She Killed the Leader of the Shadow

Before they had even arrived, when they were still about twenty meters away, the maid sent by Gabriela rushed over to report their arrival. Gabriela quickly approached the front door to greet them, noticing two individuals walking in their direction. Hearing some movement from behind, Gabriela turned her head and saw her husband, who had always been seated, standing right behind her. Gabriela commented, "That's more like it." As they got closer, Gabriela greeted them with a warm smile, "Welcome." For Valentina, she was particularly uncomfortable dealing with affable elderly people, especially the kind-hearted yet traditional and very proper elders. She preferred interacting with the less friendly old folks because she wouldn’t have to respect them - if she felt upset, she could confront or scold them. In response to Gabriela’s greeting, Valentina nodded her head routinely. After pondering for a moment, she removed her hand from her pocket and said neither coldly nor passionately, "Hello." She then gave a nod towards Gideon who was standing behind. Seeing her greeting his father in her peculiar way, William couldn't help but smile. Gabriela gently held one of Valentina’s hands and gave it a light pat, her eyes brimming with affection, saying, "You must be frozen from your journey." Valentina responded, "I’m fine." William suggested, "Let's go inside and talk." Upon entering the villa, William introduced Valentina to his parents. William kindly said to her, "Just call them Sir and Madam." He knew Valentina disliked socializing. Gabriela laughed and said, "You can call us anything." She began to care about Valentina's health. When William hugged the unconscious and injured Valentina who had just had surgery from the helicopter, the entire Felton family was startled and worried. William put off his family by saying it was a car accident. Once it was confirmed Valentina’s health was all better and that she didn’t feel discomfort anymore, Gabriela felt relieved. Then she turned to her husband - who’d been silent all this while - and nudged, "You should say something. Miss Ricardo saved your life. You should at least thank her." Gabriela felt a headache coming from her husband's nature. She muttered, "William is already thirty-two. If he doesn't marry Miss Ricardo, I don't know where you would find another one he likes." William had always been a loner since he was a child and had no friends, let alone made female friends. Gabriela had been worried about his marriage since he was little. It was not easy to find someone he liked who was so outstanding. However, Valentina said, "He has thanked me." Gabriela asked, "Is that so?" Gideon looked at Valentina, "We met this morning." William was puzzled. "You've met?" Valentina replied, "Yes." In the morning- When Valentina woke up and came out of her room, her limbs were still stiff. She moved about in the villa to loosen herself up. Just as she descended from the stairs, she bumped into Gideon who had just walked in disregarding the cold wind. They looked at each other silently for a moment. Gideon considered for a moment before greeting, "Good morning, you're awake." "Yeah." The atmosphere froze. Then, Gideon broke the tension, "When did you wake up?" "Just now." Gideon was stunned. "Well, it's good you're awake." Valentina took the initiative to ask, "Are you here for William?" Gideon didn't confirm nor deny. Valentina added, "He's still asleep. If it's not emergent, perhaps you could come back later." "I came to ask him about your situation." "I'm doing quite well." Gideon nodded, "That's good, remember to rest." He paused and added, "It's cold outside, dress warmly if you're going out. Do you need a doctor? I can call one for you." Valentina declined. He was about to leave when he remembered something. He stopped, gratefully saying, "Thank you for saving my life." "You're welcome." From their simple conversation, Gideon got a grasp of Valentina's character. Though he didn't say it, he greatly admired Valentina in his heart. She was composed and calm, neither arrogant nor rash, just like a lady of noble character. Surely, she wasn't just an extraordinary doctor; there must be more exceptional qualities to her. No wonder his unromantic youngest son was so infatuated with her. As William looked at Valentina, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of regret that he was not the first one to meet her. Oh well, it was his father, not some other man. Gideon stood up, "Let's eat first." William led Valentina to the dining room. "You said you wanted to eat fish, but didn't specify what kind. So, I prepared freshwater fish, deep-sea fish, and wild river fish," Gabriela warmly greeted Valentina, serving a portion of each dish to her personally. "Just taste each of them, see which one you prefer, so I can prepare it according to your taste next time." Valentina only mentioned that she wanted to eat fish, yet a third of the dishes on the table were fish dishes, prepared in various ways. What's more, Gabriela had gone the distance of putting on the earrings Valentina had given her, carefully dressing up to show her importance to Valentina. Gabriela served more dishes to Valentina with a heart full of concern, "Eat more. You've lost so much weight; you need to regain your strength." William said to her, "You eat. I'll serve her." Then he asked Valentina, "I've prepared a few bottles of wine for you, can you drink?" Knowing she just woke up, he wasn't sure if drinking would harm her. Somewhat implicitly, Valentina asked, "Am I supposed to drink it with your parents?" William replied, "Don't mind them, drink if you want to." Valentina answered, "I can." Valentina was a doctor, so hearing her answer, Gideon didn’t even wait for William's response and directed his servant, "Go and get the wine." The Felton family was known for their strict discipline where everyone, no matter the number, sat silently at the dinner table, void of speech or sound. But today, Gideon broke the rules. On seeing William who couldn’t cease his chatter while serving Valentina, painstakingly picking bones off fish, Gideon realized that his youngest son abandoned his strict code of conduct before Valentina. Gideon was a man of few words and a serious demeanor, which could unnerve any visitor. However, Valentina was implacable. She ate, drank, and even actively spoke to Gideon who responded warmly. The atmosphere was harmonious and warm. This was, by far, the best meal William had in nearly a year. Gideon said, "Whenever you're available, William's mother and I would like to pay a visit to your parents." Valentina quipped, "Do you mean to visit their graves?" It surely couldn't be to visit Selena, right? The soup spoon fell from Gabriela's hand into her bowl, and her gaze along with Gideon's turned to William as if to probe, 'Aren't her parents and siblings still alive?' William said, "It's a long story." Barely touching the surface of the story, William succinctly told his parents about Valentina being the lost daughter of the Doyle family. Upon learning about Valentina's hardships, Gabriela was overwhelmed with empathy. Gideon's anger flared up. "What on earth is the Doyle family doing?" After dinner, Gideon called William to his study upstairs to discuss the incident of Valentina being injured and unconscious. A car accident? Even a fool could tell it's not. They didn't ask much because William was heartbroken at that time. Now Valentina was awake, he had to ask. After all, William had been missing since the end of last year, there was no news from him even during Christmas, and he had disappeared for several months. Then he finally returned with comatose Valentina, and the family even arranged so many secret guards. "If it's inconvenient to talk about it, then don't. I just want to ask you, has everything been resolved?" William answered, "It should be resolved. She has killed the leader of the Shadow." Gideon was shocked. Valentina was downstairs with Gabriela, not knowing how much William had told his father. She noticed that Gideon's gaze on her had changed. It was initially a gaze from a senior to a junior, but now... it seemed more like equals.