Kneeling for a Second Chance (Sebastian and Valeria) novel Chapter 7

Valeria pulled Selena along and left.

Not forgetting to turn back, Selena waved goodbye to Sebastian.

A colleague passing by smiled at Sebastian. "Is that a relative of yours? That girl really looks a lot like you. I guess your whole family has great genes."

"Does she?" Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

When he looked up again, Valeria and Selena had already left.

Martha would probably be over the moon if he really had a daughter of Selena's age, but that wasn't possible, no matter how he considered the possibility.

Still, that little girl was awfully cute.

Sebastian thought of Selena and felt a faint, inexplicable tug in his chest.

…

On the way home, Selena asked, "Mommy, Potato is still in Mr. Doctor's car."

"Potato?" Valeria realized that Selena meant the pale yellow mutt she'd saved in traffic.

Thinking about how grave that situation had been, Valeria turned serious. "Lenny, you can't do such dangerous things again."

Selena explained, "I know. But Mommy, he wasn't driving that fast. His car didn't hit me. I got scared and fell by myself."

"That doesn't mean it's okay." Valeria ruffled Selena's hair.

Selena was everything to her.

"But Mommy, Potato is still in Mr. Doctor's car, and he looks a lot like Daddy," Selena protested.

"Lenny, you mustn't tell anyone else that he looks like Daddy, because he might not be happy if he hears about it. We have to respect him," Valeria advised in a slight panic.

Even though she couldn't fully explain herself, Selena still nodded obediently.

Valeria held Selena close. Weaving a web of lies like this merely felt messier each time she added something to it.

There was no way she could approach Sebastian to ask for the dog back.

Besides, she was living in Lucy's house, which was a cramped apartment in an aging neighborhood. A barking dog would disturb the neighbors.

Even if Valeria didn't think Sebastian was a compassionate person, he probably wasn't the type who hated dogs. She remembered the time when she tried to get him to adopt a pitiful stray dog for the winter, only to be coldly refused by him.

He had carried himself with a distant air—unless he was in bed. There were even times when he had a sharp tongue.

Valeria said, "Lenny, once you're done with your surgery and you've recovered, I'll work really hard to buy us a house of our own. Then, we'll get you a dog, alright?"

"But that won't be Potato anymore," Selena responded softly, causing Valeria's heart to ache.

…

At 9:00 pm, Valeria sat with Selena, helping her decorate a school poster.

On the paper, Selena had drawn a cute, chubby little puppy. It was yellow and adorable.

In the end, Valeria couldn't resist picking up her phone. She found the business card Sebastian had handed her earlier and dialed his number to ask for the dog.

It was probably his work number, but it was only the second time she had called him in the past seven years. The first was six years ago—she was in the hospital, weak from massive blood loss, and dialled his number in the dead of the night.

When she heard his deep voice on the other end, she hung up without saying a word.

Now, as she stood on the balcony, she glanced into the living room. Selena was on the couch watching TV.

After closing the balcony door, Valeria leaned against it, her eyes fixed on her phone. It took her ages before she pressed the dial button.

The phone rang three times before it was answered.

The pleasant sound of a woman came through. "Hello, are you looking for Sebastian?"

Valeria's blood ran cold. She gripped her phone tightly, and her throat locked up.

The woman on the other end called out a few more times.

Finally, Valeria found her voice, answering, "Sorry, I have the wrong number."

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