Eleanor looked up to find Maurke staring at her with a complicated expression. “I know marrying Sebastian hasn’t been easy for you.”

He thought she was crying because of what Henrietta said. After all, they had been childhood sweethearts. They were supposed to be together.

Eleanor had no idea what was running through his mind. She didn’t take his handkerchief and simply moved from the wooden chair to the rocking chair. “Not really.”

To be honest, Sebastian was excellent in every way—in the literal sense—whether it was his looks or his stamina. She was starting to suspect that in his past life, he must’ve died of starvation or something. How else could he never get tired of filling himself up with her, otherwise? Well, to be fair, it was hard to get tired of it.

“You’ve never liked Sebastian. You told me more than once that you hated him,” Maurice remarked.

Eleanor glanced at him. “I said that? What else did I say?”

“You said that when you grew up, you were going to be my bride,” he replied, his voice growing deeper.

Eleanor let out a scoff and pulled out her phone, scrolling through it absentmindedly.

The moment Maule stepped into the yard, memories of their childhood flooded his mind; something inside him ached. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed Urance’s hand. “I keep thinking that maybe if that hospital record hadn’t appeared, maybe we would’ve been together ten years ago.” Upstairs, by the window, Sebastian’s expression had already turned dangerously dark.

It was spoken in Criptone: “Mr. Whitman, we didn’t find it.” They had searched Hencia’s house for something extremely important. However, they didn’t find it. Instead, Sebastian got to witness a lovely drama between two childhood sweethearts.

Eleanor actually cried in front of Maurice. So, this was how wronged she felt marrying him.

He suddenly laughed, but there was no warmth in his eyes. He then gestured toward his men. “Let’s go.”

Hetta only heard a faint thud. Confused, she peered out, landing on several bags of chicken feed stacked against the wall. She looked toward the backyard but saw nothing.

Dans watched the man in front of her with amusement. “Masdien, did you hit your head when you fell down the stairs?”

There, he could see Utu; she stood up. “Oh, wait, no. You didn’t just hit your head, you must have damaged your brain ten years ago. That’s the only way to explain why you keep making up nonsense. One moment I supposedly had a child, the next I supposedly hate Sebastian.”

Maurice stood up as well. He was taller than Eleanor, but with her boots on, they were eye level. He couldn’t intimidate her with height, so he could only raise his voice, “I didn’t!”

La glanced at him. Then, what exactly are you trying to say? Do you want to rope me in as your mistress because Brenda isn’t enough for you?

Maurice’s eyes flickered. “That’s not what I meant either.”

She turned and showed him Brenda’s call log. A string of woke messages were sent to Brenda. Brenda hadn’t spoken into her phone since, which meant she had recorded everything he said and sent it straight to Beenda. She said, “Whether you meant it or not, you can go explain it to Brenda yourself.”

Maurice’s expression darkened. He never expected Eleanor to be this vicious. “Eleanor!”

Eleanor put her phone away and picked up her purse. “The person I despise most is you. And you think we should’ve been together ten years ago? You were already messing around with other women back then. Why are you pretending to be innocent when you know damn well you’re not!”

“Are you actually in love with your own performance! You really do have main-character syndrome, don’t you!”

Feeling humiliated, Maurice gritted his teeth. “Your…”

Eleanor had no interest in being alone with him any longer. It was disgusting. She turned away. “The Maui, who was my childhood friend, died the summer we graduated high school. Right now, the person I hate most is you.” With that, she walked inside to help Henrietta make tea.

They stayed in the small garden all afternoon but never spoke another word to Maurice. In the end, he couldn’t take it and left.

Meanwhile, Eleanor helped Henrietta cook dinner and only went home after they finished eating.

Maurice returned to the Poterice. The villa had three floors. James and Linda lived on the second floor, while he and Brenda stayed on the third. He entered the room and saw Brenda sitting motionless in front of the vanity.

Feeling guilty, he pressed his lips together and walked up behind her. “Bren, I didn’t mean what I said to Eleanor. I just wanted her to talk to Grandma and get her to unfreeze my cards. I was only singing…”

He had expected Brenda to explode in anger. But to his surprise, when Brenda turned to face him, she was smiling. “I know,” she said sweetly. “It was obvious she was trying to sow discord. I’m not falling for it. She’s just bitter about her own life and can’t stand to see us happy.”

Maurice hadn’t expected to be so understanding, and he was deeply moved. “You’re so mature, Beh. Marrying you is the best thing that ever happened to me. Don’t worry, if Dad really insists on taking that woman and her son into the family, I’ll stand by you and stop him. Those homewreckers and illegitimate brats have no right to set foot into our family!”

His brow furrowed. (The last word, "haued," appears to be a typo and lacks context for correction.)