Kneeling for a Second Chance Novel

---- Chapter 198 Sebastian's heart throbbed with each breath. Though his expression stayed calm as ever, only he knew what he was truly feeling. Valeria didn't expect the sudden question . She was slightly stunned and paused for a moment. After a short pause , she nodded. "Yes." The truth was, when Valeria went into labor, Taylor was the only one who stayed with her for a short while, and she had to sign everything on her own. That night, holding her son who had already stopped breathing, she called Sebastian. It sounded like there was a party on his end. He picked up and said hello.

Then, someone was calling out to him. As there was a lot of noise and chatter in the background, Valeria didn't say a word. The call ended soon after. Thinking about it caused her eyes to sting. She took a deep breath and forced herself to remain calm. Then, she turned to Sebastian. "I... I don't want to do this anymore. If you really want to, we could do it tomorrow." Sebastian held her by the shoulders. His palms were hot, and his grip was firm. "Shane wasn't there with you, was he?" ---- He wasn't clueless. He could see from the look on Valeria's face that she wasn't happy.

She clearly didn't want to talk about it. Aman not being there when his wife was giving birth was something Sebastian couldn't understand. He couldn't imagine anything that mattered more than being there for his wife at that moment. Valeria's voice sounded thick. It was as if she held back tears. Before I gave birth, something unexpected happened. It wasn't my due date. I injured my abdomen and bled heavily. He had no idea about it." Sebastian's eye twitched slightly, and his gaze deepened. He didn't dare imagine how terrified she must have been back then.

His fingers gripped her shoulders firmly. Valeria tried to pull away. She wasn't good at lying, as one lie always demanded more to cover it. She didn't even know Shane back then. There was no way he could've stayed by her side, but the heavy bleeding caused by Jennifer pushing her was genuine. For the first time, Sebastian understood Valeria's past -her bleeding, the difficult birth, and her inability to conceive again. She avoided his questions about why Shane wasn't by her side back then. She sounded calm, but her eyes were already damp with tears.

---- A heavy mix of emotions welled up in Sebastian's chest. He couldn't even tell whether it was heartache or something else entirely. Even now, Valeria was still covering for Shane. He asked, "You want to go back? Back to that useless husband of yours? After everything, are you still holding onto that marriage? Did he save your life or something?" In Valeria's heart, it was close enough to that. She had spent the past three years in Slate City. Even if that place of hers was just an attic, it had become her little haven. "Shane is a good person," she snapped.

"You have no right to judge him." "So, you're still standing up for him," Sebastian commented coldly. He had a feeling that night might end in a quiet falling -out between him and Valeria. Suppressing the fury burning in his chest, he forced himself to speak calmly. He couldn't understand what made him inferior to Shane. When it came to money, power, or even looks, Sebastian had absolute confidence. He was younger than Shane and better in every way, even in bed. He thought Valeria's eyes must have been clouded over.

She would rather remain ina suffocating marriage than look up and realize who had always been there for her.