Chương 1: Murder
"A round of applause for the birthday girl!"
Maisie Duval smiled at her friend,Olivia Gibson, whose birthday was today.
They had sat around the most luxurious table in the private room of the Mirage Bar along with two of their friends, Serene Hunt and Clarissa Saunders.
The atmosphere was harmonious. Soft music played in the background as assorted lights from disco balls twinkled in the room.
Olivia Gibson spoke up with a glint in her eyes,addressing her friends," Thank you, girls, for making my 24th birthday special for me. I'm grateful to have you around, especially you, Maisie."
Saying this,she pulled Maisie into a warm hug and got emotional.
"So,here is my present for you,Olivia," Maisie quickly said,getting Olivia out of her emotional state.
"What is it?" Olivia asked while unwrapping the gift.
"See yourself; it's a gift,remember?!" Maisie joked.
Immediately after she saw the gift inside the wrap,she smiled softly and hugged Maisie once more.
"This is my favorite Chanel perfume and MacBook Pro. What would I do without you?"
"Don't be so dramatic,Olivia Gibson; you deserve so much more!" Maisie playfully waved her hands.
"It's your birthday, girl. Don't make it a wet blanket with your tears. Come on. Let's have a drink!" Serene Hunt interrupted the scene.
"Of course! Since it's my birthday, I'm going to make all the drinks for you guys. What do you say?" Olivia suggested,looking at them softly.
"Who says no? It's your birthday, after all. So,it's your right!"
Clarissa Saunders firmly answered.
"Great! Let's do this!"
Getting the go-ahead,Olivia picked up the bottles, mixed up a nice drink, and gave them to each of them.
"Olivia,I can't handle my alcohol anymore, so I won't be drinking too much. Please don't take this seriously."
Maisie, who finished her third glass, whined.
"Of course,I know! This is the last one. Have this one last glass." Olivia secretly pushed the glass to Maisie, who looked a little drunk, and forced it down her throat.
Maudie's face was extremely pale after gulping the glass.
Suddenly,she felt lightheaded and couldn't control her movements.
Seeing this,Olivia beckoned to someone.
"Take Ms.Duval back home immediately." She nodded to him, and he took Maisie along.
"Where are you taking me?" Maisie mumbled some words in her drunken voice as she was led away.
••••
"Ouch!"
Maisie gradually regained consciousness, but she could only feel a splitting headache and throbbing pain throughout her body.
It appeared as though she had been hit by a running car. She grimaced at the discomfort, but she lacked the strength to ignore it.
As dawn crept up, the morning sun shone in.
Maisie suddenly opened her eyes. She was astonished to find herself naked in bed, all alone in a strange room.
Maisie's face turned pale as flashbacks of the night before suddenly came back, rushing back to her.
How did she end up here?
All Maisie could recall from last night was that she was out with Olivia and her others celebrating Olivia's birthday.
Maisie managed to sit up on the bed. However, before she could realize how she ended up here, her phone rang.
"Maisie Duval, where did you spend the night?! Return home immediately!"
The voice was cold and ferociously asked, causing the air to turn cold.
Maisie gnashed her teeth and walked out of bed groggily. Her body was covered in severe pain, especially her lower body.
She swiftly slipped her dress on, tidied herself, and fled.
…..
A couple of minutes later, she arrived at the Valor Villa, where she lives with her husband, Ethan Noble.
Once she walked inside, she saw her husband sitting on a couch, raging mad.
Ethan asked with a calm expression, "Where were you last night?"
Maisie pursed her lips, thinking about the events of last night before finally replying, "I fell asleep in a friend's house."
'Bam!'
Slamming a picture on the table, he roared furiously, "I know you spent the night with a man in a hotel room! How dare you lie to me?"
The sight of the photo made the blood drain from Maisie's face. It was a picture of a man she did not recognize, helping her into a hotel room.
Maisie was completely startled. What did she mean by that?
