“Do you think I’d let some random man to touch you?”Maia wanted to remove her foot from his knee as she could feel the glances coming from around her. She could not help but curl her toes in embarrassment.Cedric smiled at her reflex as he removed the heels from the dust bag. “Relax.” If it was not for the fact that they were in public, she would have kicked him already! When he finally finished putting the heels on her feet, he looked straight into her eyes and smiled lovingly. His eyes sparkled as though they had a galaxy of stars in them. Maia stood up with a frown as people around them started to clap. Her dress and her shoes made her the exact fit for tonight’s theme. All that was missing was just an embrace from a lover.Before their fantasy became a reality, Maia quickly moved away from Cedric and this reaction disappointed everyone in the room.It was obvious now that Cedric had an unrequited love for his ex-wife. It was also fascinating to see someone of his status
Maia lifted her eyes and looked at her. She didn't say anything. She just nodded and quietly entered the apartment."May I use the bathroom?" Maia's voice sounded teary. Even though she tried to control it, emotions are difficult to control."Sure thing." Hope quickly nodded in response.Maia walked to the bathroom. Buck and Hope looked at her back, completely clueless."What happened?" Hope nudged Buck lightly with her elbow.Buck shook his head. "I don't know. I rarely see Miss Maia cry. She's so strong that she didn't even show fear when facing those old shareholders. “But today, after getting in the car, she suddenly cried so much. Did someone bully her? Impossible... Miss Maia would have fought back had anyone bullied her."Buck could not figure out what happened."It must be something at the fashion show."Hope quickly took out her phone from her pajama pocket, logged into Twitter, and checked all the news related to the 1s11 Fashion Show.Suddenly, several headlines
Rita looked at Polly, exclaiming, "What did you say? Baz retaliated against Josephine, and she was hit by eggs?"Polly nodded, truthfully recounting the events at the fashion show to Rita."Yes, we arranged for audience members to cooperate with Josephine to stir the public. They said she rushed onto the stage and threw eggs at Maia, and then Mr. Cedric arrived. “Not only did he publicly prove that Maia was innocent, but he also defended her in front of everyone! Now, the videos are all over the internet, and based on the footage, everything they said is true. Mr. Cedric is still holding Ms. Taylor, and we don't know the exact situation...""What a dumb thing! How could we have such a stupid relative in the Larkin family?” Rita said, "I told her to go after Maia, get everyone to attack her, kick her out of the fashion show, and make it go viral! But she actually went and threw eggs at Maia?"Rita clutched her chest and sat on the nearby sofa. "This is the 1s11 Fashion Show. What an ig
"Did everything really come to light?" He settled down with his teacup and looked at Maia. "I actually feel like this whole thing has become even more confusing."Maia paused as she was sipping her tea."What do you mean, Jordan? Yvette had a motive, and she admitted to her crime in her suicide note...""Maia, have you seen the surveillance footage that the tech department restored?"Maia thought about the surveillance footage, which was currently in her office drawer."I have not watched that footage since confirming Yvette as the culprit.""The tech department knows about my relationship with you, so they made a copy for me. I watched the restored footage in detail, comparing it with Yvette's figure... “I was planning to talk to you about this even if you didn’t come over today. I don’t think the person who entered the company was Yvette. The figure doesn't match hers. The real culprit might be someone else."The teacup in Maia's hand suddenly fell onto the carpet, staining
Hope listened to Maia's voice and immediately turned in the direction of the door. Upon seeing Maia, she teared up."Sis, you're here. I'm really glad that you came."Hope didn't expect Maia to come. After all, this was where she and her mother used to live. Her mother took over as mistress of the Burgess family, stealing a father’s love from Maia.Hope knew Maia did not resent her, but she had not expected her to come here. Hope was trying hard to hold back her tears.Sorting through parents' belongings is a torturous task for any child. Each item represents their parents' past, and memories flood back, making it unbearable.Later, she always used a line from the poem "To Hope" to console herself."Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed, and wave thy silver pinions o’er my head ..."It's because of this line that she endured pain time and time again, and now she has finally gone from bitterness to sweetness.Hope and her past self shared some similarities at this point. Maia s
"Mom..." She cried out for Yvette, completely unable to stand."Hope!" Buck reached out to support Hope, helping her to stay on her feet.Maia frowned, looking at the time displayed on the video. She muttered, "It's not her... It's not her..."Jordan's speculation was correct. The woman in the surveillance footage is not Yvette. She couldn't be an accomplice to the murderer because this recording was enough to prove she was not a suspect!Hope sobbed and asked, "Sis, what are you saying?""She is not the murderer," Maia affirmed. "Yvette is not the killer. She did not push my mom!"Hope was completely bewildered. Then Maia continued, "She had no time to commit the crime."As she spoke, Maia pointed to the time displayed in the upper right corner of the video and reiterated, "The incident happened at 11 p.m. I received the message at 11.20. However, the time shown here is 1L40. “It would take at least fifty minutes by car to reach the scene of the crime!"With that, Maia concl
Hope didn’t hesitate at all. “I believe in you.”“Good. I need you to listen to me. Just pretend you don’t know anything about this. You’re still drowning in the grief of losing your mother, doing what you usually do.”Maia urged her. “Once you’re back to work, you’ll work on television drama shoots and attend events as usual. Don’t do anything differently or express any other emotion.”Maia was deathly afraid that the culprit was observing her from the dark. She must not alert him!Hope promised. “Don’t worry, Maia. I’m an actress. I’ve got this!”“I’ll get to the bottom of this.”“The murderer is relentless, Maia. You have to be careful.” Hope looked at her, worried. Maia nodded in reply.Then, she and Buck helped Hope stuff everything into the storage box. He was taking the box out when several middle-aged women rushed into the corridor. They had heard that the big celebrity was back. They looked around in front of Hope’s place to catch a glimpse of her.“Looking for someo
Maia had seen it all now. It was hilarious to know people this shameless did, in fact, exist.“There are no mirrors in the world big enough to show you how thick-skinned you are.” The middle-aged women weren’t pleased with what she said.“How rude! How dare you talk to us in that way? We’re much older than you. Show us some respect!”Maia crossed her arms and sneered, “What about all the noise you’re making out here? Isn’t that rude too? Why do you deserve my respect just because you’re older than me? My ancestors are way older than you. Are you going to pay your respects to them, then?”They had nothing of value to say to her, so they raised their voices and hurled profanity at her.“I demand to see that bitch now! What makes her think she could disrespect us just because she got rich?”“Who exactly are you? Who are you to speak on her behalf?”“I’m her older sister! Is that good enough for you? Who are you guys to demand Hope to buy you houses?” The grit in Maia’s voice was