As Maia was walking towards the door, her cell phone rang. She fumbled for her phone and answered the call.Buck’s worried voice came from the other side, “Ms. Maia, you have to see this!”“What’s wrong?”“You should check your Twitter. I just got a call from the PR department. They’re trying to do damage control,” Buck reported to her nervously.Maia quickly got on Twitter to see what was going on.‘Actor Bruno Fletcher Caught Cheating’‘Bruno Fletcher Seen with 3 Escorts’Two out of the top 10 trending posts were about Bruno. There were short clips, photographs, and even screenshots of his chat messages posted all over Twitter.Starlight Entertainment’s official Twitter account was in chaos as the public flocked to drop their two cents about the incident.“His wife just had a baby and he’s out having fun!”“Wow, I didn’t expect to come across such news at a time like this! Bruno is so disgusting! His public image is ruined! Judging from those clips, this was probably not hi
"Where’s the oatmeal?" "Be right back." Cedric ruffled her hair and smiled lovingly before heading toward the kitchen. He then returned carrying a steaming bowl of oatmeal. "Eat slowly. It's hot."When he placed it before her, Maia noticed his fingers were red and swollen. "What happened to your hand?""I got burned," he said casually.A rich man like him must have never cooked anything in his whole life before. "Shouldn't you apply some cream?" she asked stiffly, trying not to sound concerned.He smiled. "It's no big deal."Maia then started to eat slowly. His gesture would have been very moving if it were the past. However, it was different now.Suddenly, Maia's phone rang again. When she answered the call, Buck's voice said, "Check out the trending topic on Twitter! Someone released videos, chat records, and voice messages that show Zera has been fooling around overseas and in the set! This has diverted public attention away from us!" Instead of checking Twitter, M
Breaking down in tears, Zera clutched Cedric's clothes as she hurried into the house. "I'm done this time, Cedric. Only you can save me now!" Seeing this, Rita said, "Cedric, I know we could’ve been kinder to Maia, but what she did in the past was too much! Besides, I bet she's somehow behind the scandals." "You're damn right I am," Maia said as she leaned against the wall nearby. Cocking her head, she waved at Rita and Zera. "Good evening, guys." Rita and Larkin were stupefied to see her show up in a nightgown. "Y-you… " Rita looked at Maia and then at Cedric in disbelief. "What the hell is going on?"Maia smiled at her. "What do you think?"Rita palmed her heart and stumbled backward a few steps. Pointing at Maia, Zera screamed, "You fucking whore!"She turned to Cedric while sobbing. "See? She admitted it herself! You can't let her do this to me, Cedric! I know I was in the wrong, and I apologize, okay? Please don't do this to me, or I'm going to kill myself!"Maia smi
Hearing this, Cedric stopped dead in his tracks. There was a slight shift in his gaze. "You wouldn't dare."Maia smiled. "Try me.""Okay, you win." Letting out a bitter smile, he put her down gently.As she found her footing, she noticed the change in his expression. It was a look of loneliness. Maia could not help but feel bad for him. Looking away, she turned and said coldly, "Just stay out of my face forever."That was what she wished for most. Her eyes turned red. Perhaps it was due to the strong wind on Prismara Hill?She headed toward Nigel. When the guards saw Maia, they looked at Cedric and only backed away after he gave them a slight nod."Let's get the hell out of here." Nigel opened the front passenger door for Maia, and she got in.Soon, the car moved away. Staring after it, Cedric took out his phone and sent Maia a text. Maia's phone vibrated. She picked it up and saw Cedric's message. It read, "I'll die to protect you from now on."Tears welled up in her eye
