Chapter 4

Jason's expression suddenly turned panicked. He was a better actor than he made others think. "Don't be mad, Sirius," he said. "Nothing happened between Maisie and me last night—we were only discussing the script. Don't take this out on her. Come at me if you're angry!" He ended with a pained shout and fell backward onto the floor, twisting his ankle in the process. Just then, Maisie came out of the kitchen with the sunny side up. "What the hell did you do to Jace, Sirius?" She threw the plate at Sirius in her fury, making his forehead bleed. The egg yolk burst on his head and trickled down his hair, mingling with the blood. The liquid was hot and sticky. It blurred his vision. He felt bitter as he said softly, "I didn't do anything to him." Even if Maisie only thought of him as a substitute, they'd still spent five years together. He thought she would know what he was like, but it seemed she didn't trust him at all. Maisie was taken aback when she saw the state Sirius was in. His forehead was swollen and bleeding, his eyes red. For some reason, she found herself feeling sorry. She wanted to reach up to wipe the blood away, but Jason stopped her. "My ankle hurts, Maisie. Has it been fractured?" He hissed in pain and caught hold of her hand, sounding choked up. "Don't blame Sirius for this—he only did it because he was upset. Everything's still my fault." Maisie's heart twisted painfully when she saw him speaking up for Sirius despite his pain. "You haven't done anything wrong, Jace! How can you be wrong when we're just in love with each other? He's wrong for even existing!" She turned back to Sirius, her gaze ice-cold. "Get on your knees and apologize to Jason, Sirius," she commanded. "I'll let this matter pass once you do it." Sirius started, "I didn't—" "Forget it, Maisie," Jason interrupted. "It's nothing big—I can take this. My ankle really hurts… It's not broken, is it?" "Does it hurt that badly? I'll take you to the hospital right now." Maisie carefully helped Jason up before kicking Sirius and making him fall to his knees. "Stay there, and don't you dare move. I'll get even with you and make you apologize later!" Her heel was sharp, and it stabbed Sirius like a knife. He was caught off guard and fell to his knees, landing on the glass shards of the broken plate. Pain coursed through him, and tears welled in his eyes. Maisie stopped, a trace of regret flashing in her eyes. "Why are you crying? Does it hurt?" She wanted to check on him, but Jason tightened his hold on her. "I'm so jealous of Sirius for being such a good actor—he can cry on command! His acting skills really are a gift from the heavens. "I'm not like that—I'm so dumb that I can barely pull off a crying scene. I'm so thankful you're by my side to help me, Maisie." Tears rolled down his face as he spoke. His words made Maisie return to her senses. She knew Jason wasn't good at crying scenes, so he had to be in immense pain if he was sobbing so earnestly. On the other hand, Sirius was well-known for his acting skills. He was only putting on an act to garner pity! She'd almost fallen for it. "Stop your scheming, Sirius! I'm warning you—I won't let you off the hook if you touch another hair on Jason's head!" she snapped. Then, she pulled Jason closer and left with him. This was such a familiar scene. Maisie had done the same thing during her first meeting with Sirius—she'd wrapped an arm around him and taken him away from the danger. Yet now, she was protecting someone else and leaving him with nothing but injuries. Despite already deciding to take back his love for her, Sirius still felt like a fist had clenched around his heart and squeezed hard. It hurt like hell. Since Maisie had already made her stance clear, the maids followed her example and steered clear of Sirius. None of them helped as he limped upstairs to disinfect and bandage his wounds. At the same time, Maisie and Jason made the trending topics. She'd reserved a whole floor at the hospital and summoned countless experts to check his ankle. She was in a good mood upon learning he was fine, so she had her assistant set up a lucky draw on Seaworth Group's official website. It was almost as if she wanted the whole world to celebrate with her since Jason was unharmed. When Sirius saw everyone leaving comments and thanking Jason for this, he texted Maisie. "Let's get a divorce." She'd always taken a long time to reply to his messages, but this time, her answer came almost instantaneously.