Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Mary felt suffocated.
She averted Max’s gaze and could only hear herself rigidly ask, “Max, I don’t know what you’re talking about? Let me go first. We can’t talk like this.”
Mary felt her ears burn under the tense atmosphere.
Max bit his lips sexily. He stared at her with a sharp gaze.
It was as if he wanted to see through her lies.
Mary looked down for a moment.
She then stubbornly looked up and straight into Max’s eyes.
She suddenly felt the heat around her wrist disappear.
Max had let go of her. He walked around the car and went into the driver’s seat.
Mary insisted on sitting at the back.
Max did not chase her out of the car.
Mary knew that he wanted to bring her to the Hanks residence, her home.
The garden of the villa was well maintained. The rooms were also clean.
“Here are the keys.”
Max handed Mary the keys to the villa after they entered the living room.
He had given Mary this villa as a gift on the night before her 18th birthday.
Back then, the Hanks had gone bankrupt and the villa had been purchased by someone else.
Mary did not know when Max repurchased the villa.
She only remembered that she had been moved to tears when she stepped foot into the villa on that night.
Max looked at Mary without much emotion as they stood in the living room.
He said calmly, “People have tried to purchase this villa during the past five years.”
Mary remained silent.
Max’s voice rang out again two minutes later, “Back then, Sandra had a miscarriage a few days after you went missing.”
Mary looked down.
She tightened her grip around the keys.
…
The next morning.
Mary received a call from Priscilla Johnson. “Mary, my brother is home. He told me to inform you.”
“I see.”
Mary was standing in front of a glass counter and eyeing the porridge in the pot.
Everyone described Max as unfeeling and cold-blooded.
However, Max had always been a man of his word. He naturally had his ways to release Paul Johnson without any issue since he promised to let Paul Johnson off.
“He also got me to tell you that he’ll go visit Jason when the swelling on his face subsides.”
“Get him to tend to his injuries well and take good care of Rebecca.”
Mary brought Jason along to a kindergarten and registered him with the school after breakfast.
The school was in the neighborhood.
Jason was good-looking and very glib. He had pleased the two young teachers there until they were all smiles in less than five minutes.
He was already friends with all the teachers in the school after half an hour.
The teachers even passionately requested for Jason to remain in the school to play after Mary was done with the registration.
Mary did not leave Jason in the school.
Priscilla sent her a message saying that she was waiting for them at the school gate.
It was ten-thirty in the morning.
Priscilla brought Mary and Jason to the office building where their company was.
They were surrounded by the workers the moment they entered the office.
Though they had been having weekly meetings online, the employees still exclaimed in shock when they saw their boss in person.
“My God, Mary, you must be an angel, right?”
“Mary, I can guarantee that you’ll instantly surpass Sandra White in popularity if you get into the entertainment industry.”
“I officially announce that you’re my idol.”
“Please contain yourselves, all of you. Our adorable Jason is also here.”
“…”
Mary waited for everyone to be done with their praises and teasing.
She then said with a smile, “I’ll be working alongside all of you in person from today. I’ll give you guys some more time to prepare. We’ll see each other in the meeting room next Monday morning.”
Everyone responded with immense excitement.
Priscilla smiled as she pointed to the office at the side, then said, “Mary, your office is over there.”
Mary’s office was not very large.
However, she could see the building of the Gaston Group on the other side when she stood in front of the full window.
The building beside the Gaston Group was Galaxy Theatre. It belonged to the Whites.
Mary’s office only occupied one of the levels of the building they were in. The office was called “Mary Co.”.
“Mary, is the office to your liking?”
Priscilla walked to the front of the window and handed Mary a cup of warm water.
Mary received the cup and leaned half her body on the window.
She took a sip, then cradled the cup in her hand as she asked casually, “Priscilla, how many fans do we have now?”
“Our total fan count is nine million, which means that we have at least three million fans if we assume that all of them are subscribed to all three of our platforms. However, not all three platforms may have the same batch of fans. Taking that into account, I think that we have about five million fans.”
Priscilla paused for a moment, then said softly, “Mary, the thing that you mentioned back then, that we can do only when our fan count surpasses five million. Can we do it now?”
Mary smiled emotionlessly.
There was a hint of coldness that did not fit the season in Mary’s eyes. She answered, “There’s no rush. Are there any of Sandra’s fans in our company?”
Priscilla shook her head, “No.”
She had made this a question in the interview process.
The two women were just chatting when someone cracked open the door of the office.
Jason probed his little head into the room.
He said with a soft, sweet voice, “Mum, I want some ice cream from the first floor. May I?”
Jason had seen the ice cream shop when they were coming up.
Priscilla smiled, then took over the conversation, “Mary, you have a rest. I’ll bring Jason down.”
“Alright.”
Mary nodded, then instructed Jason, “Don’t run around. Listen to Aunt Priscilla.”
“I will, Mum.”
Mary accessed the laptop on the table and familiarized herself with it.
She then clicked on the news of the past few days.
The webpage showed Max and Sandra’s wedding photos.
A special gift had to be given on a special day.
She then accessed the back-end system of a public account.
She opened a saved image. There were several images in the folder that she had saved for five years. She had always been waiting for an opportunity.
She opened the image.
One image was of Sandra’s pregnancy test back then.
Another was a miscarriage report.
And another was…
…
In the ice cream shop on the first floor.
Both Priscilla and Jason each had a cup of ice cream in hand.
Jason ate happily.
He was asking a slew of questions while he ate.
Priscilla choked on her ice cream and could not stop coughing when Jason asked, “Aunt Priscilla, do you have a boyfriend? If you don’t, why don’t I be your boyfriend?”
A spoonful of strawberry ice cream dripped onto her white skirt.
Jason immediately helped her wipe the stain with a piece of tissue. He was so fast that Priscilla could not stop him.
The next moment, there was a pink patch on the skirt.
There was an apologetic glimmer in his beautiful, large eyes. He said, “I’m sorry, Aunt Priscilla. Why don’t you go and wash it off in the washroom? You can still get rid of the stains if you wash it now.”
“It’s fine. Let’s go back upstairs now. I’ll wash it upstairs.”
“Aunt Priscilla, I don’t want to go back now. I want to finish my ice cream before we go back. You should go and wash it in the washroom now. Otherwise, you’ll be laughed at if you go back like that.”
“…”
Priscilla thought about it, then instructed Jason, “Then wait for me here. I’ll be back soon.”
“Alright, I’ll eat slowly and wait for you. I don’t have money on me. You mustn’t run away.”
Priscilla nodded with a smile, then picked up her handbag and went to the washroom.
Jason looked as her figure disappeared into the hall.
He then ate two more mouthfuls of ice cream before sneaking out of the ice cream shop.
He crossed the road and arrived at the reception area of the Gaston Group.
He pushed his sunglasses up onto his head to reveal his handsome and adorable little face.
His childish tone could not be disguised even if he pretended to be calm and mature.. He said to the receptionist, “Beautiful lady, please get Max Gaston to come and see me.”