After a while, Maya thought of a plan, she hastily searched the internet and saw a bar with excellent reviews. Maya got all excited and announced accidentally a little louder than she intended, “Pedro! I found one!”
A lot of people looked at her with confusion written all over their faces. Maya chuckled softly and mouthed to Pedro, “Sorry.”
Pedro cleared his throat and coldly walked beside her, their shoulders barely touching. Pedro was quite private, and he kept his distance all through the night. Maya thought it would be hard to get closer to him and make a living with him bearable.
She hoped he would not lock her up again, so she had to figure out Pedro’s weak spots.
Pedro looked at her, Maya’s doe eyes were staring at his for quite a while, and her cheeks flushed a little as she looked away. Maya said, “I found a bar. Can we go?”
“Hmmm, let me see.” Pedro checked the place thoroughly a
But to his surprise, Maya started crying as she hugged the vodka bottle. She was crying like a child that Pedro was not sure how to deal with.Not to mention the fact that they were not the only people in the bar. Pedro felt his face heated up from embarrassment.Pedro tried to grab the vodka bottle from Maya, but she was hugging it so tightly. Through gritted teeth, he said, “Maya, give me that damn bottle. So we can leave now….” As he spoke, he tried to snatch it back on more time.“No! Robber!” Maya protested while glaring at him. She continued to hug the bottle as if her life depended on it.Robber? Pedro’s face turned black. He was on the verge of hitting Maya. Discretely, he looked around and checked if someone else heard her and was probably now looking at him like he was a criminal.Fuck! Pedro internally cursed as he realized that everyone else was staring at them.“Maya,
Maya’s face beamed like sunshine, and she immediately walked towards the stage. Some men were whistling as she passed by- it annoyed Pedro.He reasoned out with himself that he was just being annoyed at how irresponsible Maya was. Aside from that, it was just one time. He promised to not let her drink again later.Pedro tried to look the other way and let Maya be, but in the end, Pedro went after Maya as she went on stage to dance with the flamingo dancers.Pedro announced after he cleared his throat, “If you turn around from the stage and not watch the lady I came here with, I’d pay for everything you ordered and will order.”As they heard that, they immediately turned their seats around and continued on with drinking. Pedro smirked, feeling satisfied as he said, “Excellent, put their tabs on mine. I’ll pay for everything tonight.”There was drunken cheering from everyone at the bar, but Pedro’s gaze
Sally was actually Maya’s childhood friend back from the orphanage, and they have been keeping in touch even after all these years. Actually, the moment Maya knew that Pedro was going to lock her up there and that he was actually Alexander’s fiancé’s brother, she devised a plan to save herself.She knew she had to rely on others.And when she needed help, Sally came in a heartbeat.The two hadn’t seen each other in a long time, so Maya was happy to see Sally turn into the fine and sophisticated woman she was now. Sally was now the embodiment of elegance and finesse. No one could be able to guess that Sally used to be one of those kids who played with dirt before except Maya.Or one of those girls who would put worms under the pillow of those kids who would bully them in the morning.There were many memorable things from Sally. Since fighting was not allowed among kids, the bullied kids were not able to fight back.
“I mean, I saw you two the whole night, he seemed… I don’t know. If I don’t you, I would say you two looked good together as a couple.” Sally teased, “Opposites do attract after all.”“And may I remind you that he’s the brother of the woman who’d be marrying Alexander.” Maya replied, with a forced smile on her face. She released a sigh before continuing, “He was going to keep me here just to make sure I won’t bother with the wedding and all. How annoying that no matter where I go, I always seem to go back to the one thing I’m trying so hard to forget.”Oli and Sally looked at each other. Oli sighed as well but remained quite.With a bitter smile, Maya continued, “Well, it’s over. Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.”Sally and Oli went out for some fresh air, and they gave Maya some time alone with Pedro.Maya sat there across Pe
“Yeah, we do,” Sally replied before she sighed heavily again. There was a helplessness in her expression that was hard to understand.When Maya noticed this, she could not help but asked, “That’s like the hundredth time you sighed tonight, is anything on your mind, Sally?”In Maya’s eyes, her friend already has everything. Yes, nothing was perfect, but at least she had a better life, right? Like money and all. Not to mention a family that she could call her own, even when they were not on completely okay terms.So what could make Sally feel… Worried about? Love perhaps?If that was the case, that would be really interesting.Before Maya could be asked once more, Sally shook her head. She looked hesitant and started glancing back and forth at Maya.Finally, she took a gulp on her liquor and confessed as her soft voice trembled, “The reason I’m here- the real reason wasn’t s
Maya stood up and said, “I’ll make us breakfast, and I’ll grab some medicine on the way. Do you want anything?”“I could kiss you right now, but I can barely sit down,” Oli remarked while looking at her brightly. Then she added, “You’re an angel, Maya. Not to mention you are a chef too, so whatever you make must be amazing. But, thank you. A soup would be best.”“Soup and medicines were coming right up.” Maya chuckled as she went on her way; she had some spare changes in his pocket and headed to the nearest drugstore.She grabbed some hangover medicines and ingredients for the soup.On her way back, her gaze unknowingly searched for Pedro among the crowd.Was it out of curiosity, worry, or something else entirely? Maya thought to herself. But before she knew it, she was starting to miss him.Maya once again shook her head and came back to her senses, and there&rsq
Before Maya could reply, Oli continued, “Or an assistant or both. I know you can do either, Maya. I mean, I’ve been looking for a decent chef, but I’ve been so disappointed.”“I’d be glad to work for you, Oli,” Maya said with a genuine smile. Not only was she glad to work for her, but she was looking forward to it.Actually, she prefers to be a chef than an assistant. She did have a bad experience with them later, after all. When she was an assistant, she met Alexander, after all.Oli then stood up and stared at Maya from head to toe. She was silent for a moment before she said, “There’s one more thing far more important, you know?”“And what’s that?” Maya asked curiously, her head tilting to the side.Oli and Sally looked at each other enthusiastic. With the way they were looking at Maya, she could not help but felt nervous.Maya gulped as she crossed her arms ove
Ryan, a blunt and seemingly cold person, somehow complimented Oli’s loud and bold personality. He also looked good, perhaps even better if he was not scowling at her now.But Maya was alright with him. For some reason, Maya was reminded by Rick and the Knight’s Mansion, and she wonders how he was doing and how things were back there.She shook her head. Whatever the people in that Mansion were doing, Maya was not a part of it anymore.Maya had to focus on her future for now. She was no more looking back-at least for now. She had to keep her head in the game.Ryan rolled his eyes to the side. He was getting frustrated by Oli’s stubbornness. One could see that he was close to snapping at Oli, if not the fact that she was the boss.“Come on, please?” She asked persistently, with eyes wide, before blinking them repeatedly.Maya almost snickered loudly. Oli was trying to act cute. Well, she was indeed cute. But still
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