Baz couldn't help but wonder how much Maia hated to be with Cedric. Hearing what he said, Cedric grew upset. The thought of her sitting in another man's car further infuriated him. "Sir, it seems like she doesn’t like you—"Cedric angrily threw his phone at him."Sir!" Baz quickly caught it. "I should gain her sympathy? The more pitiful, the better?"Baz had told him to win her back by gaining her sympathy, but it didn't work."It didn't work, huh?" He let out an awkward chuckle as Cedric glared at him. …The next day, when Maia emerged from the elevator at Starlight Entertainment, Hope hurried over. "Why did you leave so abruptly yesterday? You must be out in the rain, huh? Did you catch a cold?" Having waited for her in the office, Hope quickly gave Maia some cold remedies. "It's easy to catch a cold these few days. Keep these, just in case."Maia said stiffly, "Thanks.""I heard from Dad that you agreed to let my mom off the hook?" Hope said hesitantly, "You made
Tess entered the office and shook Jordan’s hand. "Hey, Mr. Jordan, you're back!""Long time no see." Jordan nodded courteously. "Aunt Tess, what brought you here?" Maia was surprised that she had come. Tess feigned anger. "Am I not welcome?" Maia chucked. "Of course, you're welcome here anytime."She then signed the documents and returned them to Jordan. "Thanks, Jordan. I'll tell Nigel to handle the lawsuit."Jordan nodded. "He's the best man for the job. I trust him."Taking the documents, he smiled and said, "I'll leave you two alone then."After Jordan left, Tess sat on the sofa and asked, "Who are you suing, Maia? It's better to take it easy since you just took over the company."Maia shook her head. "Jordan found out that Theo had been taking money from the company." “"He's just like his dad,” Tess sighed. “I heard many big corporations wanted to hire Jordan, but he turned them all down. You've done a great job, Maia! Your mom would be proud of you." She gave her
Maia gave her a thumbs-up. “You sure do.”Tess laughed. “I’ll leave it to you then. Her contract ends next month.”“I’ll take care of it, Aunt Tess.”Celia wasn’t a versatile artist. She had a very youthful face, so she also couldn’t play many roles, but she was perfect for innocent and sweet characters. Thinking the audience would grow tired of her youthful roles, her agency didn’t seem to care about her. However, she was valuable to Starlight Entertainment as her innocent image was just what they needed.Tess was delighted by Maia’s promise. “That’s great! I should get going then. I need to see if Errol needs any help at the winery.”“I’ll walk you out.” Maia accompanied Tess as she headed to the elevator.As they passed by the administrative department, they heard the assistants gossiping inside.“Have you heard? Ms. Maia asked the tech department to restore the surveillance footage from the day the chairwoman jumped off the building.”“Yeah, I heard about that. Is it abou
Maia was alarmed to hear Hope’s desperate plea for help.“Where are you?”She sounded like she was somewhere noisy.“I… I…”Maia asked, “Hope, where are you? Can you hear me? Hope!”However, no matter how many times she called her name, Hope didn’t reply. Keeping the call connected, Maia grabbed her keys and dashed out of her office.“Where are you going, Maia?” Buck asked, as he saw her rushing away and quickly went after her.“Hope is in trouble.”“What?” Buck was alarmed. “Let me drive you!”Maia looked at her phone, but there was still no reply from Hope.She murmured into the phone, “Don’t worry. I’m coming for you now.”At that moment, a strange voice came through. “Are you Ms. Hope Burgess’s sister?”“Yes, I am!” Maia answered immediately.“This is the police. Ms. Hope and her mother were involved in a car accident and have been sent to the hospital. That’s where you’ll find them.”“Thanks! I’ll head there straight away.”Knowing where Hope was, Maia calmed down a little. “Let’
Amanda came to sit next to Maia as she said, “I’m glad you’ve noticed this as well. Lauren is usually quite into the drama that she’s watching on TV. Today’s episode was a sad one, so I was wondering why she was still so happy watching it.” Lauren smiled back at them and replied, “I’m just really happy. I’ve never thought that I’d be able to see my eldest son again and that he has such a kind and beautiful wife by his side. “Eddie was also able to find his loved one, and I was lucky enough to be a grandmother. I never thought that I’d be able to go on a family trip with all my sons.” She started to tear up.“Lauren, don’t cry,” Maia said as she handed Lauren a handkerchief to dry her tears. Lauren wiped her tears as she smiled and nodded. “Don’t worry about me. I’m just being dramatic.” She looked around and asked, “Where’s Cedric? Is he with Eddie?”Maia nodded. “Yeah. This new project is a bit of a hassle, so he went over to try to help.” Lauren sighed, “Eddie’s father an