She had clearly been unconscious at the time!
"I was out celebrating Olivia's birthday with Serene and Clarrisa. I had a lot to drink and fell asleep outside."
Maisie tried to explain.
However, her husband was disgusted by her flimsy explanation and only scoffed. "That's enough, Maisie! No more lies; I won't take any more of your lies!"
Ethan stood up,pointed his finger at her, and growled.
"Olivia wasn't out with you. Don't you dare blame her for your own actions!"
Listening to her husband's accusations, Maisie was shocked.
"What are you saying? I was really out celebrating Olivia's birthday; she forced me to drink more than I could handle. I must have passed out somewhere."
Suddenly, Maisie's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when she saw the maids coming down stairs with a few luggages.
What was her luggage doing here? Before she could make sense of what was going on,
Ethan had a very deep and sour look on his face.
threw her luggage out here. He couldn't even wait to hear from her.
"Ethan..."
"Hold it. I'd been informed several times that you'd been covertly sleeping around, but I didn't believe it until today, when I was shown evidence," Ethan added, leaving Maisie stunned.
Who are the people telling her husband such lies?
"I have been putting up with you over the years for being barren. For 2 years you couldn't bear a child; not only are you useless, you are a slut as well. Disgusting!" Ethan squealed.
His words were like a thousand knives, stabbing her heart continuously.
Maisie was shocked by his outburst. Ethan had never talked to her this way before.
In the past two years that they have been married, he has shown her nothing but love and affection.
What suddenly changed?
In the next split second, Ethan pulled out a document and threw it in front of Maisie with a stern expression.
"Sign them, pick up your luggage, and leave!"
Maisie flipped through the documents, and she couldn't breathe after seeing the contents of the document.
"Divorce Agreement?"
Maisie was beyond horrified after reading through the documents.
"Yes, divorce agreement; quickly sign the document and leave without causing any trouble."
Ethan's face was covered in a scowl.
Shocked, Maisie was on the verge of fainting. She threw the documents back to Ethan.
"Ethan, how could you be so horrible to me? I didn't do anything wrong; why are you asking for a divorce? On top of that, you want everything I own? I won't sign the divorce papers, no matter what!"
Maisie puckered her lips.
"What made you think that you have a choice in this matter?"
As he said this, he pulled out a few more illicit pictures of Maisie and threw them in her face.
Maisie felt ridiculed, but she clenched her fists to hide her tears.
Even though she was afraid of everything that was happening, Maisie was still hell-bent on not getting a divorce.
Seeing how adamant Maisie was, Ethan was furious.
He stood up, walked close to Maisie, and pulled her hair ferociously, causing her to fall to her knees in pain.
Maisie's scalp was burning with pain.
At this point, the gravity of the matter dawned on her. Her husband had no trust in her and was willing to divorce her without batting an eye.
Was their relationship that fickle?
"If you refuse to sign the papers and have all the assets transferred in my name, I won't hold back from sending these illicit pictures to the media." Smirking, he continued, "How do you think your parents would react if they found out that you had an affair? I'm sure they will lose their minds!"
Left with no other choice but to save both her face and her family reputation, she signed.
She was not needed here anymore. As heartbroken as she was, she pulled out the divorce paper and scribbled her signature as tears dropped from her eyes to the paper.
Ethan gloated upon seeing her sign the papers: "Everything you had now belongs to me! You won't be getting a penny for alimony. After all, you cheated and deceived me! If you try to outsmart me, I'll release a statement about your affair; you can imagine the damages that it will cause."
For a moment, Maisie couldn't recognize the man in front of her. He was different from the man she had married.
Her husband was the most hard-working and kind-loving man in the world.
How did he turn out this way overnight?
Unable to stay back any longer, Maisie took her luggage and got ready to leave. However, just as she took a step towards the exit, a familiar figure popped out.
It was Olivia Gibson.
