Free Web NovelChapter 786: Chapter 757: Gage Grant vs. Maeve [019]
Maeve came out after taking a shower, Gage was standing by the bed drying his hair, looking down at his phone while drying.
She sat down at the vanity, applied her skincare products, took her phone, and sat on the bed to call an agent she knew.
"Yes, I want to sell the house as soon as possible. Do you have time to take some pictures to post it? Get the key from my assistant."
Gage, who was looking at his phone, looked up at her. When she hung up, he threw the towel over his shoulder and sat on the bed as well.
"You’re going to sell your house in Jadeston? To scrape together money for that old woman?"
"Yes."
Gage thought at the moment, if Maeve sells her house in Jadeston, then it’s even less likely she’ll go back.
No, he can’t let her stay in this godforsaken place. Every visit would mean a four to five-hour drive, just thinking about it made him exhausted.
"How much do you need to give her? I’ll give it to you, don’t sell the house," Gage said.
Maeve didn’t respond.
Gage scooted closer to her, lowered his head, and looked up at her: "Are you not planning to go back to Jadeston?"
She lowered her gaze to look at him: "I’m quite happy here."
"Happy? This broken countryside. People are desperate to get to Jadeston, and you, you’re selling your house to move back to the countryside?"
Seeing his urgency, Maeve smiled slightly and asked, "Haven’t you heard the saying, ’A golden nest, a silver nest, is not as good as your own dog kennel’?"
Gage’s heart softened at her rare smile, and his tone gentled as he turned to a softer approach: "If you really want to sell the house, that’s okay, I’ll buy you a new one. Whether you want a flat or a villa, we can live together."
"Are you planning to keep a hidden gem in a golden house?"
Being caught out, Gage sheepishly pursed his lips, hugged her as they lay down, his hand offering as a pillow, his lips brushing against her hair.
After organizing his words for a moment, he decided to hold back his true motives: "I’m just joking. My family is strict, I have to be home by ten at night."
"Is that so?"
Gage assured her: "Of course! So don’t worry!"
Maeve said nothing, pulling up the blanket over herself.
Gage quickly followed, tucking himself under the covers.
The dim bedside lamp cast a faint light. Gage took in the view of Maeve’s room. Earlier, he’d been too occupied to notice it.
The room was quite large, about 20 square meters. All the furniture was solid wood and seemed expensive. The room featured a luxurious European-style bed with drapes, an entire wall of built-in wooden wardrobes, complete with a desk and bookcase, plus an en suite bathroom.
Decorating a room like this twenty years ago would have been costly and required some taste; judging by the design, the furniture must have been imported.
He thought Maeve must have been dearly cherished before her mother’s passing.
He dared not uncover her scars, only held her tightly to provide a sense of safety.
Falling asleep with a woman in his arms felt like this.
He recalled how, over the years, the number of times he spent nights with women could be counted on one hand, and even then, he had never experienced hugging a woman as they slept together.
Perhaps it was because he had no feelings for them, or perhaps he feared they might mistake the gesture as a sign of affection.
Ultimately, it was because of self-centeredness and an aversion to trouble.
"When will you return?" Maeve suddenly shifted her shoulder.
Gage returned to his senses: "Whenever you go back, I’ll go back."
Noting the joke, Maeve remained silent for a moment before speaking: "Tomorrow I have to find someone to evaluate this villa’s value. Then I’ll quickly sell the house in Jadeston, kick Diana and her lover out, and only then can I proceed with the next steps."
For the first time, Maeve said so much to Gage, which left him pleasantly surprised. He turned her body to face himself and said, "Take your time selling the house in Jadeston. No rush. Once the evaluation is done, I’ll front you the money and you can repay me when the house sells. How about that?"
He was really eager to get that guy named Ethan out earlier.
Having a thirty-year-old man in the house with Maeve, where they could barely avoid each other, was something he couldn’t tolerate.
Maeve didn’t know this was on his mind, thinking instead that he wanted to bring her back to Jadeston quickly. She said, "Even if the situation here gets resolved, I won’t be going back right away,."
Initially, Gage wanted to take her back, but seeing her refusal, he lowered his expectations. As long as that guy named Ethan would leave, that was fine.
His woman, he could come back for her later.
He smiled, stroked Maeve’s cheek with his hand, and agreed cheerfully: "No problem, go back whenever you’re ready."
Maeve shrank back slightly, seemingly uncomfortable with such intimacy.
She turned her back to him again, embracing herself with her arms, and closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep.
Gage said nothing else, just continued to hold her.
She suddenly realized she’d spoken more to him this evening than usual.
It seemed because, in the dangerous situation earlier tonight, he had firmly protected her, let her stay upstairs while he faced those people alone.
At such a critical moment, he did not abandon her.
At that point, she was already moved.
Since her mother’s passing, except for Sienna Thornton, he seemed to be the only one who protected her like this.
Even the coldest, hardest heart would soften seeing a man risk himself for her.
That’s why she asked him where he was staying that night and willingly stayed with him when they returned to the room.
At this very moment, her lying docilely in his arms was something she couldn’t have imagined three days ago.
She understood why she was behaving this way.
Because of the lack of a father’s love in her adolescence, she portrayed herself as not needing a man, not needing love, but deep down she yearned for it. She wanted to be cared for and protected.
Maeve didn’t dare go deeper into these thoughts, so she hugged herself and gradually fell asleep.
Gage kept holding her.
In the middle of the night, when she got up to use the bathroom, she discovered his hand was still placed securely on her waist, and he remained sleeping facing the back of her head.
After returning from the bathroom, Maeve found it difficult to fall back asleep. She tossed and turned until nearly dawn before sleeping.
When she woke up, Gage was no longer in bed.
He must have gone back.
She felt a slight emptiness, though it didn’t affect her mood. After checking her phone for calls and messages, she went to the bathroom to freshen up.
After washing up, she prepared to change clothes. When she opened the wardrobe, she suddenly noticed something different.
In the section where she kept her tops, there were a few men’s short-sleeved T-shirts, and in the section for underwear, there were also some men’s briefs. Here and there, other men’s clothing like long pants and shirts were scattered about.
At least he understood how to categorize them, even though he never folded them, leaving them scattered messily.
Maeve, amused and exasperated, organized Gage’s clothes, changed into her own outfit, and prepared to go downstairs to see if there was anything to eat.
