Alfred caught the slip of his tongue, and his eyes darted to mine, only to be met with a glare so icy it could freeze hell over.

He had never seen such a look from me before. He staggered back, stammering, "I... I didn't mean it like that."

Janet chimed in, "Yeah, Helen. Alfred didn't mean anything. He's always been there for you. You'd break his heart if you got it wrong again.

"Let's be real... If he and I wanted to be a thing, it would've happened ages ago. You weren't even in the picture."

I kept silent, just giving them the death stare.

Alfred was losing it, probably wondering if I was onto something.

He reached for my hand, but I sidestepped, cool as a cucumber. "I've got plans with Mom to talk about Ruby's birthday. I'm heading out."

Alfred tried to come after me, but Janet was quick.

"Alfred, Maverick said he's dropping by later. I'm freaked out. I can't face him. You'll stop him, won't you?"

Alfred's eyes lingered on me as I walked away.

After a beat, he promised, "Sure, don't worry. I won't let him get to you."

I could not help but snicker at the irony.

I had half-expected Alfred to come after me, feeling guilty, and I was already figuring out how to block him.

However, as usual, he stuck with Janet.

I was just about to head out when I spotted Maverick Lowe pulling up in his flashy sports car.

He caught sight of me and did a double-take, then asked, all worried, "Have you been crying? Helen, did Alfred give you a hard time?"

Alfred stepped outside when they heard us. He rushed over to me as soon as he heard I had been crying.

He saw the tears I had not wiped away, feeling sorry for me.

"I'm sorry, my dear. I didn't mean to say those things earlier, I never thought you deserved any of that..."

Maverick heard him and stormed over, grabbing Alfred by the collar, fuming.

"Alfred, you dare to look down on her? Did you forget what you promised me? You said you cared about Helen, that you'd never look down on her, and now, after such a short time, you dare to bring up that incident to shame her?"

Alfred shot back, ticked off, "Maverick, what gives you the right to grill me? If you hadn't ditched Helen for Janet, would she have gone through all this?"

The two guys did not waste a second before they started throwing punches.

Janet came running out and went pale when she saw the scene.

She probably never imagined that one day, her two loyal followers would come to blows over me.

However, I could not care less about their drama. I got in my car and headed for the old Hawkins family estate.

I was the daughter of the Hawkins family's nanny. My parents died in a terrible fire trying to save Alfred.

Ever since that day, the Hawkins family welcomed me as their adopted daughter. However, I knew the score.

Sabrina Garcia, Alferd's mom, was playing a long game. She wanted to look like the good guy, and she was banking on me to score a power-match for the Hawkins clan.

I almost pulled it off for her, but in a twist no one saw coming, I ended up marrying her son.

That was why Sabrina could not stand me, and by extension, my little girl, Ruby.

I used to bite my tongue for Alfred's sake, no matter how much Sabrina tried to rattle me.

However, when she saw what was on my phone, she went pale as a ghost. She was so shaken, she could not even get her words out straight.

I kept my composure and said, "Mrs. Hawkins, how about we make a deal?"

...

That night, a car was smashed by a big rig on the way home, tumbled off the overpass, and burst into flames.

Whoever was inside did not stand a chance.