The Heir

chapter 30

“YOU do have a great taste, Sarah,” said Maximilian without breaking eye contact. “I love your suggestions, and I would like that on our wedding anniversary to make my wife happy.”

Sarah was flattered to hear Maximilian said that. It only meant that she succeeded in pleasing him. Perhaps he would forgive her for mistreating him when he got there. But it would be better if he had already forgotten that.

“Oh, anything for you, Sir,” she said with a smile plastered on her face. “Anyway, how’s your wife? I was quite surprised when I learned that you and Victoria got married. You know… I thought you wanted to stay single.” Sarah tried to sound as casual as she can. She was cautious in every word that she said. Better to be safe than sorry.

“Victoria?” Maximilian smiled proudly. His eyes seemed to twinkle too—emotions that she had not seen before. “Well, she is quite busy with office work these days. But she is doing fine. And she remains as pretty as before.”

“Of course, she was our campus sweetheart back then.” And she could not help but wonder why a woman like Victoria married a man like him. Sarah wondered if Victoria ever felt regret choosing Maximilian like she felt now. Well, she would never know. “Send my regards to your wife. I hope we can see each other again.”

Maximilian’s lip twitched. She did not know why he did that. Well, he must find it absurd that the woman who was rude to him at first was now sending regards to his wife. Well, it was all part of the act. Sarah managed to smile.

“I will tell her. Maybe she will recall you. You were Victoria’s greatest rival, after all.”

Her mouth opened, but she decided to close it again. She had to control her anger, or else everything would go in vain. Sarah just took a deep breath and let out a short laugh.

That was the scene when the manager came back to Eden’s Hall after taking an important phone call.

“Again, Mr. Lee, I am sorry about that. There is a family emergency,” Sir Pete said apologetically.

“Oh, if it’s an emergency, then you should head home,” Maximilian told the manager.

“No need, Sir. My wife already settled it. Anyway, is everything okay? Do you want to add any details for the surprise dinner date?”

“I am happy with the details. You can proceed with that.” Maximilian turned to her with a poker face.

“That’s great to hear.” Sir Pete patted her shoulder and smiled. “You’ve done a great job, Sarah. Because you successfully pleased Mr. Lee, I will give you a salary raise and a promotion—”

“I don’t think so,” Maximilian chimed in, cutting the manager’s words.

Sarah abruptly turned in his direction.

“What do you mean, Mr. Lee?” Sir Pete asked with a knotted forehead.

“Sarah may have pleased me, but she had done something wrong.” Maximilian arched a brow. “Why don’t you tell your manager how you belittle me before when you saw me outside the restaurant as the doorman blocked my way?”

The manager grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from Maximilian.

“What is he saying, Sarah? What the hell happened?” Sir Pete asked through gritted teeth.

Her heart started racing in panic. She was wrong when she thought that she could get out of that mess smoothly. Maximilian only pretended to be swayed. Sarah forgot how sly he was.

“I…”

But even before she could finish her sentence, Maximilian already reached them.

“Sarah told me that I am not welcome here. Perhaps she thought I couldn’t afford to charter a place like this.”

“Is that true, Sarah?” the manager’s voice was loud; it echoed inside the hall.

She bit her lower lip. “Sir… I…”

“Don’t you dare lie, Sarah,” Maximilian warned.

“It’s true,” she cried. “Sir, I didn’t mean to—” She was not able to finish her sentence when her manager’s palm landed on her cheek.

“How dare you to speak that way to our customer. Of all people, you did that to Mr. Lee!” Sarah cupped her cheek and looked at her manager. “You shouldn’t have done that to him or to anyone!”

“Sir, I swear I regret doing that… I let my emotions—”

“I don’t care about your emotions, Sarah! This is your workplace, and there is no place for your personal issues.” Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

The manager opened the door and called for security.

“Sir…” She fell to her knees. “Please forgive me, just this once… I promise not to do it again…” she cried.

Sir Pete glanced at Maximilian before looking at her. “You will still get the whole month’s salary and your separation pay despite what happened. It’s the only thing I can do for you.”

