Chapter 974

"And that's not all. Your father recently brought her into the company as the Chief Financial Officer. I was dead set against it when she first started crashing at our house, but you refused to listen. Now you see what happens when you invite a viper into your home."

Mrs. Sterling hated how naive her daughter was, but she hated her own powerlessness even more.

Maeve was on the verge of a total breakdown. "I have to go back and confront her. I need to know exactly what is going on between them."

Just then, Maeve's phone rang. It was the custom ringtone she had set specifically for Layne. The sound snapped her back to reality like a physical blow to the head. Mrs. Sterling looked at her in surprise.

"Have you made any friends these past two years? Who have you been staying with? Is it someone I know?"

Staring at Layne's caller ID, Maeve didn't dare answer it in front of her mother.

"No, Mom. It's just a spam caller trying to sell me something."

Thank God Layne's call had pulled her out of her spiral, otherwise she would have completely unraveled right there in the cafe.

"Is everything alright?" Mrs. Sterling asked, noticing her daughter's sudden panic.

"Mom, I have to go. You can't tell a soul that you saw me today."

She couldn't abandon her mission now. If Layne found out she had reconnected with her family, he would never trust her again. She only had one year left. If she ran off now, all her suffering would be for nothing.

Mrs. Sterling naturally promised to keep quiet. She was just terrified for her daughter.

"I can't be there to protect you, so please be careful. If you don't have to come back to the Sterling family, then stay far away. And forget about Quinton. His wedding with Delilah is next week. I'm telling you this for your own good, Maeve."

Maeve's vision tunneled into darkness. She barely managed to stay on her feet, forcing a stiff, agonizing smile.

"I know, Mom. I have to run. Bye."

Maeve walked away, but only far enough to slip out of her mother's line of sight. Mrs. Sterling always had bodyguards tailing her from a distance. If they spent too much time together, someone was bound to notice.

Watching her mother's retreating figure, Maeve finally called Layne back.

"Layne?"

Her voice was soft, laced with her usual sweet gentleness.

But Layne's gaze was visibly turning ice-cold. He was standing just a short distance

away, having watched her entire conversation with Mrs. Sterling.

Layne knew the faces of the city's elite. He distinctly remembered Maeve claiming she had desperately fled from her oppressive family Yet, judging by the tearful, emotionally charged exchange he had just witnessed, her escape was highly questionable.

"Where are you? I'll be there in a second."

ie'

When he had called her earlier, he clearly saw her glance at the screen and deliberately ignore it. She only called him back after her mother was completely gone. He had watched the entire charade play obt So what exactly was Maeve hiding? Or rather, what was she hiding specifically from him?

Maeve spoke with a sliver of caution, wondering if anyone had spotted her with her mother. She kept her tone casual. "I'm still inside the mall. Where are you?"

Layne smoothly told a lie. "Right by the entrance. You'll see me as soon as you walk out."

Maeve hurried to the main entrance to wait for him. When he appeared, her eyes softened with the perfect, adoring look she always reserved for him.

"You got off work early?"

She practically threw herself into his arms.

"Not yet. But when you said you were at the mall, I got worried and drove over to pick you up. This place is dangerously close to the Sterling estate was afraid someone from your family might bump into you and start causing trouble, so I rushed over."

"Oh."

Guilt flared in Maeve's chest. She looked up at him nervously.