?Chapter 151:
There was always the risk of it backfiring.
Vince’s eyes narrowed, and a cold, humorlessugh slipped from his lips. “Then we make sure the surveince footage goes out of order. Once that’s taken care of, the photos will be the only thing anyone sees.”
Hearing that, Rosanna hid a sly smile. If Vince was willing to get his hands dirty, things would be easier than she ever hoped.
“Vince, are you sure you want to take it this far?” Rosanna asked, her voice light and tentative as she bit her lip, stealing a nce at his sharp, unreadable profile. “After all… Maia was once your fiancée.”
“She stopped being that a long time ago.” Vince did not flinch. His gaze, cold and steady, stayed fixed on the road ahead.
He had said it before — he would make Maiae back, begging for forgiveness.
By the time Chris returned, an ufortable silence had settled between Maia and Vincenzo. Hardly any of the food on their tes had been touched. Nobody spoke as they half-heartedly picked at their meals, and Chris sat there like a statue, his face a mask of cold indifference.
Tension hung so thick in the air that it felt like breathing through a heavy fog. Across the table, Vincenzo shifted uneasily, unable to figure out why the man opposite him was throwing off such a hostile vibe.
When the meal was winding down, Vincenzo set down his fork, forcing a polite smile in Maia’s direction. “Miss Watson, thanks for the meal. I had a great time chatting, but there’s something urgent I need to handle back at the shop. I’ll be heading out now. You two enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Before Maia could even muster a reply, Vincenzo was already rising from his seat, practically bolting from the room as though he couldn’t escape fast enough.
After Vincenzo left, Maia turned her attention back to Chris. His head was slightly bowed, his entire posture humming with barely concealed tension. Breaking the heavy silence, she said, “Mr. Cooper, that man — Vincenzo — he’s the one who bought the bracelet online. Without him, I wouldn’t have been able to get Vicki’s bracelet back.”
hosts great stories
“Right,” Chris responded with a t tone.
Of course, he knew. He was the one who had made sure Vincenzo got the bracelet in the first ce.
Trying to bridge the growing distance, Maia added, “That’s why I invited him to dinner. I just wanted to thank him properly.”
“I’m aware,” Chris muttered, a hollow chuckle escaping him.
Frustrated, Maia bit her lip before asking, “If you know all that, then why are you acting like this? You’re obviously unhappy.”
Chris halted mid-slice, the knife poised awkwardly in the air. His gaze liftedzily, but the slight redness creeping up his neck betrayed him before he could hide it behind a smirk. “Oh? Am I?”
Maia sat there, momentarily at a loss for words.
He didn’t need to say it. His face practically had “Not Happy” written across it in bold letters.
With a sly twist of his lips, Chris leaned closer, the edge of his smile mischievous. His handsome features hovered dangerously close to hers as he tilted his head and studied her. “You’ve been exining yourself quite a lot. What’s wrong? Worried I’ll get the wrong idea?”
Without warning, Maia’s heart kicked up a frantic rhythm. To hide her flustered state, she quickly dropped her gaze and took a slow sip from her ss, buying herself a few seconds. “Since we’re married, it makes sense to be upfront with each other.”
“Is that so?” Chris let out a low, mockingugh from deep within, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “But didn’t you tell me before that my personal matters were none of your business? So why do you feel the need to exin your personal affairs to me?”
Maia was briefly taken aback. She remembered how, just the night before, after leaving the club, Chris had asked her if she cared about who he spent time with. She had told him it was his personal matter and that she had no reason to get involved. And now, here he was, tossing her words right back at her — only this time, there was an unmistakable weight behind them.
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