Cedric just smiled when he saw Maia’s worried reaction. “You sure you’ll keep your promise?” Maia tugged the blanket closer to herself and nodded. Maia would not dare to say no. If Cedric decided to do as he had said, she would just end up in bed the whole morning. “We can register our marriage anytime. You mean it?” She knew that Cedric was just baiting her, but she had no choice. She did not know what he would do next. When she glanced at his handsome face, her heart could not help but skip a beat. Just then, Cedric took out two pieces of paper from the bedside drawer. Maia was taken aback as she saw the document. They were marriage registration forms, and they were already filled in. “T-This was a setup! You’ve already had this all planned out from the beginning!” Maia scanned through the forms and was surprised to see that the only section left empty was the signature. Maia did not know when Cedric had started to prepare all this, but it looked like it had been a whil
Cedric glanced at Baz and asked, “How does it feel to miss someone so much?”Baz’s smile froze as he shook his head quickly. “Now, I can finally understand why you hate being separated from Ms. Maia.”Cedric just looked at Baz coldly. Baz quickly added when he noticed Cedric’s glare, “I’m just saying that you love your wife very much, and that man who’s like you would definitely understand.”“That’s a fact,” Cedric replied as he turned around and walked back into the bedroom. Baz immediately stopped him as he asked. “Mr. Cedric, why don’t you tell Ms. Maia the real reason why you’re so against calling Ms. Lauren your mother? Why didn’t you tell her the scars on your back were inflicted by Ms. Rita?” It was a horrible and unimaginable part of his childhood. “I don’t want to frighten her.”“But it’s difficult for you as well, Mr. Cedric. Calling Ms. Lauren your mother brings back horrible memories for you too.” “It doesn’t matter. I’ll do anything for her.” Cedric replied as he
“Is that true?” Gigi asked her grandmother.Lauren nodded and said, “Of course it is. Has grandma ever lied to you?”“Wow! Grandma, what was Daddy like when he was a kid?” Gigi was excited. She was not sleepy anymore as she pestered Lauren to tell her more. “Whenever I brought him to attend events, he would always cry. I still remember he had wet his pants once in kindergarten.” Gigi covered her mouth and giggled happily. Amanda laughed and looked at Eddie. “Did you really wet your pants?”Eddie palmed his forehead and told his mother, “Stop embarrassing me in front of my daughter, Mom.” Lauren just smiled happily back at her son. At the same time, Maia tugged on the hem of Cedric’s shirt and questioned cheekily, “Did you wet your pants when you were a kid?” Cedric drew her into his arms in response and threatened, “Maia, it seems like you won’t be able to go to bed tonight.” “I’m not afraid of your empty threats,” Maia replied. “Are you sure about that?”Maia nod
It was hard to believe he’d change his mind out of nowhere. She blinked and gawked at him. She almost forgot to breathe because of the sheer shock. Her face turned red from it, too. “Hey, breathe.” Cedric frowned. He realized her eyes were widening and her cheeks were completely reddened. Then, her lungs worked, and she started drawing breath again. She gripped the hem of his shirt instinctively. “Hmm?” Cocking his brow, he looked at her casually while taking her hands in his. “Do you want to know why I changed my mind?”She nodded immediately. Needless to say, she wanted to spring that question on him, but she wondered if she should. On the other hand, he merely chuckled and didn’t say anything. All he did was fix a deep, passionate stare at her. His eyes were filled with love and affection when he did it. Realizing that he wasn’t going to talk, she was bewildered. “W-Why aren’t you saying anything?”His grin widened at what she said. Reaching out, he pinched her fair ch
