All Maia could see was darkness. It was likely she had risen rather abruptly, causing her blood pressure to drop suddenly. It was rather common. She rose slowly once she felt a little better and rubbed her sore neck. She exited the master bedroom and saw a couple of bodyguards carrying two cartons into the study. She asked, “What are those?”The bodyguards saw her and answered, “These are voice recorders, Ms. Maia.”Voice recorders? She was even more confused now. What was he doing, buying so many voice recorders? Did he need two cartons of them?The elevator door slid open slowly, and out came Cedric. “What are you doing here?” He saw that Maia looked a little tired. She asked, “Why did you buy this many voice recorders?”“I’m distributing them to the staff.”She was stunned. “Is this some kind of benefit for staff?” How often did she see companies distributing voice recorders as a part of their benefit package? Moreover, it was an expensive brand. Every single recorder w
“Drink it.” Cedric put down the milk before Maia. “Cedric…” She frowned. “I can’t.”“Don’t you want to find Hope?”She grunted lightly. “Of course I want to find her, but I don’t want to drink the milk either.”“There, there. Drink it.” He said that and took the milk to her. Maia watched as he gave her the milk again and hesitated. At that moment, he gave Baz a look. Baz said immediately, “I’ve tracked down Ms. Hope, Ms. Maia.”Maia asked hurriedly, “Where is she?” Baz merely looked at the milk and didn’t dare to say more. She had no choice but to submit, so she drank the milk. Cedric wouldn’t quit until after she had drunk all of it.Baz proceeded to say, “She’s at the Burgess Winery, Ms. Maia.”Maia walked out of the villa immediately. Cedric gripped her hand again and said, “I’m coming with you.” She shook her head quickly and said, “You didn’t go to your company yesterday, so you have to go today. Otherwise, the old guys won’t let you hear the end of it. Although I do
Homer got even madder when he saw how sad Hope was. He banged on the desk forcefully. “When are you going to wise up, Hope? What’s there to be sad about?”“How can you say that, Dad? Errol’s my brother and your son!” Hope had never thought her father could be this cold-hearted. Shaking his head helplessly, Homer said, “Errol isn’t my son. He’s in no way related to me, and he’s certainly not related to you. There’s no need for you to feel sad for him.”She was dumbstruck. All she could do was stand there and stare at Homer. He yanked Hope’s arms and said, “Wake up, Hope. Errol isn’t part of our family. For that matter, you and Maia are on very different paths. Don’t you know how much she hated me as well as your mother? What makes you think she has your best interests at heart? “Who knows what she’d do to you if you worked at her company? Listen to me and stop putting yourself in the public’s eyes. Obey me and take over the winery. I know everything there’s to it. I can show you t
Homer was rooted to the spot the moment he saw Maia. “W-What are you doing here? This is the Burgess Winery. We don’t welcome you here. Get out!” Homer looked at her with fear in his eyes. He was cowering, as if Rosa herself were standing before her. What’s worse, Cedric was the one behind her. Who would have guessed Cedric, a man who was usually preoccupied with various matters, would follow her as if he were her shadow?He hurled the broom onto the ground forcefully to establish his authority. “I agreed to let you have the winery, but I didn’t agree to let you take away my employee by force. You even hit her!” Maia looked at Homer, who was staring daggers at her. She had cut off her ties with her father last night. Now, she was the CEO of Starlight Entertainment, and Hope was her company’s actress. She has a duty to seek justice for her employees. The fact that the outrageous person was her father wouldn’t change that!“She’s my daughter. How can you say that I took her awa
“What do you think you’re doing?!”Buck was six-foot-two while Homer was an old man. Naturally, it wasn’t difficult for Buck to hold him off. “Please don’t hurt my dad, Mr. Buck.” Hope said.Mr. Buck. The way she addressed him was unbearable.“Don’t worry about it, Ms. Hope.” He would do his job professionally.Hope was also distressed to hear the way he called her.“My biggest regret in life was that I gave life to you, Maia Burgess. You’ve always worked against me!” Homer shouted at her. He was directing all of his hostility toward her now.Maia stopped in her tracks. She felt all her father said, but she didn’t feel hurt. Was it because she was numbed to it? She pursed her lips. She kept her slender back straight, but her clenched fists were trembling. “What a coincidence! My biggest regret in life is having an unreasonable excuse for a father.” However, there was repressed sorrow behind that calm tone. Hope tightened her grip on Maia and said, “No, Maia… You and Dad a
“Please give us an explanation of Ms. Hope’s sudden departure from the film set, Ms. Maia. They say she was being a diva. What exactly went down?”“Everyone knows your Ms. Hope’s sister, Ms. Maia. You’re also the CEO of Starlight Entertainment. Did Ms. Hope act like a diva because she knew you would back her up?”“Ms. Hope has always had a good reputation in the industry, Ms. Maia. However, her reputation has taken a hit this time and a lot of her fans are now turning into her antis. Are you not going to clarify the situation? Or was her new attitude a ploy to make her a trending topic?”Maia held her forehead helplessly at the incessant questioning. The reporters were stepping over the line of what was acceptable. She lowered the car window a little. The reporters seized the opportunity to throw more ridiculous questions at her. “My company’s legal department will deal with all the marketing accounts making and spreading false rumors. Starlight Entertainment will release a deta
He leaned in close and said in her ear, “Thank me like you mean it.”Buck had already pulled the car over. He was a sensible guy. After all, he was Maia’s assistant. A keen sense of observation was part of the package.“W-We’re in the underground parking lot!” Maia looked outside the car nervously. It was well past the morning rush hour for work, so there were virtually no cars driving into the place. To top it off, the window of the car were heavily tinted.No one walking past could see what was going on in the car. Still, she could not help but feel nervous.Cedric saw that she was nervous and proceeded to tease her on purpose. He pinned her on the seat and said, “What’s the problem?”“S-Somebody’s going to see us. It’s broad daylight now. Can you get a hold of yourself…?” Maia was already blushing. How had she never realized that he was so good when it came to initiating sex?“We can have sex anytime we want.” A hint of teasing flashed in his eyes. It was but a fleeting gaze,
Crestview Heights was just around the corner from Cloud Nine Residences. It was one of the high-end residential apartments developed by HL Corporation. The residential pricing in Prismara was sky-high. It would cost at least fifteen thousand dollars per square foot. To top it off, the price continued to climb every year.Buck would have to work for a long time before he could buy such a place for himself, yet Cedric had simply decided to give him an apartment as a present. He felt the urge to cry at the thought of it. “How generous. All I did was tell him the truth about Mr. Nigel and he went ahead and gave me an apartment. Is this how it feels to get lucky?”He mulled it over and thought he should let Maia know about it. He told her about it the moment he went back to Starlight Entertainment. He did not expect her to ask him, “Did you betray me, Buck?”He felt helpless and distressed at that. So, he told her everything. Maia burst into laughter. “That explains why he gave you a