Chapter 346 You’ve Always Been There
Seeing him so flustered, Ivan quickly reassured him. “Don’t worry. Master Pierce is well-respected. He’ll help you figure things out.”
Hearing this, Draco seemed to relax a bit and returned the money to Ivan.
Taking the money, Ivan said, “But you’ve got to keep this a secret. If word gets out, Master Pierce won’t have your back. He’ll see you as a problem. You have to keep his secrets if you want him to help you out.”
Listening to Ivan’s advice, Draco smirked inwardly but kept a composed face. “Don’t worry, we’ve been tight for years. I know the drill.”
Ivan felt a bit relieved, not because of Draco’s words, but because although Master Pierce had asked him to pressure Maggie, the specifics of how to do it were his request to Draco.
Ivan couldn’t deny it. Seeing Maggie’s performance on stage, it was impossible for him not to feel regret.
Over the years, although he had been devoted to teaching Sierra, she was pampered and couldn’t handle hardship. Learning the piano required rigorous practice, regardless of talent.
Yet, Sierra couldn’t focus. He had spent years coaxing and pushing her to practice, arranging various awards for her, and with financial support from the Camerons, he had helped her reach her current position.
Now, with the competition approaching, watching the student he had once dismissed as untalented excel and attract numerous fans, Ivan felt a pang of regret. If Maggie ended up winning, his past actions might come to light, or worse, if Maggie held a grudge against him, his reputation could be ruined.
Therefore, he wanted to bring Maggie down. As someone he pushed down, she shouldn’t get another chance to shine. If she just kept to herself and didn’t bother him, that would have been fine. But she kept popping up in front of him.
Ivan’s thoughts were straightforward. For women, what they feared most was probably being exposed. If he had evidence against Maggie, he could make her do whatever he wanted in the future.
He wanted a permanent solution, to crush Maggie and elevate Sierra. But he didn’t expect Maggie to have such good luck as to end up with Nathael.
Just thinking about this made Ivan feel choked up. If he had known that such a day would come, he would have kept Maggie around. But even if he had another chance to choose, he would still pick Sierra because he couldn’t wait that long.
He couldn’t waste over a decade waiting for Maggie to become famous or to cozy up to the Harrises.
He was already on the same side as Sierra and the Pierces; he couldn’t afford to hesitate anymore.
After Ivan left, Draco pulled out a voice recorder from under the blanket and played back their conversation.
A few of his trusted guys were gathered around the hospital bed, and one of them couldn’t help but ask,
Chapter 346 You’ve Always Been There
Draco’s eyes flashed with calculation. “If he and Master Pierce are playing dirty with Maggie like this, then we’ll play dirty right back at them. We just hope Mr. Harris will cool off.”
“Hey, come here.” Draco gestured to someone next to him and whispered something.
After nodding, that guy turned and left.
Shortly after, Draco gave some instructions to the other two guys, and once they left the hospital room one by one, the room returned to its quiet state.
After returning to the villa, Maggie and Nathael took showers, not considering the situation to be too serious.
It wasn’t that Maggie didn’t take it seriously with Nathael around, but rather that she felt her time was running out, leading to a shift in her mindset.
As Maggie stepped out of the bathroom, drying her hair, she noticed that Nathael had already finished his shower. He was sitting on the living room sofa, his expression dark as he stared at something.
“What’s wrong?” Maggie approached him, following his gaze.
Glancing over, she saw their sugar figurines on the coffee table. However, unlike before when they looked almost identical, now the two figurines had practically melted into a blob.
Perhaps it was due to the gap in time when they went to the nightclub, or maybe the room temperature was too high. In any case, the figurines had melted, with long strands of sugar trailing behind, making it difficult to discern their original appearance.
“They’ve melted,” Maggie said, picking one up and examining it. Beneath the plastic wrap, it was supposed to be Nathael.
All the features had melted together as if everything before had been an illusion.
“Upset? Sugar figurines are meant to melt,” Maggie chuckled. Looking at Nathael’s serious face, she couldn’t help but feel he had a touch of childishness about him.
Especially with these sugar figurines – they’re made with syrup. Maggie overheard her sugar figurine mentor mentioning they added osmanthus honey to the syrup, making it tasty.
Sitting beside Nathael, Maggie peeled off the plastic wrap and took a bite of the melting Nathael.
It was a bit of an exaggeration to say it was crunchy because the syrup had already softened.
But, in the larger areas, there’s still a bit of a firm part. She bit into it; it was sweet and dense, not the overly sugary taste you’d expect, but rather a refreshing sweetness that was better than expected.
Nathael turned to her, his dark eyes deep and mysterious.
Maggie blinked innocently, her eyes wide, and boldly took another bite in front of him.
Her lips, tinged with honey, were glossy and inviting. Nathael’s throat bobbed, feeling unexpectedly parched, unable to resist the urge to try some himself.
Chapter 346 You’ve Always Been There
He had planned to stash the sugar figurine in the fridge for later, but it was melting much faster than he thought.
Maggie licked her lips, then held out most of the remaining sugar figurine to his cheek, asking, “Want a taste?”
Nathael pressed his lips together, but Maggie seemed unfazed, continuing to eat bite after bite.
Though eating candy late at night might feel a bit sinful, the taste is not bad.
Especially since I’m having Nathael!
Just thinking about it gets Maggie all excited!
“Do you want to eat Maggie? If you don’t eat it soon, it’ll completely melt away,” Maggie kindly suggested.
In the next moment, a strong hand scooped her onto his lap. Nathael held her chin and kissed her passionately, greedily tasting the sweetness between her lips and teeth. It was unbelievably delicious.
Maggie’s cheeks tinted pink, one hand still holding the sugar figurine; she leaned back a bit and couldn’t help but say, “Why are you acting like a child?”
Nathael’s gaze was intense as he looked down at her. “You’ve devoured me.”
“Yeah,” Maggie admitted without hesitation.
Nathael’s voice was low and husky. “So, am I in your heart?”
Maggie couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’ve always been there.”
Whether it was in our past life or this one, you’ve always been in my heart. It’s just that in the past, I was clueless, and in this life, I just wish time didn’t rush by so quickly.