“Now tell me, why do I find you always looking sad and tired, what is bothering you?” Among all thoughts going through Maya’s head, she didn’t expect Sicilia to ask her these questions. It warmed her heart the idea that she was concerned about her.
“Don’t worry about me, Sicilia. I’m alright, maybe be it’s just the work, but I will be fine. It’s almost over,” she smiled.
“Child, I might be old, but I’m not stupid. I can’t see the sadness in your eyes, and I know that it
There were tons of things running inside her head. In fact, Maya didn’t know what to expect, what kind of treatment she will get. She didn’t even know why she was there. Her mind and body wanted her to be there. But she was going to be strong.Maya heard movement inside the room, and she waited for something to happen.The door opened suddenly, and Alexander was standing in front of her. At the first look, he was surprised. However, it did not take long for it to be replaced by a blatant annoyed look that immediately gave Maya so much pain. “What do you want?” he asked, not interested at all in what she has to say.He closed the door and stood in front of her.“What is it now?” he was still keeping the act of the annoyed one.“I was with Sicilia right now, and she told me everything,” she said, studying each little change in his face.“What did she tell you?” he asked
Only one day was left before the wedding day, and everyone in the house was running left and right, making sure that everything was ready in time and looked perfect.Maya spent most of her time in the kitchen. That day she had to make the wedding cake, and finish some decorations.As she was working on the cake, Maya couldn’t help but remember the rehearsal dinner that was the previous day. Stephany’s family was also there. They were so happy, living on cloud nine.The more she noticed their presence, the more Maya felt bitter in her heart. The more she felt defeated.Subconsciously, Maya reached out to touch her heart over her chest. Her heart was still hurting so bad, but she had always been a fighter.The more it pains, then the sooner it will be numb, Maya thought to herself. She kept doing the pep talk to herself, reminding her of the things that she had been through from the orphanage, then what happened to Octavio,
“What do you expect me to do, Sicilia?”Maya heard him asked his grandmother rudely. She frowned, as Maya was unable to see what was going on. She could only hear through the door. Spying on them wasn’t good at all, but something inside her told her to listen.“I only want you to think this through one more time,” Sicilia said softly.“Think through what?” “You went through all that trouble, you made that man go to jail after exposing him to everyone, and you cleared Maya’s name and her reputation, and you want me to believe that it was all for nothing?&
Maya shook her head quickly. She squeezed Sicilia’s hand before she said, “Please don’t speak like this, Madam. Alexander is a grown-up man. He makes his own choices, and you must not blame yourself when he fucked up. Excuse my French...”“Oh... this is the first time I hear you speak French,” Sicilia replied teasingly.Maya shrugged her shoulders. From the time she arrived at the Knight’s Mansion, she did her best to be respectful. In fact, she had held back her rebellious attitude a lot of respect for Sicilia.If not, would Alexander leave unscattered when he slept with her and not take responsibility after? He should at least pay for her virginity, right? Maya knew that was expensive when auctioned.And damn, I did not even charge him, Maya thought bitterly.“I totally forgot to ask you about the reason why you came to see me in the first place, excuse my poor mind,” Sicilia
Pete released a heavy sigh once more, “Maya, I don’t want to impose on you.” “No, tell me,” she insisted, “I may not be able to help you solve it, but I can be your venting machine.” Maya grinned encouragingly while her eyes were looking at him with concern. Pete chuckled at that. He then looked at her warmly, with unmasked affection before he said, “You are more than a venting machine. Silly.” Maya hummed, nodded as if she understood, and agreed to what Pete was trying to imply. “That’s true. I am a good cook as well,” She said with a grin. “But come on, spill it.” Maya does felt bad for Pete. He was a kind guy, after all. If she did not fall for Alexander, she would really consider being with him. Who knows in the future, right? Stop it, Maya. Your love life sucks. Just accept that. Maya chastised herself. She could not treat Pete as a rebound, even if he wanted to be one. “So, what’s going on?” She asked again when he did n
