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
Maia’s eyes widened. Cedric was the last person she would expect to see here!“Maia…” Hope said to her. “What’s Cedric doing here?” Cedric used to be Maia’s husband. That made him her former brother-in-law.Maia frowned. She had no answers for Hope. Hope was frightened to see Cedric advancing toward them. “I’m going to go help Buck!”Hope might be naive, but she had spent a long time in the entertainment industry. Her emotional intelligence and intellect were solid. She knew how to read a situation, and knew when to make herself scarce.Maia started backing off when she saw Cedric taking steps toward her. She needed to keep a distance from him. He suddenly caught her arms when she took another step backward.“You’ll fall into the ditch.”Maia was startled. She turned and saw that there was indeed a ditch at the side of the apartment. “Let me go!” Maia said coldly. She could not even look at him. He did as she asked. Maia could hear humming in her mind as her hand fell. Was th
“Get in the car, now!” Cedric lowered the car window and said impatiently.“Right away!” Baz nodded and hopped in immediately. The air conditioner was turned on in the car. Baz felt much better now. He drove the car out of the old neighborhood. They were in the city very soon. “Has my mom been discharged from the hospital?”“Ms. Rita was discharged two days ago,” Baz answered instantly. Then, Cedric spoke again with a terrifying voice, “Is Josephine still alive?”“She is. We acquired a lot of rotten eggs from farmers and egged her. She stinks to high heaven now.”Cedric tapped his thigh with his fingers. “Take her to the Larkin Manor.” It was time to end this!“Roger.” Baz made a few phone calls and ordered the bodyguards to transport Josephine to the Larkin Manor when the traffic light turned red. Then, he turned the car around and drove to the aforementioned manor.They arrived at the Larkin Manor in about half an hour. Cedric had not been here for the better part of a mo
“Speak carefully now, Josephine. Did someone pull your strings? Did Maia bribe you and ask you to stage the whole thing? You’re such a good girl. How’s it possible for you to do such a thing alone?”Rita smacked her chest to show how heart-wrenching it was for her. She could not stop herself from trying to frame Maia for it. Josephine clenched her fist and closed her eyes. She knew what Maia meant to Cedric. She was not going to fall for the same trick twice. “I did it all by myself. I wanted to avenge Zera.”No one bought what she said. Baz was particularly skeptical about it. Cedric maintained a gloomy face, not saying anything.Then, Judy said, “You let Ms. Rita down, Ms. Josephine! Did you not think about her reputation? She took pity on you and took you to Prismara. I can’t believe this is how you repay her! You deserve everything that’s coming to you!”Rita and Judy did a good job at keeping up the ruse. Cedric grinned slowly. It was amusing to watch them.He lit a cigaret
He applied pressure with the sole of his foot. Moments later a loud snap was heard. Judy’s arm was broken. “Ah!” Judy yelped as her already weakened body trembled. “If you dare hurt her again, I’ll make sure you regret it!” Cedric threatened as he applied more pressure.Judy could no longer yelp from the excruciating pain she felt as she laid motionless in a puddle of blood. “Did you think I would have forgotten what you’d done?” Judy was horrified as her face turned as white as a sheet.Rita immediately tried to ease the tension by warning Cedric, “This is your grandfather’s home. How could you do something so cruel here? Are you trying to kill her? Let her go, she already apologized for it! You should forgive and forget!” “Forgive and forget?” Cedric smiled mockingly at Rita.“Did you ever show that same grace to my wife?” He questioned mockingly. “I never abused Maia. These two incidents are totally different, how could you expect me to do the same?” Rita would never
Fernando looked at Hans and shook his head helplessly. “Mr. Larkin is constantly asking for something sweet. We’ve agreed that he could only have some once a week, but I’ve caught him stealing dessert from the kitchen a few times. I had no choice but to report this to Mr. Cedric and from then on, he hadn’t spoken to me for a few days.” “Don’t worry about it. It’s grandpa’s fault for not keeping his promise. If he continues to refuse talking to you, then you should just ignore him too!” Maia said, intentionally speaking loud enough so that Hans could hear them. Hans quickly stood up and tip-toed to the kitchen door as he continued to eavesdrop on their conversation. Maia knew Hans was already listening to them behind the door and continued. “I think grandpa is also angry at me now since he refuses to talk to me too. Such a shame, he can’t have these cream puffs and the pudding I brought! Why don’t you help me finish them?” “I’d love to, Mrs. Larkin!” “Fernando, just call me
“Maia, why don’t you stay for dinner? Mr. Larkin told me to inform the chef to prepare your favorite dishes. It would be a shame if you left without trying them.” Fernando was somewhat of a scourge. He could not bear to see food going to waste. “Maia, if you don’t stay for dinner, then I’ll starve myself starting tomorrow!” Hans said while he limped toward the living room. His back gave off a sad aura. “I’m glad that you’re willing to give up on desserts!” Hans froze on the spot when he heard what Maia had said. “Fine, I won’t eat desserts. She’s not staying for dinner either way. Maia doesn’t love her grandfather anymore.” Maia felt sad as she heard Hans complaining. This was not what she had wanted. She knew that Hans had been excited to see her. Cedric lowered his head and whispered into her ears, “So, are you running away from me?” Maia glared daggers at Cedric as she debated internally. She was not going to admit that he was the cause of her wanting to leave. Momen