In the past, when she was at her most helpless, it was Hans who extended his hand to help her. Now, it was her turn to repay the kindness."Well, well." Hans, his body supported by a cane, trembled slightly from excitement. Fernando, watching Maia, also nodded in approval.Hans beckoned to Maia. "My girl, come here, help me inside."Maia quickly approached, supporting Hans. Following that, Hans instructed Fernando, "Fernando, tidy up the pavilion, disinfect everywhere Rita sat, and open the pond valve. I don't want her germs contaminating my beautiful pond.""Yes, sir," Fernando responded promptly, immediately attending to the tasks.Maia continued to assist Hans towards the living room. "My girl, come upstairs with me," Hans said, beckoning Maia and pressing the elevator button. Feeling the gravity in Hans's tone, Maia knew he must have something important to discuss with her. She swiftly followed Hans into the elevator.Upon reaching the second floor, Maia accompanied Hans in
It was plain to see that Hans had made up his mind to give Maia his jade tablet.“I can’t take it.” She shook her head repeatedly, but Hans was adamant about it. He tossed aside his walking stick and got ready to kneel. How could she let him do that? Maia stopped Hans and said worryingly, “What are you doing, Grandpa? You can’t kneel before me. Please, get up!” She quickly held his arms.“I’ll kneel until you agree to keep it, Maia!” Hans knew she had a soft spot for him. “Do me a favor, Maia. The way you carry yourself as the CEO of Starlight Entertainment and the way you handled Rita tells me you’re best suited to safe-keep this jade tablet. “I have no idea what came between you and Cedric, but I’m asking you to do this favor for me, not him. Are you going to turn me down?”Maia looked at the valuable jade tablet in her hands and fell silent. Hans was a cunning man through and through. If it had not been for his old age and memory issues, he would have easily run rings aroun
“My sincerest apologies on behalf of Mr. Hans. I’m sorry for the damage he caused.” Fernando bowed to Maia in remorse. “Please forgive him, Ms. Maia.”It was meaningless to point fingers now. If she looked at the whole thing from Hans’s perspective, he had done nothing wrong. Whatever happened went down because of bad luck and the fact that his memory was jumbled up. “I’ll be going home now, Fernando.” She nodded at him and walked toward her car. The wind blew past her and tousled her long hair. With the small leaf rosewood box in her hands, Maia’s brow furrowed. It turned out Cedric had not known that someone drugged her cup of tea. He actually tried to stop her, but she went ahead and blamed him instead. Maia cast her mind back to the morning when she poked at his chest with a knife and drove the knife in slightly. Cedric did not try to explain the situation. He didn’t even flinch. Instead, he leaned in closer and drove the knife deeper into his chest."Whatever you want, a
Hope smiled and greeted her fellow celebrities in first class after she got on the plane. Then, she swept her eyes across the cabin, searching for Maia. “Who are you looking for, Hope?” Wesley asked. “Hurry up and sit down. I’m going to business class with your assistant now.”“Wait a minute, Wesley.” Hope stopped him and asked, “Have you seen my sister?”He shook his head, “I didn’t see Ms. Maia.”“Isn’t this a private plane booked by The Horizon Awards organizers? Maia is a special guest. She should’ve been on the plane with us!” Hope was confused. Jennifer stood up and whispered, “Don’t you know what happened, Hope?”“What do you mean?” Hope looked at her puzzlingly. Jennifer said softly, “Mr. Cedric’s here too.”“Huh?” Hope said shockingly.“Don’t you think this plane has fewer first-class seats? In fact, it’s narrower.” That was when Hope realized she was right. Then, Jennifer pointed to a sliding door and said, “I saw Cedric carrying Maia inside earlier.”Hope followed
Maia gritted her teeth and asked, “Can’t you get up by yourself?”“I fell because of you.” That was true. Maia could not deny that. She pursed her lips and helped him up after a long pause. The next moment, he held her arm and got up swiftly. He pulled and yanked her into his chest, holding her in his embrace tightly. Maia caught the scent of cigarettes off of him. Her face reddened instantly.“Let me go, Cedric. What do you think you’re…”“I missed you dearly.” He cut her off with a seductive voice. There was no need to give her a long explanation. Maia blushed. “L-Let me go…”“Could you tell me a lie?” His voice was deep and he sounded lonely. Maia did not understand what he meant.“Tell me you miss me too.” Even a lie was better than nothing. She could feel his sorrow. Bereft of his usual arrogance and condescension, Cedric was looking at her with the eyes of a little boy who had been hurt.Her heart soared.Tried as she may have been, Maia could not deny the influence he
“Acting cute isn’t going to help you. I’m still going to teach you a lesson if you leave The Horizon Awards empty-handed!”Hope held her head and said playfully, “Please forgive me, Maia. I won’t tease you anymore. I swear!”Jennifer, who was sitting behind them, covered her mouth and smiled. Hope saw it and said, “Maia’s going to teach you a lesson too if you don’t bag the Best Supporting Actress award, Jennifer!” Hope and Jennifer had acted in the same television drama. They had been close to each other since then.Hope turned to Maia and asked, “Am I right, Maia?”“Not at all!” Maia poked at her head again, “Jennifer did well enough by getting nominated, regardless of the result.”“Absolutely true. You said it, Ms. Maia!” Jennifer nodded, “I’m greatly inspired by the fact that I’m nominated. I’ll keep pushing myself in the future!”“I can’t believe you’re taking her side, Maia… You should’ve stood up for me!”Maia smiled, “I have to remain impartial.”Hope put on a pitiful
“Those reporters are so annoying. No wonder Ms. Maia and Hope’s faces were so dour. How could they ask such disgusting questions?” “They just got off their flight. They must’ve been exhausted, yet they got bombarded with such brainless questions. If it were me, I would’ve already yelled at those reporters!” “We all agree that reporters are annoying, but I’d like to say something random. Ms. Maia looked so beautiful! She has such a fair complexion and such a slim waist! Her legs are so long too! If only she’d join the entertainment industry, she would definitely be Starlight Entertainment’s biggest star!”“I agree! As a fellow female, I couldn’t believe how good Ms. Maia could look in just a spaghetti strap top, I’m envious! Hope looks lovely too! They’re really a pair of beautiful sisters!” “Ms. Maia is the definition of a sophisticated lady-boss!” Maia, Hope and the rest of the guests were waiting at the parking lot. Hope took the opportunity to scroll through Twitter and she
The driver knew how terrifying Cedric could be, so he immediately apologized, “I’m sorry, Mr. Cedric. The car in front stopped suddenly, so I had no choice but to hit the emergency brake!” Cedric nodded coldly. His warmth was only reserved for her. Cedric chose to hold his anger in as he did not want to frighten Maia. Hope continued to sit stiffly throughout the ride, and she even had to consciously steady her breathing. She had never felt this exhausted in her life as she had to put up with two intimidating presences, bear witnessed to that romantic gesture, and sit through Cedric’s sudden cold disposition.By the time they got to the island resort, Hope had immediately tweeted before she had gotten the chance to admire the beautiful scenery. She uploaded a selfie along with a caption, ‘I had a hard time!’ Three minutes after the Tweet, the internet went wild!“I know what happened to Hope! Have you all seen the photos taken by the paparazzi? Ms. Maia dragged Hope into the car