“I’m sorry, if I could ever choose who to fall in love with, it would be you,” Maya said apologetically. She was also not lying. Maya really felt bad for Pete. Thankfully, he seemed satisfied with her answer. He grinned before he said, “Good, keep that in mind. If you ever find yourself lonely, just call me.” “I will” Maya broke the hug and walked toward the stairs. She looked back at Pete, tears filling her eyes. Leaving him wasn’t as easy as she thought. “Bye Pete,” She said, but he didn’t respond, only waving. She went to her room, with the memory of his broken smile filling her mind. Maya went to her room, but before on the way there, she saw another friend, who was casually leaning on her door. “Rick...” She called out. He was looking at her expressionlessly with his arms crossed over his chest. He was clearly displeased. “Hey, Rick,” Maya greeted as she hopped towards him, like an obedient girl. He glared at her,
“Goodbye.” Maya uttered to herself. Maya walked past the hallways with a sense of nostalgia at the back of her mind, and it truly brought back memories. She deeply sighed as she left the Knight’s Mansion with Rick. Maya glanced back one last time as she breathed in the wooden smell of the creaking floors and the sweet scents of the drapes as they hanged. With a somber smile, Maya closed her eyes as she took it all in. The joy, heartbreak and memories the place has caused her. Maya breathed in. Rick, who was beside her, scoffed as he teased Maya, “So are we leaving or not?” “Geez, you’re as impatient as ever.” Maya smirked as she continued, “Are you in so much of a hurry to get rid of me, Rick?” “You’re like my sister, Maya, there’s no way I’d want you to leave, but you must. It will be best… for you.” “Yes, I must.” Rick gently tapped Maya’s back and comforted her, “Chin up, and I’ll accompany you wherever you n
“Alexander doesn’t love her,” Maya muttered, and then she realized something. “Wait! How did you know that? I never told you that!” Pete chuckled over the phone before he said, “It was actually just a guess. I did not expect for Alexander to be really the lucky guy that you fell in love with.” There was unmasked sarcasm in his tone. “Pete! Are you making fun of me?” Maya asked. She was actually surprised at the way Pete was talking to her at that moment. He… He seems different. “Of course not, Maya,” Pete said, his tone softer as if he was apologetic. “But look. Alexander is still marrying my sister, so in a way, she’s already ahead of you in so many ways. Well, in just a couple of hours, she would be Mrs. Knight. So that would be too awkward or painful to be there, right?” Pete continued, “Your call. Oh, and keep in mind that if you did somehow choose to go back, it might cause a scene, and you know me well, Maya. I never lie, and I will never
In the United States...Maya was standing in the house that she thought she would not see again.Sicilia was at the door waiting for them to come. When she got out of the car, she immediately went to Sicilia, who embraced her in a long hug.“God, I thought I would never see you again. I was so devastated.”“I thought I would never see you either,” Maya responded after breaking the hug.“So he managed to convince you ?” Sicilia looked back at Alexander.“No, it wasn’t him, it was someone else,” if Pete didn’t come and say those words to Maya, she would still be determined to turn down Alexander, or she would’ve left already. It was all because of Pete, who reminded her to look for her happiness. She thought if she ever forgives Alexander, she would be less of a woman, but that wasn’t the case. She felt even stronger, having the power to reunite them or never be with him a
In France airport, Pete stood between Maya and Alexander, and he looked mad.“What are you doing here?” Alexander asked.
