Free Web NovelChapter 780: Chapter 751: Gage Grant vs. Maeve [013]
(Three updates today, three more tomorrow, asking for monthly votes)
Maeve struggled to stand up, wanting to go back to her room to sleep, but her limbs felt like she was standing on the deck of a ship in stormy seas, swaying to the point where she could barely stand.
Her body swayed, and instinctively, she grabbed the sofa to steady herself, closed her eyes, and shook her head vigorously. After a few seconds of calm, she tried to walk again.
Just ten steps, and she would be back in her room.
Gage Grant sat on the sofa, his eyes blazing as he stared at her back.
The thin straps of her dress slid off her slender, pale shoulder blades, hanging loosely on her delicate arms.
He smiled inexplicably, stood up, and scooped up Maeve, who was trying hard to walk in a straight line back to her room.
The sudden loss of gravity made Maeve instinctively wrap her arms around Gage Grant’s shoulders.
She looked up at him, her eyes not large but distinctly black and white, misty as if covered with a layer of crystalline water fog.
Gage’s heart skipped a beat.
The hand gripping the back of his neck suddenly clutched hard, but he paid it no mind.
There was the scent of peppermint from lady’s cigarettes and the astringent richness left by spirits.
The scent enchanted Gage, who had a preference for smoking and drinking.
Over the years, he had tasted enough chemical flavors, but the clear tobacco and alcohol scent unique to Maeve was his favorite.
With a dull "bang," Gage kicked open the door and carried Maeve into the room.
...
Outside the window, the dusk settled, and the old air conditioner in the bedroom made a considerable noise.
Maeve got up, wrapped her tattered nightgown around her, and walked barefoot to the bathroom.
She didn’t dislike Gage Grant. No woman would dislike a handsome, well-built, tasteful man.
So she had no regrets.
Thinking so, she came out after her bath, and Gage was still lying on the bed, staring blankly at the canopy, lost in thought.
She ignored him, went to the vanity, and sat down to dry her hair.
Gage heard the noise, looked over, and quietly stared at her. It wasn’t until the hairdryer turned off that he softly asked, "I’m sorry, I didn’t know you..."
"It’s fine."
Gage was surprised, looking blankly at her slender, neat back.
He thought she would take this opportunity to ask him to take responsibility, to cling to him tearfully, and he had already prepared to properly settle her.
But she was so nonchalant, which made him feel chaotic and empty, as if he were the one who needed to be taken responsibility for.
"I... you..." He swallowed, "Are you really planning to leave the circle?"
"Yes."
"If you want to pursue another career, tell me how much you need. If not, I’ll give you a sum of money to arrange as you wish—buy a house, a car, a shop—anything."
The implication was that apart from money, he had nothing else to offer her.
Maeve didn’t respond, silently pinning her long bangs with a clip, applying some clear lotion to her face, then walked to the wardrobe and changed into a new nightgown.
Her silence made Gage’s heart uneasy.
He wasn’t afraid of Maeve wanting money; he was afraid she’d want him to be responsible, to marry her.
She knew Sienna, and if Sienna stood up for her, things could get very ugly.
"There’s a pharmacy downstairs. Could you buy some medicine for me?" Maeve suddenly said.
Gage snapped back to reality, realizing what she meant. Feeling secretly pleased, he quickly got dressed and went downstairs.
After buying the medicine at the pharmacy downstairs, he returned to Maeve’s place.
Maeve was cooking noodles in the kitchen at that time. He put the medicine on the countertop of the cabinet and cautiously asked, "Do you want to take it now or?"
"I’ll eat something first." Maeve stirred the noodles in the pot, "Would you like to have some?"
"Sure."
The noodles were quickly done, two bowls of tomato and egg noodles.
The two of them ate in silence, and Gage watched Maeve take the medicine, feeling reassured before heading home.
Actually, he didn’t want to go home; he wanted to spend the night there, but Maeve said she needed a good rest, dismissing him in a few words.
On the way home, he kept thinking about how to handle his relationship with Maeve.
Marrying her was not possible, but he was willing to date her. However, considering he was thirty-six and could get married due to family arrangements any time, breaking up with Maeve then would be painful for both.
He pondered over and over, deciding to come by after work tomorrow night to talk to Maeve. If she didn’t mind him possibly getting married one day, didn’t mind being his girlfriend for life, he would like to maintain this relationship.
If she minded and couldn’t accept it, then they could only end it. Though in his heart, Gage hoped Maeve wouldn’t make this choice.
He really liked her now, more than any woman he had been with before.
...
After Gage left, Maeve called her agent and assistant, discussing her decision as she packed her luggage.
"I’m going back to my hometown early tomorrow and won’t be returning for a while. For the signed commercial events, I have a schedule and will head directly from my hometown. Once the accounting checks are done, close the studio, and I’ll deal with it when the lease ends."
Her studio had renewed a five-year lease with the landlord last year, so she wasn’t in a hurry to handle it. For now, she planned to settle down back home first.
Her agent and assistant were shocked, trying to persuade her that everyone faces difficulties and that staying to face the challenges together would allow them to start anew.
Maeve smiled a rather helpless smile, "Let’s talk about it later. I haven’t been in a good state lately and need to go back and rest for a while."
The agent and assistant couldn’t say more, and the three of them discussed the follow-up matters, ending the call.
Maeve then called Sienna, mentioning her plans to return to her hometown the next day and to reach out if anything came up. Sienna was busy preparing for a case in Valois at the end of November, so their conversation was brief before she hung up.
She packed some of her frequently worn summer clothes into the suitcase, along with some skincare products and unfinished books into another. Two suitcases and a guitar were all her belongings.
Ten years ago, when she came to Jadeston, these were all she had; ten years later, leaving, it was still the same.
...
Maeve’s father had, during his lifetime, managed a medium-sized business with an annual revenue of around a hundred million, which was quite profitable and kept the Lester Family well-off.
Her biological mother had passed away from liver cancer when she was ten, and shortly after, her father married the company’s procurement director, who became her stepmother.
Six years ago, her father also passed away, leaving her ten million in cash and the business and other assets to her stepmother and their two children together.
This was her first time returning to her hometown since her father’s passing.