“Sir! Please… no… don’t fire me…” Sarah begged as she cried in front of them. She rubbed her palms against one another as she continued shedding tears. “I can’t afford to lose this job.”

She turned to Maximilian, who was looking at her with a poker face.

“Get out now,” said the manager in a firm tone.

But Sarah could not just lose her job like that. She was willing to do everything to keep her place in that restaurant. She clutched on Maximilian’s leg and cried.

“I am so sorry for what I have done to you earlier. Please, help me, just this once. I have a family to feed… I beg you, Maximilian…”

He did not speak nor move an inch. Sarah saw the old Maximilian—cold. She slowly let go of his leg.

Soon, the security guards came inside the hall and dragged her out. Now, her life was doomed. She lost her job in just a blink of an eye.

If Sarah regretted having feelings for Maximilian Lee back then, now she regretted meeting him.

“MR. LEE, I am really sorry. If I knew beforehand—”

Maximilian wagged his hand. “It doesn’t matter now. It’s already settled, anyway.”

“Right…” The manager nodded agreeably. “How about Sarah’s suggestions, would you like to change it or—”

“No, I won’t change anything. Despite her rudeness towards me, I still like her suggestions, so we will push through with that.” He pocketed his hands and smile.

“O-oh… I see. Then, what is your preferred time for your dinner date?”

“Seven in the evening will do.”

The manager jotted down his preferred time. “If there is anything else that you need, you can call me.”

Maximilian checked his wristwatch.

“Thank you, Pete. My wife and I will see you soon.”

He was about to leave the hall when the manager caught up to him.

“I almost forgot. We prepared something for you and your wife.” The manager smiled at him. “Please wait for a while, and I’ll go get it to the kitchen.”

Maximilian nodded in response. It only took the manager a couple of minutes to return from the kitchen. After receiving the takeout food and wine, he left the restaurant. He then drove to the Griffith Group’s office to fetch Victoria. Just like before, Maximilian and his wife talked about how each other’s day went on their way home. Of course, he lied to her because he did not want to spoil the surprise that she prepared.

“I’ll go change my clothes,” Victoria said before getting off of the car.

“Then I’ll be at the kitchen preparing our dinner,” he told her with a grin.

Victoria smiled and patted his cheek, then she finally got off. While he collected the paper bags from the backseat of the car and headed straight to the kitchen.

“MAX, this is too much food for just the two of us!” Victoria exclaimed when she saw the food on the table. They all looked delicious, and she could feel her mouth watery at that moment with just the sight of it. “Where did you get all these?”

Her husband laughed as he pulled a chair for her.

“From the restaurant, of course.”

Victoria rolled her eyes ceilingward. “Yeah, right.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me where did I get the money to buy us these meals?” He picked the bottle and poured wine on their glasses.

“I know you, Max. You always treat me whenever you won the lottery.” Victoria picked a glass and sipped some wine.

“Yes, I won the lottery.” Maximilian sat across her and sipped his wine too. “Anyway, do you still remember Sarah, that girl from college?”

Her brows furrowed. “You mean Sarah Franklin, that cheerleader?”

“It’s Sarah Francis,” Maximilian shook his head. “You barely recall her.”

“Franklin or Francis, whatever her surname is, as long as we are talking about the same girl.” She put the glass down and picked her utensils. Then, she started slicing her meat forcibly despite its soft texture. She just could not help it. The woman was her greatest rival. She was also the only woman who made her feel jealous. “So… what’s with her?” She looked at Maximilian with a fake smile.

“It seems to me that you are jealous just by hearing her name.”

Her eyes widened. “Me? Jealous? Of course not. Why would I be jealous when I already have you as my husband?”

Victoria sneered when her husband laughed heartily. He seemed to enjoy teasing her.

“Anyways…” He started eating his meal. “She used to work at the restaurant where I got these.”

She halted from popping the slice of steak into her mouth. “Did you… catch up with her?”

“A little.” Maximilian even demonstrated that little with his fingers.

“So, how is she?”

Maximilian scoffed. “I don’t think she’ll be fine after that.”

“What do you mean?” She could not help but grow curious.

“Well, I saw her got fired.”

“Oh, that was… sad.”