How had Paul figured out that Maisy had tracked down Joe’s whereabouts through someone else? No wonder Charles had warned her not to underestimate Paul. It seemed that everyone Joe kept close had a sharp mind.
“Really? Do you think I can’t trace your information back to the private detective you hired?” Paul’s voice was laced with mockery. “It won’t take long before someone tells me.”
His smile vanished, replaced by a chilling, unwavering confidence. “Don’t act like a smartass. If you harass Mr. Martin again, the Williams family will be finished.”
Maisy’s face drained of color. “You!” she spat, fury blazing in her eyes.
Paul stared at her with cold amusement. “Did you really think no one would see through your intentions?” He seemed almost entertained by Maisy’s attempt to manipulate the situation. Her act had been painfully transparent to him.
Maisy’s world tilted as she realized her plan had been exposed so quickly. She hadn’t expected this at all.
“You’ve all been deceived by Skylar!” Maisy snapped, her voice shaking with rage and frustration.
Paul had no desire to continue this farce. Maisy’s shallow tricks might have worked on others, but on him and Joe? They were an insult. The fact that he had maintained his composure and hadn’t lost his patience was already admirable. After a long day, wasting time with someone like Maisy was the last thing he needed.
Without another word, Paul turned and headed toward the elevator, leaving Maisy standing there, defeated and crestfallen.
Maisy was utterly flabbergasted. She couldn’t believe that, after all the effort she had put into flying over and waiting all day, things had turned out like this.
Seething with resentment, Maisy bit her lip. “Skylar, I swear I won’t let you have the last laugh. So what if Joe is backing you now?” she muttered to herself. “The Williams family still prefers me. Soon, Janine and her sons will favor me too. You’ll end up all alone, miserable.”
In a fit of defiance, Maisy pulled out her phone, opened WhatsApp, and found Janine’s number. With a sneer, she sent a voice message.
“Mom, I’ve realized how wrong I was. I’ve thought things through. You gave birth to me, and I’ve been ungrateful. Please forgive me, Mom. I know you might find it hard to forgive me because of Skylar, but I won’t blame you. If you have time this weekend, I’d like to visit you.”
Though Maisy didn’t receive an immediate reply, she wasn’t discouraged. After all, she was Janine’s biological daughter. She didn’t believe Janine could truly ignore her.
Janine hesitated when she heard Maisy’s voice message. Was this a real change? Had Maisy truly seen the light? As her biological mother, Janine felt torn, unsure of whether to believe her daughter’s sudden repentance.
After several minutes of indecision, Janine finally replied and agreed to meet.
Back at the hotel, Paul returned to his room and took a long, hot shower. When he lay down in bed, sleep still wouldn’t come. He pulled out his phone and sent a message to Skylar.
“Maisy somehow found out where Mr. Martin was and followed him to the hotel. She might suspect you’re with him, but she doesn’t know you two are married.”
Skylar frowned as she read Paul’s message. Maisy was like an annoying, stubborn leech. But Skylar wasn’t about to let her ruin things—if Maisy wanted to sabotage herself, Skylar was more than happy to let her.
“Mr. Ziegler, can you recommend a reliable private detective?” Skylar replied.
“I’ll send you his number right away. When you call, just mention you’re my friend, and he’ll handle everything,” Paul responded swiftly.
“Alright, thanks,” Skylar said before closing WhatsApp and dialing the private detective.
“Hi, I’m Mr. Ziegler’s friend. He recommended you to me. I need you to look into someone for me,” she said.
After the call ended, Skylar lay back on the bed, her thoughts drifting to her past life.
When she had become paralyzed from the waist down, Skylar had been bedridden for months, able only to move her hands and head. Over time, the lack of food and constant neglect had left her so weak she couldn’t even move at all.
During that period, Maisy had had no qualms about telling Skylar all sorts of scandalous secrets. Maisy and Christopher had even gone so far as to engage in intimate acts in front of her, a form of torment. They’d made her take strange, harmful drugs that Maisy had bought from shady dealers at bars.
Eventually, Maisy herself had fallen into a spiral of drug abuse. Skylar wondered if Maisy had already started using drugs in this life. Initially, Skylar had planned to wait for the Williams family to go bankrupt, then use that as leverage to send Maisy to prison for her crimes. But now, Skylar had decided to act sooner—she would start by exposing Maisy’s illegal drug purchases, slowly pushing her to self-destruct.
One thing Skylar regretted was that, in her past life, Christopher and Maisy had been madly in love, even until Skylar’s tragic death. But now, it seemed Christopher was relentlessly pursuing her instead. In this life, their relationship had changed completely.
Skylar realized her rebirth must have had a ripple effect, altering the course of others’ lives as well.
While waiting for her flight at the airport, Maisy spotted Joe from across the room. For a moment, she considered approaching him, but when she saw Paul giving her a cold stare, she quickly backed off. Paul’s words from the previous day had likely been exactly what Joe wanted to say to her.
“Damn Skylar!” Maisy cursed under her breath. “You must have slandered me to Joe so he would hate me! Just wait. I’ll make sure you lose everything.”
Meanwhile, Alexander had received a call from his butler, who sounded concerned.
The butler informed him that Caleb hadn’t left his room for days. Caleb had only allowed people to come in to deliver meals and clean the room before shutting them out again. Today, he had even refused both meals and cleaning services. Worried, the butler had called Alexander.
Alexander, still busy with work, had brushed it off, saying Caleb wouldn’t die just yet. But now that his workday had ended, he hurried home.
When he knocked on Caleb’s door, a voice from inside called, “Come in.”
Alexander opened the door, and with the butler following behind, they were both shocked by the scene that greeted them.
Caleb was lying on his bed, reading a book. Several more books were scattered across the bed around him.
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