're a coward," I said. My voice shook but grew louder. "A pathetic coward who tears down others to feel big."
His hand moved so fast I didn't see it coming. He grabbed my arm hard enough to bruise.
"Don't you dare talk to me like that. You're nothing. A nobody playing dress-up in a life you don't deserve."
"Let go of me."
"Or what?" He squeezed harder. "What are you going to do? Run home crying? You always run. Always hide. That's all you know how to do."
Sarah set down her wine glass. "Kane, darling, maybe you should—"
"Stay out of this!" he snapped at her.
For the first time, Sarah's confident mask slipped. She looked nervous.
Good. She should be.
I yanked my arm free. "I want a divorce."
Kane blinked. Then he laughed. Actually laughed.
"A divorce? With what money? What lawyer? You can barely afford groceries." He stepped closer, his voice dropping to something mean and cold. "You need me, Valeria. Without me, you're nothing. You'll go back to whatever sad little life you had before, alone and forgotten."
"I'd rather be alone than with you."
"Fine." He pulled out his phone. "I'll have my lawyer draw up papers tomorrow. But don't expect anything. No money. No apartment. Nothing. You came into this marriage with nothing, and that's exactly what you'll leave with."
"I don't want your money."
"Good. Because you're not getting it." He turned to Sarah. "Come on. Let's go somewhere we don't have to deal with this."
Sarah grabbed her purse, avoiding my eyes now.
They walked toward the door. Kane paused next to me.
"Do yourself a favor," he said quietly, almost gently. It was worse than his yelling. "Disappear. Find some small town where nobody knows what a failure you are. Because if you stay here, everyone will see the truth. That you were never good enough. Never smart enough. Never enough, period."
He left.
Sarah followed, her heels clicking on the floor.
The door closed with a soft click.
I stood alone in that hotel room, surrounded by evidence of their betrayal. My legs finally gave out. I sank onto the edge of the bed, my whole body shaking.
Never enough.
The words echoed in my head.
My phone rang. I looked at the screen through blurry eyes.
Lucien. My brother.
I hadn't talked to him in six months. Not since I told him to stop checking on me. That I needed to make my marriage work on my own.
My finger hovered over the answer button.
If I answered, everything would change. My family would know I failed. They would see I was weak. Just like Kane said.
The phone kept ringing.
Never enough.
I answered.
"Lucien?" My voice cracked.
"Valeria?" His voice sharpened with concern. "What's wrong? What happened?"
Everything spilled out. The cheating. The hotel. Kane's words. All of it.
Lucien went silent for a long moment.
When he spoke again, his voice was ice. "Where are you?"
"The Grandeur Hotel. Room 2847."
"Don't move. I'm sending Grant to get you. You're coming home."
"Lucien, I don't think—"
"You're coming home," he repeated, firmer this time. "And tomorrow, we're going to remind everyone exactly who you are."
"What do you mean?"
"Kane thinks you're nothing? That you came from nothing?" Lucien's laugh was dark. "Let's see how he feels when he learns the truth. When the whole city learns that Kane Rowe's pathetic little wife is actually Valeria Arden. Heiress to the Arden empire."
My breath caught.
"Lucien, no. That's not—"
"It's time, sister. Time to stop hiding. Time to show them all what happens when someone hurts an Arden."
The call ended.
I sat in the silence, my mind spinning.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow, everything would change.
Tomorrow, Kane would learn what he threw away.
And I would learn if I was strong enough to become the person I was born to be.
A knock at the door made me jump.
"Miss Arden?" A deep voice called. "I'm Grant Steele. Your brother sent me."
I stood up, wiping my eyes.
When I opened the door, a tall man in a black suit stood there. His eyes were kind but his stance was protective.
"Ready to go home?" he asked gently.
I looked back at the hotel room one last time. At the life I was leaving behind.
Then I stepped into the hallway.
"Yes," I said. "I'm ready."
But as we walked to the elevator, I noticed something.
Grant's hand rested on his hip, right where a gun would be.
And he kept looking over his shoulder like he expected danger.
"Grant?" I asked carefully. "Why did Lucien send security?"
He pressed the elevator button. "Because you're not just coming home, Miss Arden. You're entering a war zone."
The elevator doors opened.
"What war?"
He stepped inside, his eyes scanning the hallway one more time.
"The one that started the moment your family learned someone hurt you."