Chapter 22 - Self-Directed and Self-Acted

Chapter 22: Chapter 20: Self-Directed and Self-ActedMaya looked at Hannah, who was lunging at her, and remembered the trouble she caused a few nights ago, as well as the disaster tonight. Without hesitation, she forcefully pushed Hannah to the ground, warning her word by word.

"If the police hadn’t gotten involved, I would have killed you and Elia."

"You... you... you..." Hannah had never seen Maya so fierce, and she was momentarily stunned by her gaze, stammering without being able to speak clearly.

It wasn’t until Maya stepped on her hand and walked towards the bedroom that she jumped up from the ground, pointing at her back and cursing.

"Maya, you jinx, don’t think you can harm Elia. I won’t let anything happen to her. You better be careful, because I won’t let you off the hook."

Maya ignored Hannah’s warning and returned to her room.

Half an hour earlier, a group of police officers had arrived at the villa, saying there was a murder and rape case related to Elia and asked her to come to the station to assist in the investigation.

Hannah did not expect Elia to be so impulsive. She was too reckless in using people and ended up being betrayed by someone.

Instead of feeling remorse after this incident, Hannah became even more resentful towards Maya. She thought if it weren’t for Maya upsetting Elia, Elia wouldn’t have acted so thoughtlessly.

What frustrated her most was that she thought Liam was on her side but was surprised that he repeatedly supported Maya, even bringing her back home tonight.

When she came to her senses, she realized that her earlier outburst had been completely witnessed by Liam standing behind her.

She explained nervously, "Liam, what happened tonight was a misunderstanding. It was that little demon Maya who staged it herself. She got tired of playing outside and couldn’t find an excuse to come home, so she hired people to act a painful show and framed Elia. Don’t be fooled by that little demon."

Listening to Hannah’s explanation and framing, Liam’s lips curved into a sarcastic smile as he casually walked past her, completely ignoring her.

He stopped at the spiral staircase and spoke with his back to Hannah, "You’re old enough to know better. Do some good deeds, or hell won’t have a place for you to stay."

Hannah listened to Liam’s warning, and her face turned pale with anger. What did he mean by old enough? She was only 39! Moreover, it was clearly Maya who was wrong first; if she hadn’t seduced Henry Reid, how would Elia have gotten upset and not happy?

But she didn’t dare to talk back to Liam and had to swallow her anger.

In Maya’s bedroom, she took off her tattered clothes, found clean clothes from the wardrobe, and went into the bathroom. Looking at the bruises and scars on her body, she felt furious yet powerless.

She was unwilling to be bullied by Hannah and her daughter, yet lacked the capability to fight back. If Elijah Reed and Liam hadn’t arrived in time today, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Thinking of the Turner siblings she had indirectly harmed, she felt full of guilt.

What made her even angrier was knowing that Elia wouldn’t spend even the night at the station because Hannah would definitely get her out. She envied those with mothers who would protect them no matter what mistakes they made.

After finishing her shower and returning to her bedroom, she found two bottles of bruise ointment on the bed.

Maya recognized the ointment; it was given to her by Liam previously.

She grabbed the medicine box, and her smile was slightly bitter, thinking that she finally had some warmth of family.

Early the next morning, Maya had just stepped out of her bedroom when she saw Elia pulling Hannah, tearfully accusing her of all sorts of wrongdoing.

Despite such a significant incident happening, Elia was released early the next morning and pushed all the blame onto her, claiming she staged it, framing her. The twist was that the gang eventually testified against her, blaming it all on Maya.

In the end, the issue was downplayed and resolved.

"Maya, why did you harm me? What did I ever do to you? Why did you set me up?" Elia grabbed Maya’s clothes, crying and questioning her.

"Can you have some dignity?" Maya was in awe of Elia’s acting skills.

"Even though we don’t get along usually, I’ve never harmed you! I just consider it family squabbling, and then it’s over. But you wanted to ruin my reputation and have me jailed. Maya, you’re ruthless, thinking it would help you get more inheritance?"

"Crazy!"

Everyone knew about Elia’s act, aware of who the troublemaker was and who was the victim. Yet, because of Hannah and Elia’s status in the family, they had to side against Maya.

"Maya, apologize to me. Considering you’re my sister, as long as you apologize, I won’t press charges."

"Ha!" Maya was shocked by Elia’s shamelessness. How could someone like her exist, plotting against her yet demanding an apology?

"Apologize!" Elia saw the servants watching and was even more unwilling to admit her despicable actions the day before, wanting Maya to take the blame.

"Elia, it’s best not to provoke me. I have nothing, so I’m not afraid to go down with you in mutual destruction."

Reflecting on Elia’s cruelty, Maya decided not to avoid her anymore and would retaliate if provoked, regardless of the cost.

Elia had seen Maya lose her temper before, and looking at her fierce glare, she genuinely feared Maya would take her down with her. But outwardly, she pretended innocence, hugging Hannah’s arm and acting coy.

"Mom, look how unreasonable Maya is. I only asked for an apology, but she wants to kill me."

"Maya, are you disregarding me as Madam Spencer, daring to threaten Elia publicly? Don’t think you can get away with it; don’t think your misdeeds are unknown."

Upstairs, Jane and Liam were awakened by the commotion downstairs. They each donned their robes, rubbed their eyes, and emerged from their bedrooms, standing in the second-floor hallway watching the drama unfold.

Liam glanced at Maya, showing no expression, just regretting bringing this woman back last night and disturbing his peaceful life.

"Aunt Hannah, can you quiet down? It’s finally Saturday, could you stop making a fuss at home?" Jane had heard about last night’s incident. She was surprised her brother intervened in this illegitimate child’s affair. He usually disliked his stepmother’s children and the illegitimate daughter, wasn’t watching the drama the best choice?

"Jane, come down and weigh in. Maya caused such a big scene yesterday, and now she’s here early morning threatening Elia, making the household restless." Hannah spoke her lies with open eyes.

Jane chuckled twice, shook her head, said nothing, wondering who would be foolish enough to actually weigh in on this matter.

"Is that every one of you having a life that’s too comfortable, nothing to do after eating your fill?" Just when Hannah was in full swing causing a fuss, Old Master Spencer’s voice suddenly echoed from outside the door; he came back early from his business