THE CEO’S ACCIDENTAL BRIDE

CHAPTER 7

As he was about to break the silence, Maya withdrew her gaze, suppressing her breath. Her voice was unusually calm but laced with a hint of sarcasm. "Mr. Darwin, if you have some free time, perhaps you should pay more attention to your brother..."

With that, she didn’t linger any longer and walked quietly out of the room, repeating to herself in her mind: calm, calm, calm. It was not worth arguing with him...

However, as she closed the door behind her, she couldn't help but act out, slamming it with such force that it echoed with a loud "bang!"

Charles certainly heard it. His eyes lifted with a hint of amusement as he casually remarked to Ethan, "It seems Miss Cooper's temper isn't so great. She gets infuriated easily..."

Ethan huffed in response, defending her. "Not at all! Miss Cooper has the nicest temper in the whole school.”

"Really?" Charles replied with a dismissive tone, not taking his brother's words seriously.

As he sat down, Ethan quickly extended his hand in front of Charles, eager to show off. "This is a Christmas gift from Miss Cooper. She knitted it herself. Isn’t it impressive?" The white knitted gloves caught Charles's eye. He glanced at them for a moment before looking away, muttering, “They look quite ugly..."

By the time Maya got home, it was already afternoon. She pushed open the living room door and found Tessa lounging on the sofa in her pajamas, legs crossed, surrounded by a mountain of snacks.

The TV was playing a financial news channel, and Maya caught a glimpse of it, feeling a bit curious. When did Tessa start taking an interest in finance?

Wasn't she one into beauty and fashion?

Hearing the noise, Tessa looked up and excitedly waved her over. "Come sit with me and watch this channel!"

"I don’t know much about finance, and I'm not really interested. You can watch it by yourself," Maya said, slipping on her slippers and picking up a warm cup of water to warm her frozen, numb hands.

"I only made it to the second year of high school, and I didn't even finish that. I don’t know anything about finance either." Tessa replied dismissively. "I'm just interested in the person they're introducing in this episode, Charles Darwin. Look, he's coming up..."

Turning around, Maya’s gaze landed on the TV, where a female host in a black suit animatedly introduced the Darwin Family Group.

The host highlighted the group's annual profits and dividends, and it was the only company from Springfield City to make it into the top 200 in the world, a source of pride for everyone in the city!

Then, a photo of Charles Darwin appeared on the screen. He wore a black knee-length coat and gray suit pants, his thin lips pressed together with an expressionless demeanor, exuding an air of maturity and elegance.

"He's even more charming than stars and models! How can someone be this captivating?" Tessa exclaimed, her eyes wide with admiration. "Maya, what do you think?"

"He's just average looking," Maya replied nonchalantly, but the image of his unreasonable, argumentative expression suddenly flashed in her mind. She instinctively tightened her grip on the cup, her teeth clenching slightly.

"Just average? Your taste is really bad. He's a million times better than your pathetic brother. A grown man earning only four thousand a month, who can live on that?" Tessa scoffed, her disdain evident.

Cecilia didn't want to argue with her, especially since she was her sister-in-law, but hearing the word "pathetic" made her bite back, "Then why don’t you find a job? Two incomes are better than one."

Tessa huffed in response, "It's a man's duty to support his wife. If he can't even take care of his wife, what else could he be but pathetic?"

With a hint of coldness in her eyes, Maya took a sip of her drink and retorted, "If men are with a gambling wife, I'd say eighty percent of them are probably pathetic."

Her sister-in-law spent all her time gambling, leaving her brother with nothing each month. Not only that, but she loved shopping, always coming home with bags full of clothes.

In addition to being lazy, Tessa was incredibly picky about food. If it wasn't good, tender, and fresh, she wouldn't even touch it.

She wouldn't even bother to make her bed in the morning, always waiting for Maya’s mom to clean up after her.

It made one wonder what Maya’s older brother had seen in her at all.

Maya felt that her parents were too indulgent, and her mom didn't want any conflict with her daughter-in-law, which made things awkward. So, she always kept her out of the loop. At that moment, Tessa's anger flared up. Just as she was about to unleash a tirade, something suddenly crossed her mind, and her expression changed. She quickly suppressed her rage and asked, "Maya, where's the house deed?"

"I don't know, and you'd better not think about it!" Maya warned, ignoring her and walking straight into her own room.

They had fundamentally different viewpoints. If they weren't living under the same roof, she wouldn't give someone like Tessa the time of day.

"Why are you acting so arrogantly? I can find it myself!" Tessa huffed behind her. As she thought about the pressing matter at hand, her expression changed several times.

Soon after, she tiptoed around the house, even sneaking into Margaret’s room and searching high and low.

Inside the room...

After the shower, Maya phoned Maraget. "Mom, where do we keep the house deed?"

Even though Tessa had only asked casually earlier, Maya couldn't shake off her unease. She worried that Tessa might have some ulterior motives regarding the deed...

Margaret was still on the train, surrounded by a noisy crowd. After finding a quiet corner, she replied, "Why are you asking about that? Your dad usually takes care of the deed, so I’m not really sure. Should I ask him?"

"Does Tessa know where it is?"

"If your dad doesn’t know, then she definitely doesn’t either. What’s going on?"

Hearing this, Maya felt a weight lift off her shoulders. "It's nothing. I was just asking. You and Dad be safe on the road. I’m hanging up now."

Since her mom didn’t even know where the deed was, Tessa surely wouldn’t know either.

In just a couple of days, it would be December 25th—Christmas.

And right after Christmas comes New Year’s Day, followed closely by the final exams. She had always been hectic this time of year, and this year was no exception. In fact, it was even busier than usual, as she also had to tutor Ethan Darwin every evening.

Thinking about all the things on her plate, Maya felt a headache coming on. Luckily, during her recent tutoring sessions, there was only Ethan, and she and Charles hadn’t crossed paths again since.

Today was December 25th, and the shops lining the streets were already beautifully decorated with green Christmas trees, white snowflakes, and red Santa Clauses.

Glancing at the time, Maya urged the taxi driver, "Sir, could you please hurry? I'm running late!"