Kneeling for a Second Chance Novel

---- Chapter 264 "Sebastian, if you want to see Lenny next time, just let me know in advance. I'll... make time," Valeria said. Sebastian replied, "I'm heading abroad for a while. I probably won't be back anytime soon." She froze. In that split second of hesitation , he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. He rested his chin on her shoulder, his arms locking her in. Then, he said, "Valeria, Lenny will always be your daughter. No one will ever take her from you-I promise." Sebastian buried his face in her hair, breathing in her scent like he couldn't get enough.

Out of her sight, his eyes went red, and when he finally spoke again, his voice was rough. " Valeria, can you hug me?" People were greedy by nature. At first, all he wanted was to take Selena to the amusement park before he left. Then, dropping Selena off, he couldn't resist one last look at Valeria. Then, he wanted to hold her. After that, he wanted her to hold him back. Valeria's fingers hung loosely at her side. Then, Sebastian's voice rang out again. "Please, Valeria... Just ---- hold me once." She slowly lifted her hand, pressed it lightly against his back, then let it fall away.

After that, Sebastian left, but not before giving Valeria a bank card. Selena was his daughter, and he would make sure child support was deposited every month. He told Valeria that Slate City was a good city and that there would be room for Selena's talent to grow here. Sebastian was the one who needed to leave. Their paths wouldn't cross again-at least for the time being. There would not be any more accidental encounters, only thousands of miles keeping them apart. It was Valeria who taught him what love really meant. He had never appreciated the quiet affection Jane had shown him.

He wanted to love her, to respect her, and to give her the freedom she longed for. He could use his power to keep Valeria by his side, but if he did, she'd hate him for the rest of her life. Before he left, Sebastian did two things. He went to Grace Fellowship Church, where he made a generous donation to help restore the statue. Before leaving, ---- the church, Maverick called after him. "Mr. Grant, the journey ahead won't be smooth." Oliver slipped a small wooden cross into his palm, a symbol of blessing for the road ahead.

After visiting the church, he spent that evening catching up briefly with a few old friends. The next day, he met with Shane. On the third morning, at 9:00 am sharp, he boarded a plane bound for Monto. When Valeria stepped out of the rehabilitation center later that day, the sun was scorching. She tilted her head back, squinting as an aircraft slowly disappeared into the clouds. The glare of sunlight made her vision blur, so she shook her head. And for a moment, she thought she was seeing things. She pressed a hand against her chest, uneasy, and tried to breathe through the tightness.

By Friday, though, Margaret's health had improved noticeably . Apart from getting winded when she walked too long, she was doing well. So, Lucy prepared a family dinner and asked Valeria to bring Margaret over to join them. Shane got home late that night. Over dinner, he shared some good news. "Apex Group picked ---- up my project. Mr. Morgan really believed in me and invested 200 million dollars.

I've already resigned from Brightwell and set up a dedicated research team." Valeria didn't really understand the technical details, but she remembered Lucy telling her that Shane had been preparing for this for two years. He had been rejected countless times, close to giving up and quitting altogether long ago. She smiled warmly as she said, "Congratulations." After dinner , Shane stepped into the kitchen, where Valeria was rinsing fruit at the sink. He spoke up. "Actually, Sebastian introduced me to Mr. Morgan from Apex Group. I had been missing that one chance.

He came to see me Monday night -at first, I thought he was going to pressure me to leave Slate City. "Instead , he took me to Jonathan Morgan's private stables and gave me 15 minutes to present."" Those 15 minutes changed Shane's life. He delivered the pitch he had practiced a 100 times, compressing two years of work into a quarter of an hour. By the end of it, he was drenched in sweat.