“I uh…” Thomas could not help but feel emotional, but then he snapped. He realized that Mrs. Simons intended to do this! Thomas, enraged, shouted as he threatened Mrs. Simons, “How dare you bring someone like her? She’s my daughter, and she died; you brought that girl here to rub it in my face? Is that it? Huh! You wench!”Mrs. Simons smirked, and just then, Maya stopped the old Duke’s hand mid-air and said, “Please, don’t hurt Mrs. Simons. She was just trying to help me.”Thomas found it odd. Everything about Maya reminded him of his dead daughter- from her eyes, smile, and her kindness. It was too much for the old Duke. Kate passed away young but had she grown up to reach that certain age, Thomas was sure she’d look like Maya.The old Duke left after seeing such resemblance, and that left Mrs. Simons, who was devilishly grinning as everything was going according to plan.Meanwhi
Upon arriving at France, Maya sighed heavily. She felt bad not having to say goodbye at everyone, but then again, she didn’t really think she could face any of them at the moment. The people Maya trusted the most ended up lying to her and manipulating her.But Maya was really bothered about what Alexander said about Mrs. Simons being her aunt. It was impossible, right? Maya knew almost for sure that it was impossible. Perhaps because of Mrs. Simons’s wealth and status, Maya never imagined herself to be anything related to her.Maya shook her head.“Are you okay?” Mrs. Simons asked, “How was the flight?”“Everything was super okay. I didn’t know airlines could fly at any time preferred without any prior notice on the schedule.”Mrs. Simons chuckled, “They didn’t. The plane we rode here is our family’s personal plane since the old Duke, and I love traveling.”“
Stephanie said then before leaving, “I’ll leave it to you to decide what to believe in but here are the files you need. Nothing leads back to Russia, so I say nothing’s keeping you here anymore. The main branch of Greenwillow is at France, and you have a better shot there than here.”“Thank you, Stephanie, for helping me.”Stephanie flinched as she heard that. She did not know what to say because the truth was it was her and Mrs. Simons who was manipulating Maya right now. Mrs. Simons’ plan was to break off the connections holding Maya back from leaving for France- and those were her friends and Alexander.Stephanie gulped hard, kept her composure, and said, “Just remember our agreement. You’ll cut off connections with Alexander. I’ll let what happened last night when you dance with him go and everything else if you just stay away from him as soon as you leave for France.”Maya scoffed, &ld
“Maya’s not answering,” Stephanie said to Mrs. SimonsMrs. Simons was frustrated as she paced back and forth the room, “She must have been with Alexander right now. Damn it. I underestimated Alexander. He’s the perfect tool against me.”Stephanie raised an eyebrow, “Watch your tone. It’s Alexander you’re talking about. I suggest you be careful of what you say about him.”Mrs. Simons rolled her eyes, and then, she had an idea. Mrs. Simons smirked, “I’m betting Maya is back at Oli’s mansion as we speak.”“And? What are you planning?”“Since Pedro gathered them all up to delay Maya leaving for France, I’m just going to ‘undo’ what he did,” Mrs. Simon reasoned, “Once Maya knows about how Alexander, Oli, Sally- the people she trusted the most, are all trying to delay her form-finding her family, she would be so devastated a
“Aren’t you going to give me a chance to explain?”“No. Now leave before I punch you in the face.”Alexander said, “I’m actually quite surprised you still haven’t done that already.” Alexander continued, “Anyway, I can’t leave. I just told you, you owed me for all the trouble last night, and it wasn’t cheap too.”“You’re making it up. I don’t remember anything like that.”Alexander smirked, “Oh, but you remembered what you said and did to me-“Maya immediately covered Alexander’s mouth and whispered to him, “If you say anything- even one word about it to Oli or Sally, I’ll kill you, okay?”Alexander nodded as he was continued teasing Maya.Sally raised an eyebrow, “What were you saying, Alexander?”“Nothing.” Alexander smirked at Maya and continued, “I probably r
So, Maya walked her way towards Alexander. Her steps were light as to not distract Alexander, who was casually sitting, book in his hand, and the light was naturally hitting his black hair. Alexander looked like a scene from a movie.Whereas Maya was a mess, she barely brushed her hair, and her clothes were a mess because Oli chose the first set of clothes that would fit her for the night, and her face was not yet completely clean from all the make-up last night.Ugh, this sucks. Maya groaned as she thought to herself, this is not how I planned our meeting to happen. In fact, Maya never planned to cross paths with Alexander ever again. Maya awkwardly greeted, “Hello. Erm… uh, about last night-“She was worried that she most probably did something stupid, then her thought ran along the lines of what would Stephanie do to me now? The last conversation they had was when Stephanie texted Maya she would be late because sh
“I figured the silhouette was yours because of this.” Stephanie reluctantly broke the glass case near Kate’s old room and grabbed the Emerald green Greenwillow brand handbag there. Stephanie explained, “I saw this bag on the picture and coincidentally, at the video of the orphanage too when you left Maya. I figured only one would have this bag in possession since it was discontinued, and there was only one of this manufactured because it was Kate’s work. Kate made it as a gift for her aunt, and that is none other than you, Mrs. Karin Simons.”Mrs. Simons scoffed, “I’ve always loved the bag but thinking that Kate made it was disgusting, but still, I had to keep up the act and wear that bag every day.”“This green bag is the only physical evidence that would bring you down. If the video of you handing Maya over at the orphanage with this green bag, your alibi will fail, and they would know that you weren’t