“No, thanks! I’d rather be your childhood friend, not your lover!” Lindy waved him off with a laugh.Sonnet was a little relieved to hear them joke around like that. She had been worried that they would feel awkward around each other after what happened last time, but it seemed like her worries were unfounded. They were childhood friends, after all, so they could be honest with each other.Halfway through dinner, Sonnet went to the washroom. When she opened the door to the ladies’ room, she took a step back in shock.There were two people hugging and kissing in the corner. The woman was none other than Runa, the starlet she had seen at the door.When they heard her come in, both of them stopped and turned to look at Sonnet. She saw that the man kissing Runa was slightly over thirty and tall, with his hair swept back. He was quite fashionably dressed and decently handsome.He looked a little familiar, though Sonnet just could not place him.Neither of the two seemed fazed by Sonne
A young girl like Runa stood no chance against Mariette. Mariette pulled Runa down to the ground by her hair and then slapped her across both cheeks several times, the sound of the smacks echoing throughout the washroom!Runa’s face immediately began swelling, and she wailed, “Mr. Wolfe, save me!”“Mr. Wolfe” had been cocky just a moment before, but he chickened out now. When he stepped forward to help Runa, his wife shot him a single glare and he quickly froze on the spot in fear.“Ahh! Mr. Wolfe!” Runa took a high heel to the stomach and screamed for help.Claude Wolfe shirked his shoulders and turned his gaze away.Sonnet could not help but smirk at what she saw. The man who had acted so arrogant not long ago was nothing but a hen-pecked coward.She could not be bothered to watch this foolish fiasco, so she pushed her way out of the crowd and left.Mariette was wholly occupied with hitting the homewrecker, so she never even realized that Sonnet was there. It was only after
Sonnet blinked. Well, that was dramatic.Lindy said in a whisper, “I heard on the grapevine that someone did this to target Mariette in secret. I just don’t know who it is.”A thought occurred to Sonnet, but she could not be sure, so she did not say anything.In the afternoon, she received a text from Maxwell. [I’ll be waiting for you in the usual place tonight!]At half-past nine that night, Sonnet fed Lil Three and changed her diapers. She then went to the twins’ room to take a look at them. They were already asleep, so she told Lindy to keep an eye on them while she went for a walk downstairs.Lindy was chatting on the phone with Marcus, so she had no time to see where Sonnet was going. Sonnet snuck off next door with ease.As soon as she walked in, Maxwell pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. When they finally parted, Maxwell pulled out something with a flourish and held it in front of her.It was a set of keys. Sonnet asked with a laugh, “And where are thos
A few days later, at Mariette’s manor—“What? A divorce? You want to get a divorce from me?!”Mariette looked at the document her husband handed her, her face distorted with rage. “You’re the one who cheated on me, and the whole city knows it. How dare you ask me for a divorce after that!”Claude had the look of a man who had nothing to lose. “Everyone already knows, anyway. If we force ourselves to stay together anyway, wouldn’t people laugh at us even more?”Mariette threw the papers into Claude’s face. “If that’s really the reason, why didn’t you ask for a divorce after that day itself? You swore up and down that you would never divorce me, that you truly loved me, that you only felt lust for that homewrecker!“And now you’re saying you want a divorce to save us face? Do you take me for a fool? You want out because I’m in trouble now, and you can’t mooch off me anymore!”She called him out perfectly, so Claude grew angry. “What are you talking about? I didn’t mooch off you! Ev
Will said angrily from the other side of the phone, “I’m already helping you! I’ve been trying to defend you every day, but the old farts on the board are being surprisingly stubborn. I don’t know what’s up with them!”“The Brooks Corporation belongs to our family, doesn’t it? What right do they have to intervene? Even if I used the company’s funds, that’s still our family business. Why are they interfering?!” Mariette said in a huff.“I told you to learn on the job, but you wouldn’t listen! There’s no use complaining now. Your grandfather may have singlehandedly funded the corporation, but we’re not the only shareholders. Every one of your grandfather’s old comrades had a portion of the shares. Before Maxwell died, we still had his shares, so our family had the majority.“After he died, his shares were donated to charity, and then your Uncle Welson sold off some of his. Now, the other old coots have more total shares than I do. I might be the chairman, but I’m not the only decision
Maxwell narrowed his eyes.What was up with Mariette’s look of shock and disbelief? Didn’t she already know that he was alive?“Mariette, I’m right here now. There’s no need for you to keep pretending,” he said sarcastically.Mariette was perplexed. “What do you mean? More importantly, didn’t you die? Were you faking your death? Also, you actually sound normal now! What’s up with that?”Maxwell looked at her without a word.He understood Mariette’s character to some extent. She was not a schemer, wearing her cocky heart on her sleeve. If she really did know that he was alive, she would not be keeping up the act even now.However, all of his investigations had pointed to her. If she was not the mastermind, then who was?Maxwell thought it over, then he turned around and sat down on her couch. “Thanks to you, I didn’t die. In fact, I even got an unexpected boon!”“Oh… That means that man was talking about you!” Mariette’s eyes widened in realization.Maxwell watched her every re
Mariette was stunned for a second, then she glared at Maxwell. “Aren’t you getting a bit too big for your breeches, Maxwell? How could you talk back to me?”Back when Maxwell had the mind of a child, he would cower whenever she raised her voice. The way he was right now was not cute at all.Maxwell’s smile instantly disappeared, and his expression turned dark. He looked at Mariette with a sharp gaze.Mariette shuddered inexplicably. What was going on? Why did Maxwell feel a little scary? She had been planning to tell him off, but her voice died in her throat.Maxwell stared at her with a glint of danger in his eyes. “You had better come clean with me, Mariette Brooks. Do you still have that Armani scarf, or don’t you?!”“I-I’ll check. I haven’t worn it in a while,” Mariette said, instinctively giving in.She searched through her closet carefully and then looked at Maxwell, her expression troubled. “I can’t seem to find it. I think I lost it.”“Where did you lose it?” Maxwell sai
It had to be Will Brooks!Maxwell’s second uncle looked friendly, but he was a deeply cunning man.Maxwell’s father had been the oldest son, and he helped Maxwell’s grandfather with work since he was a child. If it were not for that car accident, Will would never have been able to take over the company in his lifetime. That meant he had a good motive to kill Maxwell’s father.Mariette had told Will about her encounter with Scout, and she dropped her scarf at Will’s manor. Cobalt Wolfe and Lynette Shaw were also employees at the Brooks Corporation.All this seemed to suggest that other than Mariette, Will was the most likely suspect. Mrs. Wilson’s accident was highly suspicious, too. If Will had found out from Scout that Maxwell was neither dead nor demented, then why would he still go after Mrs. Wilson?What did he want from Mrs. Wilson? Did he just want to confirm the news of his survival? Or—Was he trying to figure out if Maxwell had regained his senses after the explosion