“Good morning, Mr. Hartmann,” a middle-aged woman greeted Sean, then her eyes landed on Maxine, and the man noticed that.“Let’s talk in the office, Lucile.”Maxine and the woman called Lucile followed Sean. When the door closed, the woman positioned herself next to Sean.“My schedule,” he asked, and Lucile quickly opened the tablet and read everything from there. Sean nodded and pointed at Maxine, “Give her a black card. I need her to buy something for me.”“Yes, sir!” Then Lucile excused herself and headed out of the office.Sean looked at Maxine. She was standing near the door, looking at her feet. With the light shining through the glass wall, she looked like an angel. But a frail one.He first saw her from the pictures shown to him by his private investigator. Maxine looked lovely in them.In one picture, she was wearing hot pink, three-piece booty shorts. She also paired it with hot pink high heels. She’s not wearing any makeup, but her beauty stands out.That was the Sasha embe
Emilie froze after hearing that awfully familiar voice. She slowly turned around, praying she was wrong, but her soul almost left when she confirmed it was her stepson.She wanted to run away and leave the scene, but it was too late. All the guards at the mall had already surrounded them.“Who gave the two of you the right to make a scene on my property?” the young Hartmann asked in his most authoritative tone.Maxine looked, surprised by what he said. She did not even know the entire mall belonged to the man.Even the salesladies who assisted her earlier were surprised to know that she was Mrs. Hartmann. Both girls were suddenly envious of her.“S-Sean, I-I’m sorry,” Danielle’s voice was shaking. Everyone could tell the man’s presence spelled danger for her.He clenched his fists, not taking his eyes from the woman. Thankfully, Danielle was a woman. If not, he would have punched her. He was fuming mad because he saw how she hit Maxine.Letting go of his wife, he slowly turned to the
Maxine sat on the wooden bench near the elevator. After a while, Lucile joined her with a cup of coffee. “How are you feeling?”She sighed before smiling lazily, “I’m okay. I just didn’t like the idea of slapping Danielle because of what they did.”“Young lady, you’re being too nice,” Lucile commented. “Those two were children of the devil. They don’t deserve anyone pitying them.”“Really?” she asked, and Sean’s assistant nodded incessantly. “Have they done something to you before?” She asked out of curiosity.However, before the assistant could respond, the boss emerged from the office. “I’ll tell you some other time,” she whispered before she walked up to the man. “You’re leaving now?”Sean nodded in response and headed for the elevator. Maxine quickly followed, but he raised a hand at her. “Use the stairs. I can still smell you from here.”Embarrassed, she pushed the door to the fire exit. Maxine ensured she washed off the stink from the water earlier. But if Sean could still smell
After parting with her family, Sean asked Salvo to drive back to Villa Vita. He decided not to return to his office, as his wife looked exhausted.On their way back, Sean couldn’t sit still. He was still thinking about the events at Maxine’s house earlier.He can’t get rid of how the place looked, the mattress, the corners of the walls, and above all else, their father.“Who was that man?” he asked. Maxine turned and creased her forehead at him. The man glanced at her and smirked, “Who was Henry?”“Who was Henry?” she parrotted and sighed. “He’s Stella’s husband.”Sean straightened up and glared at her. “Who is Stella then?” He asked again.“Stella?” she repeated. “She’s our adoptive mother.”The man sighed as he crossed his legs. He was getting annoyed as she kept repeating her questions and her one-line answers.“Maxine, can you please give me a backstory? How was your life in Grayson? How are you in Maryland?”“I thought you had someone investigate me?” she asked.“Not as far as ho
The following morning, Maxine woke up early. She quickly took a bath and dressed up. Then she headed to Martha’s room.She called the old lady in a low voice, worried she might wake up the rest of the housekeepers. “Do you need anything, Mrs. Hartmann?”Maxine was startled when the woman suddenly spoke behind her. She clutched her chest and smiled, “Martha, please, just call me Maxine. I’m not qualified for that title.”Martha reached out for her arm and gave it a light squeeze. “Okay, if that’s what you want.”The old lady liked her. In Martha’s heart, she can feel Maxine is innocent. She knew Sean was a little confused about his brother’s murder. But she believed that Maxine was not the culprit.“Can you tell me where I can wash this?” Maxine asked, showing Martha the handkerchief.“Is that Sean’s?” she asked with a teasing smile. Maxine immediately shook her head to dismiss whatever the woman was thinking. “He lent it to me.”Martha nodded, still not convinced that Sean had lent h
“Good morning, slave driver!”After three weeks of waiting, Elo finally showed up at the Hartmann Group. It was only a little past nine when he entered the CEO’s office.“Get your ass off!” Sean sneered.“Sean Andrew Hartmann! Why are you being so grumpy this early?” Elo asked as he moved down from the table to the chair. “Don’t tell me your wife was giving you a hard time,” he teased.The young man was grumpy because he couldn’t forget what Martha had told him. Maxine Winther doesn’t want to be called Mrs. Hartmann. That soured his mood.“Fine, I’ll stop!” Elo raised his hands to calm his friend. “When are we starting?”“As soon as possible!” the man replied, “You think we can start by the first week of next month?”“That soon?”Sean nodded and leaned forward, “I want to make sure it’s operational when I find her.”“Found who?”Sean let out a sigh and leaned far back on his swivel chair. He started telling his friend what happened to him during his stay at the Hartmann Hotel.He told
“I’m Maxine!”She introduced herself, still smiling, and that drew the last straw. When he heard Elo’s footsteps, he wrapped his coat around Maxine’s waist and pushed her towards the stairs.“What are you doing? I need to shake her hand!” Elo called him out, but his friend ignored him.“Go upstairs, change your clothes, and stay there until Elo leaves,” he instructed. Although confused, Maxine obeyed and headed to her room.“The greed, man! The greed!” Elo whined, but Sean just plopped on the couch without saying anything.Instead of paying attention to his childlike friend, he turned to the sketches on the couch. He picked them up, one by one, and called the housekeeper.“Yes, Sean?”“What are these?” he asked again, handing the papers to the old lady.After looking at it, she hid the papers behind her back, “Sorry, these might be Maxine’s sketches. She got bored earlier and asked for a pen and paper. She spent hours drawing.”“Drawing what?” Elo asked. “Let me see,” then Martha hand
“Dinner is ready!”As soon as Elo heard Martha’s announcement, he pushed himself off the couch and headed straight to the kitchen.When they got there, Maxine was quietly helping the housekeepers set up the table. Sean frowned when he saw that. He was still feeling guilty after he heard what she told Elo earlier.While Elo and Maxine were talking, he was eavesdropping. Before Elo returned, he sat on the couch and pretended he was checking his phone.His friend looked dejected, and Sean knew why. It was because Maxine rejected his offer, and it was all because of Sean.Elo took the liberty of sitting at the dinner table. He sat in Maxine’s place. And at an 8-feet dinner table, Maxine decided to sit a the other end.With his forehead creased, Sean took his seat and started eating. He was focused on his food until he noticed Maxine hadn’t started yet. He saw her pulling Martha’s sleeve.“What is wrong?” Sean asked, but instead of responding to him, Maxine just stopped what she was doing