Chapter 7

Maeve widened her eyes in disbelief. Maeve held onto him just now, which reduced the impact, but it still hurt a little when she fell. She angrily glared at Matthew. “What are you doing?” Matthew thought that what he did just now was slightly inappropriate. If he was acting as Matthew Stevens, he wouldn’t even think of apologizing. But he was Liam Scott now. “I’m sorry. My hand slipped,” Matthew stiffly apologized. He reached out to pull Maeve up, and he did not forget to ask tenderly, “Are you okay?” Did this woman want to seduce him? She desired his body, so she even went so far as to use clumsy methods like injuring herself to lure him in. Luckily, he was calm! He was not an easy man. He was pushed to the brink yesterday. Men needed to protect themselves too! “I’m okay!” Maeve angrily pushed his hand away, and she glared at him. “It’s getting late now. Go do the dishes. I’ll rest.” Maeve moved two steps forward before she turned around and looked at the man who was cleaning the plates. She saw that his movements were not skillful. She could tell that he never did house chores. When Matthew sensed her gaze, he paused what he was doing. He looked at her and coldly asked, “Why are you looking at me?” “How would you know that I was looking at you if you weren’t looking at me?” Maeve secretly stuck out her tongue. She looked away, rubbed against her waist, and went back to her room. She also locked the door. When Matthew heard her lock the door, he curled his lips into a sneer. She purposely fell down and threw herself into his arms just now, then she locked the door and guarded against him. Was she playing hard to get? She was really a scheming woman! Matthew felt that he had to be fully alert, or he would not be able to guard against her. He had no clue what tricks she had up her sleeve. After Maeve went into her room, she sighed in relief. She had to admit that her husband, whom she married on the spur of the moment, was quite handsome. He was even more attractive than Ron. Luckily, he did not say he wanted to sleep on the same bed with her today. She got married on the spur of the moment, and she was married to a stranger. Everything seemed slightly surreal. They started their married life like this. Maeve felt slightly nervous, and she even had insomnia. She only fell asleep after midnight. Although she slept late, she still woke up early because of her biological clock. She instinctively got up and quickly folded the blanket into a neat square. After she folded it, she realized that this was her house, not the prison. Maeve was totally stunned. Three years were sufficient to change a person. She snapped out of her daze and took a deep breath before she calmly got changed and walked out of the room. She took out a container of ravioli from the fridge and prepared two portions. One portion was her breakfast. She would take the second portion as an offering for her father. When she was done cooking the ravioli, she still did not hear any noise coming from the master bedroom. Maeve walked over there and knocked on the door. “Mr. Stevens, are you awake? You can come out for breakfast.” There was no movement from inside. Maeve knocked harder, but it was still silent. She tried to turn the knob but realized the door was locked. Maeve immediately turned around and glanced at the shoe rack at the entrance. On the shoe rack, she saw a pair of man’s slippers and her sports shoes that she took off yesterday. It looked like he had already gone to work. She also did not know when he left. She retracted her hand and calmed down. She did not feel unhappy because he locked the door and left without greeting her. They were a married couple, but they were still not familiar with each other. There was also no emotional foundation between them. He was not the only one who felt this. She herself was not ready to assume the identity of a wife. She was also guarding against him. Therefore, it was very normal that he guarded against her. She could understand his point of view. In the few days that followed, her husband did not return. Maeve also felt too shy to send messages and ask him what he was doing and when he would come back. She felt that it was strange to question him like this at this stage in their relationship. It seemed like she was the wife who was waiting sadly at home for her husband to come back. She was also afraid that he would misinterpret her intentions. She would never chase after a man like that. Maeve also did not stay still. Although she wanted to look for her grandma, she also needed to get a job as soon as possible. She purchased a lot of things over the past few days. Although they were just groceries, towels, and laundry detergent, and the individual prices were not expensive, they still cost a lot of money in total. She saw that the balance in her bank account was getting lower, and that made her more desperate to search for a job. She submitted many resumes, but she did not receive many responses. Some of the companies called her, but when they found out that she had a criminal record, they stopped responding. She had also gone to the job market. It was graduation season now, so there were a lot of fresh graduates. She did not have any work experience, and she was in prison for three years. She was almost disconnected from society, so she did not have a competitive edge. When it seemed like there was no way out, Maeve passed by a mall, and she saw a shop assistant recruitment flyer from a boutique. The qualification requirement was not high, and no prior work experience was mandatory. Maeve’s eyes brightened, and she immediately walked inside. “May I ask if you’re still recruiting shop assistants?” The shop manager sized Maeve up. “Are you coming for an interview?” “Yes, I studied fashion design in university, so I know a thing or two about fashion.” As Maeve spoke, she took her resume from her bag and handed it over. “Riverside University?” The shop manager’s eyebrows raised, and she glanced at Maeve again. “Based on your qualifications, you’d be wasting your talent by selling clothes in our boutique.” Riverside University was one of the top universities. But when the shop manager looked at the column of working experience, there was nothing stated. When she considered Maeve’s temperament, she guessed that Maeve was forced to come here to help support her family due to some kind of familial hardship. When Maeve heard what the shop manager said, her heart instantly sank. However, she still wanted to fight for herself. “It wouldn’t be a waste at all. I want to slowly learn the basics, and I like the clothes of this brand very much.” “How about this? You can work for one month first. Take it as a trial period. If your performance is good, you can become a permanent employee early. Our salary is composed of three parts, which are basic salary, commission, and full attendance. During the trial period, you’ll get 2600 dollars as a basic salary, one hundred dollars monthly for full attendance, and a 2% commission. After you become a permanent staff member, the commission rate will remain unchanged, but the basic salary will be three thousand dollars, and you’ll receive two hundred dollars for full attendance.” “Okay! Thank you, miss! Thank you, miss! I’ll do a good job!” Maeve kept thanking the shop manager. “When can you start working?” the shop manager asked. “I can start now!” “Okay, follow me.” The shop manager got a uniform for Maeve. “Get changed, then go and organize the warehouse.” “Okay!” Maeve changed into the uniform as fast as she could. Then, she went to the warehouse and started working. “Ron, I like that dress.” A Mercedes-Benz stopped at the junction to wait for the traffic light. Through the car window, Yvonne pointed at a dress that Maeve had just put on the mannequin in the display window. She knew this brand pretty well. Initially, it was because it was Maeve’s favorite brand. It was a niche brand with a higher value for money. Later, she kept coming here to buy clothes from this brand. She had started to subconsciously mimic Maeve. Ron was not interested. “Isn’t my card with you? If you want, you can go and buy it. I’ll wait for you in the car.” “Wait for me.” Yvonne smiled as she pushed open the car door and got out of the car. Her voice was very coy.