?Chapter 1225:


    Inside the bathroom, water rushed from the faucet. Maia turned it on and kept sshing cold water over her face, but her cheeks still burned, refusing to cool no matter how much she tried.


    This time, they’d almost gone further than before. It wasn’t just her mind in chaos—she had nearly lost her grip too.


    “Get it together, Maia. Chris is just a regr guy. What happened is totally normal.”


    She repeated it like a mantra, reminding herself that Chris had kept his word. Besides, she was the one who had started it this time.


    Maia lifted her gaze to the mirror, barely recognizing the woman staring back at her. Strangely, she didn’t mind what she’d be.


    It seemed that once she’d sorted out her feelings for Chris, she’d returned to the person she’d been before prison—the one who still believed in love.


    “Well, it’s been ages,” Maia said with a grin at her reflection.


    Thinking of Chris’s flustered expressions from a moment ago, she couldn’t stop smiling. And honestly—her husband’s body was something else.


    Every now and then, Maia thought Chris ought to try being a male model.


    Then again… maybe not.


    She’d rather keep her man all to herself.


    Half an hour passed before Maia finally got her feelings under control and came out of the bathroom.


    Chris had already taken his seat at the dining table, looking calm again, though his eyes kept darting away.


    Two cups of coffee sat on the table, wisps of steam rising into the air. “It’s atte. Freshly brewed,” Chris said, breaking the silence first. “I hope you’ll like it.”


    “Mm,” Maia replied. She sat down, picked up the cup, gently blew on the surface, and took a sip. “It’s pretty good.”


    Neither of them mentioned what had just happened, but the air between them still felt slightly off.


    “Do you want sugar?” Chris asked, trying to keep the conversation going.


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    Maia shook her head. “It’s good like this.”


    Silence settled in again.


    They both lowered their gazes, sipping their coffee without saying a word. The things they had wanted to say earlier now seemed stuck in their throats, impossible to voice after everything they had just shared.


    It didn’t feel like the right time to confess the secrets they had both been carrying. They figured it might be better to wait until after the charity g, when they could find a more appropriate moment to be honest.


    When Maia finished thest sip of her coffee, she lifted her eyes and met Chris’s gaze.


    “Chris…”


    “Maia…”


    They spoke at the same time.


    “You say it first.”


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