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
Maia’s finger froze when she saw the drop of blood on the tablet screen. Raising her hands to touch her nose, she found blood dripping out of it. She was startled. This was not a normal occurrence for her. Was something wrong? Was it because the air was dry due to the cold weather?She took a few pieces of tissue paper and wiped her nose clean. Then, she took another piece to wipe the blood off the tablet screen. However, the blood from her nose kept flowing…“I need to tell you something about today’s meeting, Ms. Maia…” Buck went into her office and saw the bloodied tissues in her hand. He was stunned for a few seconds before he put down the documents and rushed to her side. “What’s wrong, Ms. Maia? Why is your nose bleeding?” He used to work as a nurse. He opened the mini fridge, took out some ice cubes, and wrapped them in a handkerchief. “Tilting your head back won’t stop the bleeding, Ms. Maia. You should use an ice pack. It’ll help constrict blood vessels and reduce t
Just as she opened the restroom door and went out, she unexpectedly bumped into someone. “Ow!” The crash was so painful she drew a sharp breath. She was about to rub her forehead, but he moved quicker than her. “Did I hurt you?” He rubbed her forehead lightly and asked softly. She raised her head and looked at him. Nodding her head, she asked, “What are you doing up here? Weren’t you waiting for me in the underground parking lot?”“It was torture to just wait.” She smiled. “Since when did you lose your cool so easily, Cedric? It was just a few extra minutes.” “I can’t keep my cool because I can’t wait to see you.”“You keep saying sweet to me these days, Cedric. Where did you learn to do that?” Maia squinted, “Do you have some past relationships I don’t know about?”“Past relationships?”She nodded, “Yeap. I myself didn’t have many. I think you know that. On the other hand, I’m not so sure about you…”“You’ve been with me for eleven years. Don’t you think you’d know if I h
“Maia, do you want more? Let me love you.” Maia wanted to surrender but she had no more strength left in her. How many times was this? She lost count as her mind was in a blurry state by now.Cedric was the one who had carried her into the bathroom and cleaned her. However, they also did it once in the bathroom. Maia could endure no more as she told him that she was hungry after she had changed into a pair of clean pajamas. “I’m hungry and I need food!” Maia repeated as her face turned red. At the same time, her stomach growled. “I want to go downstairs and get something to eat.”“Alright.”“But I can’t get up.”“I know. You’re too fragile,” he said, before carrying her in his embrace. “No, I’m not. This is all your fault!” Maia complained softly. “Are you sure about that? I remember someone was just lying weakly in my arms a while ago.” He gave her a cheeky grin.Maia quickly placed her hands over his mouth as she glared at him. “Cedric, stop it!” The conversation was ta