Taking his hands, she rested her fair cheeks on his palm.“Is there another reason you did it?” She asked. “I had someone plant something in the painting.”“What do you mean?” She pressed.“A wire.”Then, it hit her. “D-Does this mean you knew Fidelia would buy the painting at all costs?”“Mm-hmm.” He nodded.Pursing her lips, she said, “I guess it tracks. After all, Fidelia will surely buy anything you donate to Nordic College. She loves you so much that she peeled an entire bowl of prawns for you.”“Do peeling prawns mean she loves me?” He cocked his brow.She nodded instinctively.“Well, then. Do you know how much I love you now?”Maia was initially pondering something, but she was scattered the moment she heard what he said!Her face turned red. She couldn’t decide if she should nod or shake her head now. The only thing she could do now was change the topic. “Wait a minute. I just asked Gigi to bid on it. Did I almost mess up your plan?” Her brows were furrowed. She
“Maia!” Amanda called out to her and hastened over. “D-Did you just say I was already on trending search?”“Mm-hmm.” Nodding, she handed her phone to Amanda. Amanda saw the search topic ‘Amanda Tate Burst Out Laughing.’ and was rooted to the spot.“H-How’s this already up there?”Maia chuckled. “There are so many people in the dining hall. There’s no way you can keep it from spreading on the internet for long. Even Gigi and Eddie got on the trending search. They were right behind you. “Valentines Group has also started working on the public relations angle. I browsed the internet and didn’t find any overly vicious remarks either. None of the marketing accounts were trying to stir up trouble either. All of Gigi’s pictures were censored as well. So, there’s nothing to be worried about here.”Amanda let out a sigh of relief at what she said. “It’s a good thing that no one attacked Gigi on the internet. Otherwise, I’m going to start chasing them with a machete that’s one foot long!
“Why, you!” Fidelia took the glass of fruit juice from the table and spilled it all over him!The sticky juices clung to his cheeks for a second before rolling down them.“Listen up, plastic face! It doesn’t matter if I can’t lay a finger on Maia because Cedric loves and protects her. It isn’t your place to make fun of me! Who do you think you are, Neilson? “You’re nothing more than my family’s lap dog. Look at how stiff your face is. You’ve wasted a perfectly good glass of fruit juice!”Staring at him angrily, Fidelia warned him nastily. She was so gripped with rage that her chest was rising and falling hastily. Then, she gritted her teeth and threw the empty glass at him.Catching the glass midair, he lowered his head. “You make a fine point, Ms. Fidelia.” Wiping the fruit juice from his cheeks, he apologized again. “Please calm down, Ms. Fidelia. You have to look at where we are now. It’d be wise not to make Mr. Thomas mad again.”“Are you seriously warning me again? Who do
Maia made up a reason so Amanda could take Gigi away. Amanda nodded, carried her daughter, and left the scene. All Gigi did was speak the truth, but Fidelia’s face grew grim and shot the three-year-old girl a terrible look. It was clear that Fidelia might do something outrageous to Gigi again if she didn’t divert her attention from the little girl. After all, Fidelia didn’t care about the consequences of her actions at all!So, she looked at Fidelia and said, “I’m not sure why you kept trying to win my husband’s heart, but I’ve been sitting here the whole time. Are you ignoring me on purpose? Or, are you so arrogant that you care only about Cedric and nobody else?”Fidelia immediately shifted her gaze to Maia. Glaring at her, she directed all of her anger and frustration at Maia. “What are you trying to say, Maia? My dad saved Cedric’s life. So, is there anything wrong with me peeling the shrimp for him? What’s the problem if I try to win his heart? What does it have to do with