?Chapter 1141:


    In the same way, Maia herself could never lift a hand against Zoey, and she would never strike at those who had offered her a hand when she required help.


    What bound her actions was more than loyalty. It was a principle, a code Zoey had impressed upon Maia from the very start.


    From the days when she was only an orphan by the sea to the time she stepped into the Cooper family as their youngest daughter, Zoey had lived by that same rule. Gratitude shaped her choices, though she carried it out in ways only she understood.


    “Zoey, why did you deceive me?” Maia finally broke the silence, her voice trembling. She pushed the kerosenemp forward, its glow stretching across Zoey’s face. The sight that met her eyes was chilling — Zoey was smirking, her gaze glittering with an unreadable light.


    A sharp pang seized Maia’s chest, tightening her breath.


    “Your reasoning isn’t bad,” Zoey said as she pulled her gaze away, her tone dropping to a whisper. “But it’s possible Chris has no idea that I was the one who killed his father.”


    Her words carried a deliberate slowness. “Before I made my move, I kept a decent rtionship with Kyle. I visited both him and Chris often, and that closeness gave Chris a false sense of trust. He convinced himself I was framed and couldn’t be guilty. He’s far too trusting, always plotting how to save me.”


    “So this is the truth you want me to ept?” Maia’s expression steadied as the haze of confusion lifted. Her eyes locked with Zoey’s as she replied, “If that’s the case, I’d rather hold onto a different story. Would you care to hear what my mentor once told me?”


    “Oh? You n to tell my story instead?” Zoeyughed gently. “You’ve swapped our ces. Still… I admit, I’d like to hear it.”


    Leaning forward all at once, she rested her elbows on her knees. “Go on, then. Share the truth as you see it — or should I call it the tale you’ve crafted?”


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    Closing the distance between them, Maia mirrored her posture. “This must be the final test, isn’t it?”


    Rising slowly, she steadied her posture and spoke with gravity. “Once, you were the prodigy everyone talked about. Your talent was undeniable, yet your presence unsettled the Cooper family. It wasn’t only Kyle who feared you — Kolton, the very one you admired, also saw you as a threat.”


    Themplight caught the drifting dust, scattering like tiny kes of ash in the air.


    Maia’s words rang out with rity. “They worried that your brilliance would overshadow theirs. More than that, they were terrified Laurence might truly pass Cooper Group into your hands. To secure their standing, they decided to form alliances through marriage with you — anything that would keep the bloodline in their grasp.”


    Zoey tilted her gaze upward, her expression unreadable, but she remained quiet.


    Taking her silence as permission, Maia continued, “Kyle had his own household to protect, while Kolton refused to surrender his influence. So he arranged Kyle’s death, twisted the truth, and forced you to take the me. I don’t know exactly what hold he had over you, but one thing is certain — you discovered the truthter. And still, you honored some binding pact, one that kept you trapped here, unable to strike back against the man who betrayed you.”


    For a moment, Maia stopped speaking, her hands curling against her knees before loosening again.


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