Chapter 126
Chapter 126 Who Dares Touch Her?
“Of course, I’d start feeling suspicious when you're looking at Hope like that. It’s as if you're trying to steal her away.” Maia smiled cheekily at Buck.
“N-no, that’s not true.” Buck tried to deny it but he was not very convincing,
“Stop trying to deny it, just admit that you like her. | could tell right away just from the way you look at her.”
“W-was | that obvious?”
“See? You've admitted it.”
Buck was rendered speechless. He did not expect Maia to be so cunning with her words. “Ms. Maia, how could you?” “Don’t make me out to be the bad guy. You were the one who had something to hide.”
She turned to stare at Hope, who was standing at the balcony. “If you like her, you should do something about it. Hope clearly doesn’t hate you and since her mother is not here anymore, she needs someone else to look after her, right?”
Buck nodded and added playfully, “| guess Hope’s sister is not against this relationship.” “My acknowledgment means nothing. You need Hope to agree.” “I'll work on it!” Buck pumped his fist in the air to encourage himself before he would officially pursue Hope.
Maia just smiled and went back to finishing her noodles. The wound on her knee still hurt. She took a glance at it as the bowl of noodles she had been eating suddenly felt bland.
The night was filled with an air of forlorn silence back at Prismara Hill. When the news about Maia got out, Cedric had immediately instructed Baz to remove any negative news regarding Maia from the internet.
“Mr. Cedric, we’ve managed to take down numerous negative posts from Twitter. However, the news has already spread out far and wide, so there’s only so much we can do.”
Cedric nodded. He knew very well that they would not be able to completely prevent people from talking about it. “| want you to purchase most of Starlight Entertainment’s shares,” Cedric instructed.
Baz was confused. He asked Cedric, “If the news about Ms. Maia continues to spread, Starlight Entertainment's market value would definitely drop. Why should we buy them?”
“That’s exactly why I’m asking you to buy them.” Cedric needed to make sure that her
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could do
could do to help her.
“Got it, I'll get it done immediately.” As Baz was about to leave the room, he stopped in his tracks and turned back toward Cedric, “Mr. Cedric, this is the invitation to tomorrow's 1811 fashion show.”
The annual 1811 fashion show had always sent an invitation to Cedric. Other attendees could only continue to receive invitations after they gave a positive RSVP to the organizer, but Cedric was different.
He would always be invited even though he had never once attended. This time, Baz knew that his boss would definitely want to attend the event.
“Toss it.”
“Are you sure? I've checked the attendance list, Ms. Maia would also be at the event. Still, I'll do as you wish. I’ll throw it out right away.” Baz waved the invitation in the air with a cheeky grin.
“Give it to me.” Cedric glared as he made his demand.
“| knew you would agree to attend.” Baz smiled and placed the invitation card on his desk. “Get back to work.”
“Of course!” Baz answered and waltzed out of Cedric’s study.
After Baz had left, Cedric glanced at the invitation and smiled, “See you tomorrow, honey.”
The next morning, Maia was dragged out of bed by Hope and led to a dressing table. Maia could not help but wonder why her sister loved waking others up by dragging them out of bed.
“Daisy, hurry up! You need to do this personally! | want you to make sure that Maia is the prettiest person at the event!” Hope yelled excitedly.
Daisy came running into the room with her makeup kit and wasted no time getting to work. While she was working her magic, Hope kept chattering on excitedly.
“Maia, you're so beautiful! You should actually consider joining the entertainment industry!”
“The red lipstick suits you. You look both seductive and innocent at the same time. If | were a guy, I'd definitely fall for you!” “Maia, look at this gown!" It was personally made by Daisy, and | think you would look gorgeous in it.”
Maia finally decided she had enough as she placed her hand over Hope’s mouth and pleaded,
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Daisy could not help but smile at the scene in front of her, “Hope is such a chatter box. It’s thanks to the characters she portrayed on TV that people associate her with bring quiet and sensible.”
“Daisy!” Hope pouted at her as Maia grinned at them.
After almost an hour and half, Maia finally left for the fashion show. Even though Buck was her personal assistant, he was not allowed to attend the event with her. While they were stopping at an intersection, he took the opportunity to brief her about the recent news.
