All Chapters of Valerio's Secretary: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Zara’s POVThe morning feels heavier than usual. I wake up with a dull headache and the taste of regret still lingering from the kiss I allowed to happen. Liam is already chattering at the breakfast table, telling me about a dream where he rode an elevator all the way to the top of the tall glass building.I listen with a smile that doesn’t reach my eyes, helping him with his shoes before dropping him off. Every mile I drive toward Cruz Holdings feels like another step deeper into quicksand. Valerio is getting closer, and I can feel it in the way he looks at me now; not just with hunger, but with genuine confusion. Like pieces were shifting inside him, and he’s trying to make sense of it.When I reach my desk, the floor is already busy. Valerio is in his office on a video call, but his eyes flick to me the moment I sit down. He gives a small nod that looks professional on the surface, but I catch the lingering weight behind it. I dive into work immediately. There’s a major investor

Zara’s POVThe gown feels too elegant for someone with a heavy heart as mine.I stand in front of the mirror in my small apartment, soothing down the deep emerald green dress I had bought on sales two weeks ago. It hugs my figure without being flashy; professional enough for an assistant, but still feminine enough for a gala. My hair sweeps up in a soft updo, a few curls framing my face. Simple make up, minimal jewelry, I look the part.But inside, I’m a storm.Tonight is the annual Cruz Holdings Investor Gala. The biggest night of the year, and hundreds of powerful people, board members, rivals, and most dangerously, several of the people who had tried to erase me three years ago will be there. I’ll be walking into the lion’s den with Valerio on one side and Clara on the other.Liam watches me from the doorway, eyes wide. “Mommy looks like a princess.”I kneel down and hug him tight, breathing in his warmth. “Thank you, baby. Mommy has to go to a big important party for work tonight.

Zara’s POVThe morning after the gala feels like waking up from a fever dream.My body still remembers every moment, Valerio’s hand firm on my lower back as we danced, the way his breath brushed my ear when he whispered about the old photo, the heat in his eyes every time they found me across the crowded ballroom. I barely slept; I kept replaying every charged second while Liam slept peacefully in the next room.I stand in front of the mirror again, this time in my usual work attire, a crisp white blouse and black pencil skirt. Professional and safe. But after last night, nothing feels safe or professional anymore.Liam is drawing at the kitchen table when I come out. Another picture of the tall glass building, but this time he has added two stick figures on the roof.“That’s you and me, Mommy,” he says proudly. “And maybe Daddy is inside watching us.”I kneel beside him and hug him tight, fighting the lump in my throat. “It’s beautiful, baby. One day, we’ll all stand on that roof tog

Zara’s POVThe day after Valerio dumped the Tokyo trip on me passes in a controlled storm of activities.I stay at my desk, fingers flying across the keyboard as I build the full briefing package he had demanded. Flight details, hotel arrangements, cultural briefing notes, updated risk assessments for every meeting, and contingency plans for potential negotiation roadblocks. The work is intense and demanding, exactly what I need to keep my mind from spiraling.But Valerio makes it impossible to forget the tension between us.Every thirty minutes, he calls me into his office for reviews, and each time the door closes, the no-office-romance rule feels heavier in the room, like an invisible third person watching us. He keeps a strict distance, no brushing hands, and no standing directly behind my chair, but the restraint only made everything worse, the air crackling with everything we aren’t saying and aren’t doing.During the third review session, he stands on the opposite side of his d

Zara’s POVOne of Valerio’s drivers had picked me up straight from home to the airport, where I met Valerio and Luca. And as always, Luca found a moment to give his warnings, and I had to assure him I’ll be careful. So far, it’s been good. The flight to Tokyo has been quiet, with Valerio working on his laptop the whole time while I read one of the books on my reading list. It’s been so long since I had the time to dive into a book, and I’m going to use this opportunity.He doesn’t speak to me during the flight, not once, and when the flight attendant asks if I want another drink, he answers for me. "She's fine." I spend the next couple of hours pretending his coldness doesn’t bother me.***The Tokyo air hits different, humid, and thick with the scent of rain on concrete and distant street food. I step out of the private car the travel team arranged, the city lights already glowing against the early evening sky. The Narita Airport was a blur of movement and quiet glances between us.