Chapter 154: The Flower Pot

Maya gave the apple to Lily after the little girl finished the soup. She carefully placed the gray kitten on her little legs and stood up, holding the empty bowl.

"I’ll be back, Lily," she said. "I want to return the empty dish to Agnes. Then later we can go get your roast pork together."

Lily nodded as she took a bite of the apple while she struggled to hold the kitten with one hand. Maya watched her for a moment with a small smile on her face before she stepped away. In more ways than one, the little girl reminded her of her younger self.

There was a line when she arrived at Agnes’s table and it was clear the celebration had fully begun. The drums and singing were louder and the beach was more crowded. The bonfire was burning brighter than ever as more wood was added.

She handed the bowl to one of the maids. Agnes didn’t even notice her presence as she had her hands full trying to get a proper distribution of the food.

As soon as she was done with what she came for, Maya quickly withdrew, not wanting to make things more complicated for them than they needed to be.

She made her way back to where Lily sat. She was worried about Winnie, she hoped she would find Asher and their conversation would go smoothly.

Just before she got halfway to Lily, Margaret blocked her path. "Margaret," she called out. Her voice was a mix of shock and excitement.

"Lady Maya," she said with a stiff smile.

"I apologize for coming without you," she started to say.

She couldn’t help but feel guilty. She had completely forgotten her maid. She hadn’t even thought about her while leaving the main house. At the time, she had been utterly distracted by Winnie’s statement that she might be pregnant.

"No, it’s fine," she said, looking around the beach with a dark expression on her face.

"Is something the matter, Margaret?" Her brows furrowed; she didn’t like the queasy feeling in her gut.

"Yes," she replied, returning her gaze to her mistress. "Please, come with me." Her eyes were heavy as she spoke and there was a plea in them as she stared intensely at Maya.

Maya felt her body go cold. Margaret wasn’t the type of maid to make a mountain out of a molehill. If she was acting like this, something must be wrong.

"Did something happen?"

"I’ll have to show you," Margaret replied. "Please come with me."

Maya looked toward Lily, who sat alone on the small rock. The little girl was bent over, eating the apple unaware of her surroundings. She didn’t want to leave the little girl alone but she doubted she could take her along.

"It shouldn’t take too long," Margaret pressed.

Maya sighed and started walking. "Okay," she replied.

"Thank you, My Lady."

"You’re welcome," she replied, studying her maid.

It wasn’t like Margaret to act like this, and if she sounded this way, it must be serious. She wondered what this was about—something she couldn’t tell her and had to show her instead.

The walk back to the main house was shorter than when she had left with Keenan. Margaret walked briskly and Maya almost had to run to make up for her lack of speed. She barely had time to think about anything as she struggled to keep up with Margaret.

Eventually, they arrived at the main house and they both walked up to the front doors. It was quiet. She had never heard it this quiet, even when she walked around at night.

The main house was dark. Not a lot of windows were open to let in the moonlight, so she had to rely on Margaret to lead her in the right direction.

They were about to go up the stairs leading to the first floor when she heard very light footsteps coming toward them. She looked up and could make out light-colored hair in the dark.

The first person she thought of was Keenan but he was at the beach, so it couldn’t be him. When he got to the stairs, Maya finally saw that it was Theo.

She stepped to the side with her maid so he could walk past them without interruption. He glanced in her direction briefly but neither of them exchanged any words before he walked out the door.

Margaret went up the stairs first and Maya followed after her. They hadn’t had any conversation since the walk started and even now, the maid wasn’t saying anything.

They went up the second stairway and Maya could feel her thighs start to burn. She had walked around today more than she ever had in a long time. She was tired and it didn’t help that she was still nauseated.

Margaret opened the door to her bedroom and held it. Maya glanced at her maid for a moment before she stepped into the room. The curtains were parted, so it wasn’t unbearably dark.

Maya made her way toward the bed and sat on it while facing the window. She was feeling the strain and she needed more than a moment to rest.

"What is so important that you have to drag me back here, Margaret?"

The maid walked forward and stood facing the window so the moonlight fell on her face. Her expression was serious.

"My lady, I don’t like how you’re being treated here. It’s not fair. I spoke to a maid and she told me it used to be much worse—that you didn’t even have a bed at some point and had to use old maid dresses as your bed. Old maid dresses as your bed!"

Maya tried to hide her shock. She didn’t expect the maid to ask around but even more, she didn’t expect anyone to actually tell her. She wondered who Margaret spoke to.

"That was a long time ago," she said with a reassuring smile.

"You’ve only been here a month. A month is not nearly long enough."

"I am fine now. I promise. They treat me much better."

"Your father wasn’t pleased to hear it."

Maya went cold. "My father?"

"Yes."

"You told him?"

"Yes."

"Why didn’t you speak to me first?"

"You’ll always choose the selfless route, my lady. I have to do what’s best for you. You will always pick the—"

The two women turned toward the door as it loudly opened. "Alaina!" Maya said her name like a curse. "What are you doing here?"

It was easy to see her long, straight blond hair, and even if it was completely dark, Maya would have known it was Alaina as soon as she walked in.

"Margaret," she spoke casually to the maid, ignoring Maya. "Just what do you think you’re doing? You should know better than to try to convince her."

Maya adjusted on the bed to get her bearings. She was utterly confused as to what was going on and the casual way Alaina spoke to Margaret bothered her.

"I am not trying to convince her. I have to at least explain the situation."

"Explain what situation?" She asked in horror as she turned to look at her maid.

Alaina stepped forward into the light. "I have a better idea."

Maya’s stomach sank as she got a better view of Alaina. In her hand was the flower pot that sat on Winnie’s windowsill. She would recognize the design anywhere.

The flower pot still held the little bush that was trimmed and properly taken care of by Winnie. The feeling of dread worsened and Maya knew she had to get out of here.

She scrambled out of the bed. She couldn’t overpower these women, nor could she outrun them, but to sit and let whatever they planned happen was not something she would allow. Not when she was so close.

She opened her mouth to yell as she tried to get away but she wasn’t fast enough. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Alaina throw the flower pot right at her head as hard as she could.

She thought about dodging but she didn’t even complete the thought before a sharp pain coursed through her body as the flower pot smashed on the side of her head.

"Keenan," she whispered as everything went black.

"Calling his name!" Alaina yelled as she stood over Maya, looking to attack again.

"What did you do?" Margaret yelled and pushed her out of the way then fell to the ground to pick up Maya.

"I did you a favor and you know that. That’s why you didn’t stop me." She brushed her arm—where Margaret had shoved her—while glaring at the maid.

"You could have killed her."

"She is just unconscious. Hopefully, she doesn’t wake up until she’s in the High Alpha’s territory. Make sure she doesn’t come back. If you waste my effort, I’ll make sure you regret it."

Margaret turned away from Alaina as she gathered her mistress in her arms. She was light enough for her to carry out but she would feel the weight after a while.

It would be better to carry her in her wolf form. It was also faster that way—they didn’t have a lot of time.

"Where is it?" Alaina cut through her thoughts.

"Where is what?" She asked.

"The letter. Don’t play dumb."

"On the table," she replied as she started to take off her clothes.

"Good!" Alaina said with a sneer as she saw the sealed envelope. The High Alpha worked fast.

"Help me," Margaret said. "I don’t want her to fall off my back."

"I won’t touch her. Bess!" She yelled toward the partly opened door. "Stop standing guard and come help get this thing out of here."