To Maia, the most terrifying thing in life was to receive warmth when you’re vulnerable. When Cedric comforted her, she felt her tough front crumble. Homer was rushing over while yelling Yvette’s name. When he saw Yvette’s lifeless body, he immediately ran forward. The police stopped him. “Mr. Homer, this scene is cordoned off to the public. You’re not allowed to enter. Please cooperate with us.” “We already made plans for tomorrow. I was supposed to bring her breakfast. How would she just…!” Homer could not believe what he saw as he cradled his head and sat against the wall. “We found a will in her drawer admitting to the murder of Rosa Burgess.” “What murder? Why would my ex-wife be involved in this?“Yvette Burgess has admitted to pushing Rosa Burgess down the building, causing her death.” Homer was stunned beyond words. He kept shaking his head and denying, “That’s not possible! Yvette had no reason to do that! Rosa always had bodyguards surrounding her. Even if she
When Maia admitted that Hope was her sister, she finally realized how much Hope had meant to her. Even though she was Yvette’s daughter, it would not change the fact that she was family. Hope was immediately sent back to her room as the doctor came to check on her condition. Deep in thought, Maia stared at Hope’s pale face. Everything had happened all at once. First, it was Hope and Yvette’s accident, then her attack at the hospital, and lastly, Yvette’s suicide. These all seemed too coincidental. It was just like a movie, yet it happened in their lives. “Doctor, how is she?”“The reason she fainted was because her body was still quite weak. Furthermore, she was too emotional a while ago. You don’t have to worry too much. As long as she gets enough rest, she’ll be fine.” The doctor sighed and added, “I can only do so much. Ms. Hope needs to learn how to cope with the grief of losing her mother, or else this would only lead to more severe conditions.”Maia nodded and thanked t
Cedric entered the driver’s seat and instructed Maia to get on. He could not let her drive them back when he was the one who brought them here in the first place. Besides, she was exhausted from everything that had happened. Maia knew arguing was pointless, so she just accepted her fate. Cedric fastened her seat belt when she was about to buckle it. The drive back to the city was quiet, as Maia thought deeply. Cedric’s last words about not wanting her to continue investigating echoed in her head. What exactly did he mean by that? Maia felt that she was missing something. Looking at the jewelry box on her lap, she could not brush off the uneasiness. When they got to the Cloud Nine Residence, Maia reminded Cedric before she got out with her jewelry box, “I’ve paid my debt. So, there’s no need for us to be seeing each other again.” Instead of giving her a clear answer, he said, “You should go.”Maia turned to leave without a word. As she entered the building, she bumped into a group
Baz slapped himself on the forehead. “Right! She could have killed herself three years ago. Unless, of course, she was murdered! Who could have wanted her dead?”“To frame her,” Cedric drawled. Baz could finally see the bigger picture. “I heard that Ms. Maia was trying to recover the surveillance footage of her mother’s death. The culprit must have heard about this. So, they needed a scapegoat to cover their tracks, and Yvette was the best candidate!” Since Yvette used to be Homer’s mistress, it was easy to paint her as the villain.“First, it was Hope and Yvette’s accident. Then, Theo attacked Ms. Maia, and Yvette committed suicide. Everything happened in a single day, and this indirectly created chaos. “Furthermore, Yvette did have a reason to kill Rosa Burgess. No one would’ve been able to notice that she was a distraction!” “As long as the culprit is afraid, they will make a mistake eventually,” Cedric smirked. Baz nodded. The truth would be exposed. It's just a matter
”We’ve seen the sunrise and walked through the snow, just you and me.” Cedric’s comment had already garnered a wave of discussions and likes. Maia could only frown in disapproval as she read his comment.She recalled that this was something she had said to him a long time ago. ‘If a couple has walked through a snowstorm together, it means they’ll grow old together.’She did not expect him to remember this.Cedric’s particular comment was being analyzed by netizens, who eagerly threw out random speculations as they saw fit.“Sunrise symbolizes the start of a day and snow is the end of the four seasons. Everyone, try to read between the lines!”“Here's my two cents. Mr. Cedric is trying to say that they’ve seen the sunrise and experienced the first snow of the season together. They shared first times together and were each other's firsts! How romantic!”“Just from his words alone, I can tell he loves Ms. Maia very much. But why did they get a divorce? It's such a shame! I wonde
Maia knew Tess really well. Once she had set her mind on something, it was difficult to change it.“Fine, Aunt Tess. I’ll move in with you once I get off work.”“That’s the spirit! If you kept turning me down, I would've gotten so mad!” Tess smiled and patted Maia on the shoulder.Maia smiled to appease her aunt.Tess relented, “I’ll get back to the winery now. I’ll come back to pick you up in the evening and we can go back to your place to pack!”“I promise I’ll stay here!”“You'd better!” Tess nodded with satisfaction as she walked towards the door. “No need to see me off, you should get back to your work.”“Drive safe, Aunt Tess. You're not as young as you used to be!” Maia teased.Tess shook her fist at Maia in return. “I’m still young at heart!”Maia laughed at her response as she waved at Tess. When she got back to her desk, Maia was lost in her own thoughts again.Just then, her cell phone vibrated. It was a notification about the news that Cedric was gay. She could no
Cedric looked at her coldly and remarked, “You should’ve thought about that when you caused her miscarriage.”Rita froze as she avoided eye contact with Cedric. Yet, she continued to make up excuses, “W-what are you talking about? It was Maia that didn’t want the child. She fell from the third floor on her own, just to cause a miscarriage.”“Shut up!” Cedric demanded loudly.Rita was surprised by his tone and turned pale. She took a few steps back and argued, “Cedric, there’s no proof of your claims. How could you just put the blame on your mother? This isn't like you! The old you wouldn’t have just trusted her word blindly over your own mother’s!”Cedric looked at her in pain. His brows furrowed tightly together as he stared at his mother in utter horror.“I hurt her so much because I trusted you. I promised her this would never happen again!” he said coldly, before turning around and marching towards the elevator.Baz immediately followed as Rita ran up toward them. Her hair
”Ms. Zera, you should be careful.”“Ms. Zera, please stop!” “Is Mrs. Rita back yet?” Try as they might, the housekeepers could not contain Zera’s madness. They were almost hurt by her as well.When Rita got home, she was surprised to see the mess that Zera had caused. As she witnessed Zera’s tantrum, Rita could not bring herself to be mad at her.“Zera, calm down!” Rita entered Zera’s bedroom and hugged her.Zera did not calm down when she saw Rita. Instead, she seemed more agitated and started to laugh and cry at the same time.“I’ve lost everything! What should I do now? I have nothing left.” Zera could not stop her tears from pouring down her cheeks.“It was Maia! It was all her fault that I lost my place in the entertainment industry. Why does Cedric listen to her every word? She is such a vile woman! She must have done something to manipulate Cedric! She’s turning him into her puppet!” Zera yelled hysterically as she grabbed onto Rita’s arm. She went on. “That has to b
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