He spoke coldly and walked away without hesitation. The Rolls-Royce soon sped off and vanished into the rain.Maia's smile grew even more bitter. 'I had it coming? Am I that evil to him? He only came to humiliate me, didn't he?'Pain radiated from her lower abdomen, and warm blood soaked her hospital gown. Unable to tell where she was hurting anymore, she felt blood was draining out from her. She was in so much pain that her whole body went numb.Experiencing a second significant bleeding, she was rushed to the hospital and wheeled into the operating room.Although Errol was beaten, he could recover sooner because he was young. Maia, however, just had a miscarriage and was weak to begin with.She had nearly lost her life due to excessive blood loss.When she woke up, her beautiful face was deathly pale. To make matters worse, the Larkins had officially announced her divorce from Cedric.She could feel nothing but despair. With the announcement, there could be no turning back
His voice sounded certain, and it was more of a statement than a question."Nigel..."He smiled. "Your aunt asked me to talk to you about it, but I doubt it’ll make much of a difference. You know better than anyone that you should move on, but you still love him, don’t you?"Maia said nothing. She stiffly picked up the cake and ate it, again tasting bitterness. "I'm sorry for making you all worry about me. I truly am." Maia looked up, tears rolling down her cheeks. ‘What else could I say other than sorry?’She didn't want to feel this way, but when she learned that the Larkins had publicly announced her divorce from Cedric, she was overwhelmed with despair."Silly girl, what are you apologizing for?" Nigel gently wiped the tears from her face. "You’ve done nothing wrong and don't owe anyone anything. Cedric is the one who has mistreated you. If only he knew you’ve secretly helped his business for years!" When HL Corporation struggled, she secretly secured an 83 million-dolla
When Maia saw her mother's name on the envelope, she opened it quickly with trembling hands. Rosa’s familiar handwriting filled her with warmth as she read the letter."Dear Maia, you've been through a lot. "It’s remarkable that you’ve stayed loyal to the hero who saved you from the fire all these years, even though he has forgotten about you."I saw how much you loved him and felt sorry for you. I wanted to yell at you sometimes. I couldn't understand why you had to choose Cedric when there were so many incredible men around. "But then, I noticed your eyes only lit up when you saw him. After some time, I realized you only did what made you the happiest. Although I felt bad for you, I could only support your decision as any mother would."Errol has a gift for winemaking, and the winery is perfect for him. As for the responsibilities at Starlight Entertainment, that's a burden you must carry."Now that I'm gone, your uncle will take charge of Starlight. The 30 percent ownership
The caller ID displayed her father's name. With pursed lips, Maia hesitated before answering."Yes?" She couldn't bring herself to call him "Dad" and spoke impassively. "What's the matter?""Maia, how did your mother's 20 percent stake in the winery end up in Errol's name?" Homer Burgess shouted, “What have you been doing behind my back? When did your mom make this will? Why didn’t I know about it?"Now that Cedric owned 55 percent of Burgess Winery, that 20 percent stake was of utmost importance to Homer. He would be left with no rights if he lost it. Maia gripped her phone. He was being ridiculous.She mocked, "You only cared about your mistress back then. How would you know about Mom making her will?""You must’ve worked with that fucking lawyer Nigel to steal my rightful shares! What did you give him in return? Now that you've got nothing after the divorce, you must be prostituting yourself, huh?" Maia was upset. Instead of a father she could rely on, Homer was nothing but
Cedric scoffed. "Don't you think it's ridiculous to celebrate the wedding anniversary now that we're divorced?" Maia pleaded softly, "We never got to celebrate our honeymoon or anniversary together. Just this once, Cedric. Can't we make it special?""Maia, what tricks are you up to now?""I'm not up to anything. I'll leave Prismara tomorrow and will never show up here again. I promise!" Maia quickly held up a hand to swear. Cedric frowned as his head started to hurt again. He tried to shake it off. He had been suffering from headaches lately, and a piece of memory tried to force its way back into his brain. He saw flashes of a little girl's face overlaying Maia's, and he recalled her sweet voice saying, "Cedric."Concerned, Maia asked, "Is something wrong?"Despite his reservations, Cedric couldn't bring himself to say no. In a deep voice, he asked, "Are you sure you can do that?"Despite her disappointment, Maia nodded firmly. "Yes, I give you my word.""Get in the car."
"I couldn’t bear to," she softly replied, leaving the gloves in the foyer. She then headed cheerfully toward the kitchen."What would you like to eat? How about beef stew? It's perfect for the weather today.""Okay," Cedric agreed.With a sweet smile, Maia hurried into the kitchen to get prepared. The servants were surprised to see her, given her recent divorce from Cedric. They could not fathom why he was being friendlier toward her now. Some of them quickly informed Judy, a maid known to be Rita's spy.Judy hurried into the main hall. Seeing Maia busy cooking in the kitchen, she marched over to the sofa, where Cedric browsed documents on his tablet. "Sir," she called out. "Yes?" Cedric's gaze remained on the screen."There's something I have to tell you, but I'm not sure if I should.""Then don't.""But if I don't, Mrs. Rita will blame me, sir,” Judy said. "Why have you brought Ms. Maia here? If the paparazzi catch wind of it, your reputation might suffer since you're di
"It's up to you." Maia went to the wine cabinet and retrieved a bottle, but she struggled to use the corkscrew. She couldn’t quite turn the handles, and her face flushed due to the exertion.Seeing this, Cedric got up and walked toward the bar counter. "Go sit. I'll open it in just a second," Maia said as she continued to struggle with the corkscrew. Cedric held her hand from behind her and pressed the handles, effortlessly removing the cork. He chuckled. Surprised, Maia looked over her shoulder at him. His handsome face was no longer tense and fierce. She had never seen him like this. "What are you laughing at?" she said in her melodic voice. "It was kind of cute,” he replied as he went to the dining hall.Dazed, Maia stared at the cork. 'Kind of cute? Was he talking about me?'Her heart pounded as if her love for him had rekindled. "What are you standing there for?" Cedric’s smile was fading into a cold expression.Catching herself, Maia quickly said, "I'll get
Maia froze for a moment. Then she looked up at him and shook her head with a smile. "No, I don't regret it. As you know, marrying you has always been my dream. It may seem unfair that my mother worked with your grandpa to force you to marry me, but I wasn’t aware of it until later." Maia then said, "Anyway, it doesn't matter anymore, does it?""The reason?" he asked. "Huh?" Maia looked at him, puzzled. "Why did you insist on marrying me?" He thought there must be a reason.Maia fell silent.When Rosa was still alive, she was a legendary businesswoman in charge of Burgess Winery and Starlight Entertainment. For that reason, many men wanted to marry Maia. However, she only had eyes for Cedric and always followed him wherever he went. She always smiled at him even if he was highly annoyed with her. Before Maia could speak, Cedric added, "Don't tell me it's love, okay? We hardly knew each other back then." As Maia gazed at him, she recalled the memory of when she was 12 an