Chapter 4

"Winona, what exactly are you trying to do? Weren't you the one who wanted to make a video with me? Now you're playing hard to get?"

"My patience isn't unlimited. If you want to film, let's get on with it."

After I understood the meaning behind his words, I was too disgusted to speak. I looked at him like he was a stranger.

How had the man I once loved so much become this filthy and ugly?

Or perhaps he'd always been this way, and I was only now seeing the truth.

"Open your damn eyes and look carefully. This is my mother's ashes!"

"Saying these things in front of a dead person—aren't you afraid of karma?"

He looked uncertain, staring blankly at the urn in my arms.

But Vivian rushed over at that moment and whispered in his ear.

The doubt in Maxwell's eyes vanished, replaced by intense disgust toward me.

"Before I had your mother placed in those mountains, I had Vivian arrange a team of mercenaries to protect her. How could anything have happened?"

"Winona, just to win my affection, you'd even fake your own mother's death. What disgusting thing wouldn't you do?"

He snatched the urn from me, opened it, and let out a cold laugh.

"What normal person's ashes would be this little? Winona, if you're going to fake something, at least make it believable."

But the ashes were so sparse because there was so little left of my mother's body.

My heart was full of grievance, but Maxwell gave me no chance to explain. I could only swallow it down.

"Since you already bought the props, I might as well put them to use."

"Vivian, help me finish that scene from earlier."

By the time I remembered what scene he meant, the two of them were already performing it right in front of me.

Right in front of my mother's ashes.

Maxwell tied me up with rope. I could only watch helplessly as they defiled my mother with their actions.

"No, please don't. I'm begging you."

Tears streamed down endlessly, but they didn't stir even a hint of mercy in Maxwell.

He even spoke mockingly to the urn:

"Your daughter's boyfriend of ten years is with another woman. Can you see this from below?"

By the end, I'd gone numb, watching them expressionlessly.

When they finished, I picked up the urn without a word and left that disgusting place, not sparing them another glance.

They disgusted me to the point of nausea.

Worried that Maxwell might find my temporary residence and do something disgusting with my mother's ashes again, I'd rather carry the urn with me to work.

Ever since the scandal from the meeting had spread, my reputation at the company was completely ruined.

Wherever I went, I could hear people whispering behind my back.

"She acts so proper normally, but she's so shameless in private."

"Only our Mr. Hunt would want her. Who else would like this kind of slut?"

The source of all these rumors was Maxwell's current woman, Vivian.

But this life was finally about to end. Today I was here to resign.

However, when I knocked on Maxwell's office door, I was told Mr. Hunt wasn't in his office—he was downstairs at the company entrance.

I looked down through the floor-to-ceiling window in confusion and saw countless gorgeous, brilliant flowers.

In the middle of a heart shape made of bouquets, Maxwell knelt on one knee.

Just by reading his lips, I knew what four words he was saying:

"I like you."

But the object of his confession wasn't me. It was Vivian, her face full of bashful delight.

Ten years. I'd waited ten years for his confession.

Whenever I wanted to make our relationship public, he always found excuses to put me off.

I never imagined the reason it would finally be made public would be this absurdly laughable.

And the confession I'd waited ten years for was stolen by someone else.

Falling in love with Maxwell truly was the biggest mistake of my life.

Vivian accepted Maxwell without question. The two embraced excitedly and kissed passionately on the spot.

I didn't spare them another glance. After placing my resignation letter on Maxwell's desk, I returned to my workstation to pack my things.

All my colleagues were discussing the confession that just happened, openly and subtly scorning me.

"Those two are so well-matched. Vivian is so much better than that Winona."

"Some ten-year relationship—probably just Mr. Hunt being kind to save her face. I bet she's the one who's been pestering him for ten years."

These words flowed through my mind like water, unable to stir even a ripple.

But when I returned to my desk, the urn that had been sitting there was gone.

My heart sank to the bottom. Ignoring others' contempt, I frantically asked the surrounding colleagues.

After learning Vivian had taken it, my vision went black and I nearly fainted.

That woman would definitely do something terrible to my mother's ashes.

My mother's ashes couldn't afford any mishap. I headed to the CEO's office once more.

When I arrived, I saw Vivian had poured all the ashes into a flowerpot with several vibrant roses planted in it.