Chapter Thirteen: What Had She Done?

Aiden made a long and deep sigh. Surprisingly, he felt lighter after opening up to Valerie. He never knew that his own existence could cause such a burden to be on his heart. He was happy that he no longer needed to hide himself from this fair lady, who seemed to be tongue-tied.

Valerie kept staring at him with an awed expression. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that, she was sitting next to a vampire prince. It was like she was in a movie.

It was all so intriguing and yet scary at the same time. That would explain his pale skin and handsome face, vampires were indeed handsome.

"Not all vamps are handsome like me, I'm a one in a million gem, I'm rare" Aiden snickered and Valerie scoffed

'Rare' her foot!

She rolled her eyes and folded her arms "Stop invading my privacy. I have thoughts that I consider private and I believe I have a right to think whatever I want without interference or intrusion from anything or anybody"

It was getting annoying that he could read her mind. Of all the powers he could have, it was mind reading. She wasn't safe around this man any longer

A thought crossed her mind and she gazed at Aiden "If you can read minds, can you communicate telepathically?"

"Well, the ability to read minds also comes with the gift of knowing who's lying and who's telling the truth. Sadly, I cannot communicate with you with this power"

Valerie's lit face instantly dimmed and she sighed lightly. How cool would it be if he had telepathy!

After a while, she glanced at her watch and saw that it was break time. She didn't want to go but her stomach thought otherwise. She still had so much to ask.

As if reading her thoughts (which he was by the way), Aiden urged her "Go on, I'll wait here for you"

She stared at him, hesitating between staying and going to lunch. After a little consideration, she finally chose the latter and left the office, heading for the cafeteria.

She politely declined having lunch with her co-workers and sat all by herself with her fries and orange juice. Ever since she started working as Aiden's assistant, her co-workers rarely saw her except when she came out of his office. They still maintained their friendly attitude towards her though, it didn't change one bit.

She absentmindedly chewed her fries as her eyes stared into nothingness. She was processing everything Aiden told her. She felt it was too much for her to handle and she considered telling May about it, but something in her told her to leave it be for a while.

She was still thinking when she felt a presence looming over her and she looked up at see a familiar, handsome face.

It was Liam, from the technical department. He looked as dashing as ever with his black suit and slightly messy hair. His blue eyes twinkled at her and he had a smile on his face.

Valerie frowned.

Why was he here?

"Hi Valerie, it's nice to meet you"

Valerie blinked. Was he actually talking to her? She stared at him suspiciously. Why was he talking to her?

He sat down beside her without even asking for permission and Valerie squinted her eyes. This was really suspicious.

He faced her "I'm sorry for the way I treated you last time, I believe we started off on the wrong foot. Let's start all over, my name's Liam"

He stretched his hand for a shake but Valerie didn't take it immediately. She kept her gaze on him, trying to spot why he suddenly had a 180 degree change of attitude.

He didn't return her greeting the last time and appeared indifferent, so what was he doing now?

She couldn't see any sign that he was being insincere or fake so she reluctantly took his hand "Valerie" she muttered with a half smile and continued munching on her fries.

But what happened next shocked her.

Liam stretched his hand into her plate and took a mouthful of fries, eating them with relish.

Valerie stared at him, too dumbfounded to say a word.

Nobody touches her fries!

Not even May!

She caught him trying to take another handful and she wiped his hand. He winced and withdrew his hand, acting as if it was cut off by her action. She glared at him and shifted the fries far away from him, holding the plate as if it were her lifeline.

"Just a little bit" he begged but Valerie didn't budge

"No!"

"A nibble"

"No!"

"Then maybe I can just-"

"You're not even gonna see the plate after I'm done with it!"

"_"

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Valerie's life went on rather smoothly after Aiden came clean to her. It had been three weeks and she had gotten used to him being a vampire.

She was less terrified of him now and talked freely. She wanted to let May in on the secret by Aiden refused. He warned her that she was putting her bestie's life in danger by letting her know. She was already a walking target as it was.

She was excited, something eventful was happening in her boring and dull life. It was unexpected and interesting and she didn't want to let go of it. She felt special, because she knew something that ordinary humans did not.

Finally, her life wasn't mundane anymore. She feared that one day, she would wake up and Aiden would have wiped her memories, rendering her incapable of remembering all those wonderful stories he told her.

She was so scared, that she made Aiden promise never to take this secret from her or make her forget it and he did. She was grateful that he trusted her to keep it and she swore to keep it with her till the end.

Liam had been keeping her company too, following her around the company and sitting beside her during lunch breaks. She no longer found his attitude over bearing, but he was really playful and behaved childish. He acted like her little brother and that alone, was exhausting. He was always whining and protesting at the slightest thing.

It made Valerie want to throw him out the window sometimes.

It was night time, closing hours. Valerie arranged her desk and went to Aiden's office. She was still a PR Officer, but she rarely went to her desk.

She met him with a man she had never seen before, he looked noble and had a domineering aura. His build was similar to Aiden and the way he stood was elegant.

But no matter how hard Valerie tried to eavesdrop on them, she couldn't hear a single word. She gave up after a few more tries and brought out her phone to play games. May had gotten her another one, though not as good as her former phone, but manageable.

After a while, she sensed they were through and stood up, intending to inform Aiden that she was leaving, but the man walked closer to her.

"What's your name cutie?" He asked out of the blue and Valerie blinked

Was he talking to her?

Before she could answer, Aiden strolled over "Leave her be Luther, you've got other things to do" he may have appeared calm on the surface, but he was raging inside

How dare his younger brother try to hit on Valerie?!

His Valerie!

No one had the right to even steal a glance at her!

Luther smirked "Relax brother, it's not like I'm gonna eat her, though she does look delish" he licked his lips and Aiden's hands curled into a fist and he stood in front of Valerie like a protective mother hen

Before he could say further, Valerie blurted "Luther? As in, Luther your younger brother? The one with the mind control thingy?!"

Aiden froze

Luther's smirk vanished as he stared at Valerie with an unknown expression.

He slowly turned to face Aiden

"You told her about us?!"

Valerie shrank when she heard his voice.

What had she done? Now, her big mouth had landed her in a really big mess!...