“Yeah. It was used to pay his and his sons’s debt,” Cedric said firmly.Maia was dumbfounded. She knew Freddy was incapable, but she didn’t know that he and Ralph were cut from the same cloth.“They’re both gamblers? And they owed the debtors 20 million dollars?”“Including the interests.”Then, it hit Maia. She uttered hastily, “That explains why they went to the Larkin Manor and stole the antique paintings. They must’ve sold it off and used the money to pay the debts! However, it still wouldn’t be enough. Does this mean they got 20 million dollars for poisoning Grandpa?”After that, he gave her another bank statement.“I-Is this from two years ago?” She read the figure and saw a particular transaction circled with a pen. “There were 15 million dollars deposited into his account, and it was after Grandpa was poisoned back then. Are you trying to tell me that Ralph also poisoned Grandpa for the money?”“Do you think I should pursue the matter?”Without hesitation, she nodded,
Lauren’s eyes turned red the moment she saw Cedric. Tears welled up in them as she reached out with a trembling hand. Then, she stopped abruptly. The most powerful man in Prismara standing before her was her own son. She bore him in her body for nine months, and he was the son she had hoped to meet for over two decades.They must’ve been less than a hundred feet between them, but she, his birth mother, lacked the courage to step forward. She didn’t think she had the right. It was as if there was a wide rift between them and she couldn’t cross it.“A-Are you okay? Have you recovered well?” Her voice trembled slightly as she asked with concern. “I saw scars on your back earlier. Were you prone to injuries in the past? I asked my personal doctor to give me some skin salves for you.”She put a bag of salves on the wall cabinet. “You have to take good care of yourself. It would hurt my heart to see you injured. You must have been in so much pain...” Is this what a mother’s love fel
“Mom…” Eddie was a little nervous now. Lauren waved her hand at him calmly and said, “I have to bear the consequences of my actions alone.”Eddie looked at Cedric and said, “Cedric, Mom did do a lot of horrible things, but she did it to avenge her son who she thought had died. She didn’t know you were alive. “It’s only natural for a mother to want to take revenge on her child’s behalf. I know her actions were heartless, but you have to understand how it was for her.”Maia pursed her lips. She clenched her hands tighter as she listened in on the conversation downstairs. She, too, was waiting for Cedric’s answer. She wanted to see if he would take the step toward reconciliation.Lauren might have done countless wicked things, but she did all of it because of the intense hatred she felt from losing her son in the past. It reminded Maia of the moment when Rita pushed her off the building and made her lose her unborn baby.The pain was so crushing that she still remembered it vivi
All Maia could feel was the tears in her eyes. No one knew Lauren only had a year to live. Sniffing, she relaxed her lips and said, “Looks like she really had nothing to do with Grandpa’s poisoning this time. She came clean about every single horrible thing she had done in the past. I don’t think she kept anything hidden from us.“You deserve a mother’s love, Cedric, even if she doesn’t have long to live. It’s within your reach. The heartwarming moments you spend with her will stay with you forever.”“What if she lied to me?” Lauren has done so many horrible things to them that it was perfectly rational for him to harbor suspicions about her.“You’ll find out if she lies, but I think you’re thinking about the same thing as I am. Lauren and Eddie are sincere. With that said, what are we going to do about Grandpa’s poisoning?”“I asked Baz to capture him.”“Huh? Who do you mean?”“Ralph.”She was shocked. He had moved faster than she had expected.“Aren’t you worried about Gr
Cedric nodded slightly. Their guesses were pretty close to the truth. Then, he spoke with his cold voice, “So, Sally imitated what Lauren had done before. She used someone else to try to kill Grandpa and framed Lauren for it to clear her own name.”Maia nodded. “Did she jump through all these hoops just to make it look like she wasn't involved? It makes sense. That way, no one would suspect her. Moreover, Ralph wouldn’t dream of ratting her out. After all, Freddy spent most of his time in casinos. That meant Sally owned him. She thought about everything but she could never know that Ralph would be this foolish…”Biting her lips, she cast her mind back to when she first saw Sally. She had dimples in her cheeks, so her smile was extraordinarily sweet. No one would’ve guessed she was actually a wicked, scheming lady.There were two reasons she did what she did. Firstly, she could aggravate the relationship between Cedric and Lauren, causing him to hate her to the bone. Secondly,
Maia’s cheeks turned red and her grip on the fork tightened as she lowered her head and continued to eat the spaghetti.It was still too hard for her to finish her spaghetti, though. She ate less than half of it.Cedric noticed she was about to put down her fork. He frowned and said somewhat sternly, “Finish it.” He sounded like a parent who was making sure his daughter finished her food.She felt helpless. “I can’t finish it, Cedric. I just can’t. I know it’s a little wasteful, but my stomach might give me some trouble if I eat too much. Also, you’re the best boyfriend anyone can ask for. I feel like I should let you know this.”He couldn’t argue with her when she put it like that. Reaching out, he took her plate of spaghetti and finished it for her. “There. I finished it. We didn’t waste any food.”Pulling her into his arms, he held her blushed cheeks and flashed her an evil grin. “I’ve had my way with you countless times, Maia. Finishing what you left behind is a simple thing
“I cannot imagine how she must have felt when she had to witness her son being taken as a hostage and to awake to the news that his kidnappers had killed him. If it had been me, I would probably go mad and do anything in my power to seek revenge on those who had harmed him!” Maia said as she placed her hand on her tummy. “I could never forget the pain I had felt when I was pushed down the stairs by Rita. The pain of losing my child was so hard to bear. I’m sure Lauren must have been in despair as well.” “I’m sorry. I failed to protect you.” Cedric immediately pulled Maia into his arms when he heard her recalling this nightmare. He was the cause of all her sufferings in the past. Maia smiled and replied, “Yup, it was all your fault. You shouldn’t have forgotten about me. However, you lost your memory because of me. I shouldn’t be too hard on you either.”Maia took his hand in hers and placed it on her cheek. “I’m glad to be able to come back to you. I have no regrets at all. I’
After seeing Baz’s example, the rest started to address them accordingly. Baz was proud of himself for being such a capable assistant to his boss.Most of the executives were already waiting for Cedric inside the conference room. They were surprised when they saw that Maia was there as well. Even though this meeting was an emergency meeting, it was not necessary for both the CEO and the chairwoman to attend this. Almost everyone in the company was aware that the person in charge was Cedric after his return. Maia’s chairwoman’s position was just for show as her focus would be on her own company. This was why it was such a surprise for them to show up together. “Sit here.” Cedric showed her to his seat. “Me?” Maia was surprised as she was only here to accompany him. He was supposed to lead the meeting. “The chairwoman should sit here.” Cedric smiled as he poked her cheeks playfully. Maia’s cheeks flushed red as she quickly sat down to avoid drawing more attention. Cedric tur