Chapter 30 - The Cold Dismissal
Valentina stopped in the middle of the grand lobby.
She turned her head slowly, her expression completely unreadable as she watched the desperate, broken man rushing toward her.
Julian immediately stepped forward, placing himself between Valentina and Rodrigo, his stance instantly defensive.
"That is close enough,"
Julian warned, his voice dangerously low.
"Val, please, I just need five minutes of your time,"
Rodrigo begged, looking past Julian, his eyes wide with pathetic desperation.
"I need a job. Any job. A junior analyst position. You know I can work hard. Please, we have nothing left. My mother is sick."
Valentina looked at him. She didn't feel anger. She didn't feel sadness. She felt a profound, clinical indifference, as if she were looking at a stranger who had simply wandered into the wrong building.
"I don't hire liabilities, Rodrigo,"
Valentina said smoothly, her voice echoing coldly in the massive marble lobby.
"And I certainly don't employ cowards who couldn't even defend their own fiancé from a glass of wine. Your presence here is an embarrassment."
Rodrigo flinched as if he had been physically struck.
"Security,"
Julian called out sharply, raising a hand.
Two massive guards immediately crossed the lobby, grabbing Rodrigo by the arms.
"Valeria, please! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
Rodrigo screamed as he was forcibly dragged backward toward the revolving glass doors.
Valentina didn't watch him leave. She turned back to Julian, perfectly composed.
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"Let's go over those merger documents in the car,"
She said calmly, walking out the private executive exit without a single backward glance.