“Ms. Maia, news about you being one of the suspects in the Zera case was removed from the internet. It’s off Twitter’s top searches too. Some netizens claim that they're fighting for justice on behalf of Zera but their posts were also taken down.”
“While you were doing your makeup, | called the PR department to see if this was their doing, but it wasn’t. Could Mr. Cedric be responsible for this?” Buck speculated.
Maia frowned as she replied confidently, “It's him.”
Who else would be capable enough to do this aside from Cedric? Unfortunately, his method of removing every single thing from the internet would probably backfire.
Buck gasped in surprise as he added, “Mr. Cedric sure is fast.” “What's the situation with our company’s share value?” Maia questioned. “They've actually gone up.”
Maia blinked rapidly as she tried to process the information. That could not be true as the news about Zera had just been released to the public. How was it possible that their company’s shares did not drop?
Was Cedric behind this too? Maia could feel a headache coming. deeould
Cedric was like a thorn buried deep in her heart. When she thought she had finally removed it once and for all, it returned and this time, it was buried deeper than ever.
Buck decided to remain silent as he could tell by glancing through the rear view mirror that Maia was not in a good mood.
The 1S11 fashion show was the largest fashion show in upper-class society. The banquet hall was already crowded with socialites clad in fashionable clothing and flawless makeup.
The moment Maia arrived at the scene, all eyes were on her. Some were filled with hatred and anger, while others were mocking or just confused.
Maia ignored all of them as she clicked her heels, enduring the pain in her knees and walking into the hall with confidence. “What is she doing here? Everyone knows what happened between her and Zera. She was the reason Mr. Cedric ignored Zera. Now that Zera’s dead, how could they allow her suspected killer to attend this event?”
“This is the 1S11 show, how could she miss it? And you know the rules, we have to show if
up we say in the RSVP that we're attending.”
“If it were me, I’d just stay home and reflect on what had happened. | heard that Zera’s death was gruesome.”
Maia smirked as she heard people talking around her. She did not kill Zera, so why should she bother? Besides, it was not like Zera was a kind person. Everything that she had done when she was alive was horrible.
Maia would never forget that Zera was the reason she was hospitalized the second time for a hemorrhage after Rita caused her miscarriage.
Maia glanced over at the other socialites with a warning gaze. When they noticed her gaze, they instantly kept quiet and lowered their heads.
The venue of the event was beautiful. The runway was designed to resemble the bright galaxy and the mysterious underwater world. The event matched its theme exactly: | would venture across the galaxy and centuries to embrace you.
Ironically, the whispers did not subside. Instead they were getting louder and louder. “It’s such a shame. | used to really like her as she is really beautiful, but after this incident, | don’t think | can say that | still do.”
“How would she be able to be married to the Larkin family if she was just as innocent? She probably used some tricks to get what she wanted. Don’t underestimate her.”
“| agree! Besides, she’s the only person who would still be involved with her ex-husband after getting a divorce!”
Maia felt helpless listening to the endless accusations around her. She continued walking to her seat without allowing the commotion to distract her.
Maia looked like a beautiful goddess who had escaped from the heavens and had fallen to earth as she strolled elegantly to her seat with a beautiful gown.
She attracted the gaze of most men in the hall. They were all captivated by how beautiful and sophisticated she looked! However, the beauty of the moment was destroyed when someone shouted, “Maia Burgess, you murderer! Get out of here!” 4/5
The next thing Maia knew, an egg came flying toward her. There was no way she could avoid it in time, so it hit her on the forehead and instantly a bruise appeared on her fair skin.
People around started to voice their dissatisfaction after this.
“A murder suspect shouldn’t be allowed to attend the 1S11 fashion show!”
“Did you do it? Was that the reason why you removed all news about you from the internet?”
“You shouldn't be allowed to be among us socialites!”
“Maia Burgess, get out! Leave this event!”
Maia became the center of unwanted attention as criticisms were thrown at her.
All of a sudden, a deep voice broke through the commotion and roared, “Who dares to lay a finger on her?”
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