Not long after Byron sat down, Maeve's voice drifted from the kitchen. "Mr. McDaniel, we're out of leeks. Could you grab some from the balcony?" Byron raised a puzzled eyebrow. Most people's balconies were covered with bright flowers and decorative plants, but not Maeve's. Hers was more like a tiny vegetable farm, crammed with leeks, spring onions, and lettuce. Even the glass plant stand Jeff had broken yesterday had been filled with veggie pots, not flowers.

Byron stepped onto the balcony, taken aback by the jungle of green. To him, all the vegetables looked pretty much the same. He rubbed his temples, feeling lost. "Which ones are the leeks?" he muttered. "The scissors are on the shelf. Just cut a handful, not too much," Maeve called from the kitchen.

Byron pressed his lips together, grabbed the scissors, and snipped off a bunch of what he hoped were leeks. With a slight frown, he walked back into the kitchen. Maeve glanced at the bunch, nearly speechless. "These are spring onions," she said. Her brown eyes narrowed. "You didn't exactly point out which ones were the leeks."

Maeve bit her lip and sighed. "My bad. I'll get them myself. But thanks for trying."

Fifteen minutes later, Maeve set two bowls of potato leek soup and a dish of macaroni and cheese on the table. The presentation was basic, but it looked decent. "Go on, dig in," Maeve said with a smile, taking a seat opposite Byron.

Byron glanced at her before picking up his fork, his movements smooth and practiced. But the moment he took a bite, his face twisted. 'How could it taste this awful?' he thought, struggling to comprehend that she actually believed she was a good cook. The soup was terrible, and even the macaroni and cheese—something that should be foolproof—was a complete catastrophe. His taste buds felt under attack.

He managed only two bites before setting down his fork and reaching for his jacket. "I just remembered something urgent I need to take care of. Enjoy your meal."

Maeve blinked, confused. "But you haven't even finished your soup."

"I can't stomach it right now." Byron's face was dark as he left the apartment, leaving Maeve to stifle a laugh. She twirled some spaghetti around her fork and took a bite, a satisfied grin spreading across her face. 'Well, that should clear up any misunderstandings from last night,' she thought, feeling smug.

After breakfast, Maeve tidied up and prepared to leave. She checked her phone (which had been on silent) and saw several missed calls from her parents. They must have discovered she hadn't registered her marriage with Jeff. Once Maeve made up her mind, she never looked back. Now, she just had to figure out how to return the Graves family's engagement gift or risk depleting her savings.

At the office, Maeve was about to start sorting through some fashion sketches when her boss, Piers Robinson, called her into his office. "Maeve, I heard you and Jeff had a bit of a blowup," Piers said, getting straight to the point. "And that you even had him hauled off to the police station?" (No surprise Piers knew; he was well-connected with Jeff's father, Wallace.)

Maeve shook her head. "Mr. Robinson, I ended things with him. He was arrested because he broke the law."

Piers looked genuinely surprised. But as he met the seriousness in Maeve's eyes, he realized this wasn't a heat-of-the-moment spat. A twinge of unease crept in regarding the favor Wallace had asked of him.

Piers smiled reassuringly. "Still, one night in jail is more than enough. Are you really willing to throw away your relationship over something so trivial? You've been planning a future together; shouldn't you be focusing on that?" He continued, "And besides, Jeff played a big role in getting you this job. He even asked me to cut you some slack and keep your workload light."

Piers wasn't being harsh, but his words made Maeve's cheeks flush with embarrassment. The whole situation suddenly felt ridiculous.

Before joining this company, Maeve had received an offer from a top-tier design brand. But Jeff, who constantly complained about the long hours at big firms and hating being apart from her, had "accidentally" replied to the email and declined the offer on her behalf. With no other option, she'd let go of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Thanks to his interference, Maeve ended up at this company—less work, but also less pay. To make ends meet, she occasionally took on freelance illustration gigs. With her skills and qualifications, she should have been leading design projects, yet she was relegated to menial tasks.

Over time, she began to doubt her own abilities and considered quitting, but she never imagined Jeff had been manipulating things behind the scenes.

Maeve took a deep breath, fighting to control her anger.

Piers continued, "You're on the brink of marriage, so whether you stay at this job or not doesn't really matter. But if Jeff ends up with a criminal record, it could affect your future children..."

"Mr. Robinson," Maeve interrupted, her voice calm and firm. "I've already ended things with Jeff. Yesterday, I registered my marriage with the man I truly love. If it's not too much trouble, could you please pass that message along to him?"

The extraneous website promotion has been removed. The text is significantly improved in terms of grammar, punctuation, and flow.