Maisie heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing her. She was grateful that Olivia arrived just in time to prove her innocence.
But she couldn't believe what happened next.
"Olivia, I'm so glad you are here. Come, tell Ethan that I was out celebrating your birthday with you and the others last night!"
Maisie was so glad; she took Olivia's hands into hers and warmly looked at her.
"What are you talking about? You didn't celebrate my birthday with me last night; you said you were busy with a meeting, remember?"
"What? What are you saying, Olivia? You know this is not true!"
At this moment, her best friend came out of nowhere and kissed her husband passionately.
"How could you do this to me? You bastards! How dare you do this to me! Why?"
Dumbfounded,she grabbed her best friend's hand and tried to hit her.
Her husband, in turn, slapped her across the face and kicked her until she bled.
Maisie was beaten until she could no longer stand on her own two feet.
"How could you seduce my husband, Olivia? I adored you like a sibling." She turned her wrath toward her supposed friend.
Olivia was completely unburdened. She said, covering herself with Ethan's shirt, "I'm sorry, Maisie, but Ethan and I fell in love. We have been together for more than a year."
"A year? No, that's not true. That cannot be!" Maisie approached Ethan and questioned, "Is this true?
You cheated on me for so long? I thought you loved me."
Ethan was already donning his trousers. Instead of apologizing, he stated, "You weren't supposed to find out this way."
"What?" Maisie was mortified, hearing her husband's indirect admission. She asked, "Why? Why didn't you divorce me, then? Why did you have to deceive me all these years?"
Maisie noticed his hands formed into fists, and then she realized the reason why.
She asked, "Was it all because of the prenuptial agreement?!"
"Divorcing you meant losing my chances of becoming the CEO of Duval Group," he admitted. "And your father always stood in the way!"
"That's why... we took care of poor Uncle Henry," Olivia added, smirking.
"Dad?" Maisie paled. She took several steps back, asking, "What did you do to my dad? Tell me!"
A sinister laugh escaped Olivia's lips, whereas Ethan replied, "I did what I had to do to become the CEO."
"How could you do this to me?" She snapped at Ehan, asking, "Why Ethan? I loved you!"
"Oh, come on, Maisie. Did you really expect him to love you after you treated him?" Olivia ridiculed. She laughed and asked,
"I mean, come on. You made him feel like a lesser man in front of you."
"No! I didn't," Maisie shot back.
"Well, there is nothing else you can do other than live in denial. You are as penniless as a beggar, divorced, and a cheater! Deal with that!"
Maisie couldn't bear the pain of their betrayal, and she fainted.
Olivia Gibson picked up a bottle of alcohol and emptied the entire thing on Maisie Duval, forcing her to jerk up.
Maisie felt a burning sensation on her face as she slowly regained consciousness.
"Haha! You can't just die; there's a lot more in store for you." A malicious laugh escaped Olivia's lips. She said, "Ethan and I can enjoy the wealth of the Duval family together. Don't blame him entirely, though. He did it all for me."
It could not be helped; Maisoe's anger had reached its limit, and she screamed, "You!"
Maisie jumped from the floor and was about to attack Olivia when she felt something hard hit the back of her head!
Maisie fell to the floor, unable to move.
As she was losing her awareness, her husband leaned down and whispered, "I'm sorry, Maisie, but I fell in love with Olivia, and I will do anything for her."
Next, Olivia also kneeled beside her. She pressed her lips in Maisie's ear and divulged, "I hate you and your family.
I hate your father the most! Sorry that you had to pay the price. I did grow a little fond of you. Because of that, we won't kill you just yet. We have bigger plans for you. You will die slowly while suffering in shame! Haha!"
Maisie could not grasp the animosity in Olivia's voice. Her head was full of questions. 'Why did it seem like Victoria's hate was rooted deeply? What did my father do to her?
Before she could get answers to her question, her eyes flustered, trying to keep herself awake.
However, she lost consciousness.
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