The Heir's Secret Bride

Byron seemed completely oblivious to the situation. As he watched her with her eyes closed, her long lashes fluttered gently, like the wings of a butterfly. Her pale cheeks were tinged with a soft blush, and her small, delicate lips were pressed together in a shy expression.

His eyes darkened as he leaned closer to Maeve's ear and teased, Maeve, if you sweet-talk me a little, I might just let you take a peek." Maeve was taken aback.

"Who wants to look at you?" Maeve's face turned an even deeper shade of red as she snapped back, frustrated. "Do you feel out of sorts if you don't flirt with me for a day?"

Her skin was so delicate that whenever she heard things like this, the blush on her face would spread all the way to her neck and shoulders, turning a lovely shade of cherry blossom pink. Ishe was normally an eight, in these moments, she was a perfect ten. Byron's on's gaze lingered on her soft, slender neck for a moment before he casually looked away. After they left the bathroom, Maeve suddenly became curious about something.

"Mr. Mcdaniel, what are you going to do about the bathroom when I'm at work?" she asked.

Since he didn't like other people touching him, it seemed unlikely he'd let a nurse help him. She thought, 'So, what is he going to do? "Then I'll just have to manage on my own," he answered.

With that,

Byron picked up a magazine, his long fingers flipping at open leisurely as if the issue didn't concern him at all.

Annoyed, Maeve asked,

Then why did you need me to help you just now?"

Without even looking up, Byron replied, "Why should I struggle when I have someone to help?"

Maeve was speechless. He had her there.

Just then, her phone buzzed on the couch.

Maeve picked it up and saw a message from her landlord at Pinehurst Apartments.

The landlord said a package had arrived for her a couple of days ago, and if she didn't pick it up soon, it would be thrown.

oul.

oul.

Maeve was puzzled, thinking. I have already collected all my packages from that address and have updated my information, so how could something still be sent to my old place?

But the landlord had sent a photo, and sure enough, it was addressed to her. The sender's details were blurry, so she couldn't tell who it was from.

Since Pinehurst Apartments wasn't far, Maeve decided to go pick it up.

Fifteen minutes later, she returned to the hospital with the package in hand, opening it as she walked down the hallway. "I don't even remember ordering anything like this. How did it end up being sent to my old apartment?" she said. Byron, who was reviewing some documents, heard her and something clicked in his mind. His expression instantly turned

cold. cold.

"Maeve." He started to warn her, but she had already opened the package.

A pile

of f photos spilled out, scattering across the floor.

At first, Maeve thought she was mistaken, but when she knelt down for a closer look, she realized she wasn't. The explicit photos... she was the one in them. And the background was her old apartment's living room... the photos. Maeve's mind went blank, her face draining of color as her hands trembled while trying to gather up She had no memory of ever being photographed like this.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

She would never undress in the living room, let alone appear as exposed as she was in those pictures.

She

thought. But if Jeff could secretly hide cameras in my dolls, wasn't impossible that he drugged me and took these photos without my knowledge. Maeve didn't care about the dirty floor; she frantically scrambled to gather the photos, desperate to keep Byron from seeing

them

In her haste, she accidentally grabbed a small knife that had fallen out of the package, and blood immediately began to seep from her hand.

But Maeve didn't notice; her mind was consumed by the shock of those photos, leaving her oblivious to everything eke. "Maeve, calm down!"

Byron got out of bed, gritting his teeth against the pain from his wounds as he half-knelt in front of her to ease the pressure on his injured knee.

He grabbed her wrist with his left hand, noticing the blood streaming from her palm. Frustration and anger flickered in his

eyes.

"These photos are fake. Look closely!"

Maeve clung to the photos, oblivious to the pain in her hand.

It wasn't until she heard Byron's words that the emptiness in her eyes started to clear.

"Fake?"

Fake?

"Don't tell me you don't recognize your own body?" Byron's voice grew more assertive. "Look closely. The only thing real in these photos is your face; the rest is all fake."

She thought, Only my face is real... Maeve stared at his stern expression, then snapped out of her daze and quickly looked down at the photos in her hands.

had I been too panicked earlier, and with Jeff's history of secretly installing cameras in her home, she had immediately feared the worst.

As she examined the photos more closely, she couldn't spot any obvious signs of editing, but she knew her own body well. Her waist was much slimmer, without any excess fat, and her shoulders were more delicate than those in the photos. Most importantly, the "she" in the photos had a mole on her lower back-something she didn't have. Noticing these inconsistencies, Maeve's frantic mind slowly began to settle, and she finally regained her composure. 08:20 Thu, Oct

Chame 47

She looked up, about tersay something to Byron, only to realize he had gotten out of bed. Her expression changed instantly.

"Mr.

Mcdaniel, you shouldn't be getting out of bed with your injuriest" She quickly stood up and helped him back onto the bed, frowning as she checked his injuries. "How do your knee and right hand feel? Are you in pain? Should I call the doctor?" Getting out of bed had certainly caused him pain. And after seeing her cut hand, he had taken a few extra steps, putting more strain on his already weakened knee.

But he didn't show any signs of discomfort in front of her, except for his slightly pale face.

I'm fine. Don't make a fuss."

"But your face..."

Byron calmly cut her off. "Pick up all those photos and put them in a bag. They're an eyesore."

Maeve had no choice but to gather up the photos. Worried she might miss some, she carefully checked the entire area after collecting them.

Even though the photos were doctored, if they ever got out, they could seriously damage her reputation.

After stuffing the photos into a

Burning them would be better."

She thought about it and agreed. Burning them would definitely be safer.

a black bag, Maeve turned to Byron. "Mr. Mcdaniel, I'm going to throw these out."

looked down at ther hand and

and saw that the blood had smeared into a messy blur.

"I'll burn them when I get back 1 to the apartment."

Byron glanced at her bloodied hand, his brow furrowing. "Do you not feel any pain?"

Maeve

She hadn't noticed it before, but now that he mentioned it, she became aware of the sharp, throbbing pain in the wound.

Luckily, they were in a hospital, so a nurse was able to treat her wound and bandage it, which was much more convenient than doing it herself.

After the nurse left, Maeve stared down at her injured hand, hesitating for a long time before finally speaking. "Mr. Mcdaniel, how did you know those photos were fake?"

He figured it out even faster than she did. It was as if the moment he saw those photos, he knew they were fake.

And the way he suddenly called out to her before she opened the package was also strange.