Chapter 513


    Maurice doted on Teresa like she was his little princess. Looking down into her big, doe eyes, he asked


    with a wry smile, “Sweetie, if I put you down, will youe home with me?”


    Teresa pouted adorably, her eyes twinkling like grapes in a vineyard, and nodded her head with an


    irresistible cuteness. “Of course! Daddy, if you put me down, I’ll go home with you.”


    Belonging to N?velDrama.Org.


    Maurice was a goner when it came to Teresa’s charms. As he reluctantly set her down, he never


    expected the little rascal to make a break for it, darting into the wall of bodyguards and sticking her


    tongue out at him.


    “Daddy, if you want to take Mommy away, then go ahead, but I’m not moving! Bye-bye, Daddy!”


    She waved at him mockingly, then turned tail and disappeared faster than a rabbit down its hole.


    That little trickster!


    Maurice had nned to use Teresa as leverage to bring Marguerite back home, but the tables had


    turned. Teresa had yed him like a fiddle, and he’d fallen for it.


    His handsome face clouded over, his aura darkening as he red at the human barricade set up by


    Frederick. He knew breaking through was a lost cause.


    “I don’t want to repeat myself,” he said with a tone that brooked no argument.


    Turning to Marguerite, he exuded an air ofmand that seemed to weigh down the atmosphere. “Get


    in the car.”


    Marguerite stood her ground, unflinching.


    “Do you expect me to leave Teresa here at the hospital all alone?”


    “Marguerite Lockwood!” Maurice snapped, his voice rising sharply in warning. “No man can tolerate the


    humiliation of being cuckolded. My patience has limits, and I hope you don’t test them!”


    However, Marguerite remained cool as a cucumber, her gaze meeting his steadily. “You’re overthinking


    it. Even if I wanted to make you aughing stock, it would have to be consensual between me and the


    other man. And since he despises me so, I’m notfortable leaving Teresa alone here.”


    She lied to Maurice with thatst remark. She wasn’t worried Frederick would harm Teresa; she just


    wanted an excuse to stay at the hospital.


    Yet, she couldn’t deny feeling a pang of loss. Nothing hurt more than facing the raw wounds over and


    over again.


    Frederick’s feelings for her were nothing but hatred, a constant reminder that she didn’t even have the


    luxury of self-deception.


    “Maurice, it’s over between Frederick and me.”


    Ever since Frederick had said that his love had worn away, she had made up her mind.


    Any further entanglement would only fuel Frederick’s disdain.


    After all, the intensity of his love in the past was now matched by the depth of his hatred.


    Hatred was born from love; if she eroded that too, she and Frederick would truly be theplete


    strangers.


    She needed to let go of Frederick, and herself. Maintaining the status quo was the best course of


    action.


    Maurice closed the distance, looking down at Marguerite as if from a great height, asking, “Is that really


    what you think?”


    She nodded firmly. “Yes. Since it’s over, there’s nothing for you to worry about.”


    Maurice clenched his jaw, a vein throbbing on his forehead.


    He couldn’t tell if Marguerite was just cating him or if she meant it. But Hayes was Marguerite’s flesh


    and blood, and even if he loathed admitting it, Maurice couldn’t deny her the right to care for her own


    son.


    Maurice’s affections for Marguerite were always steeped in love, a feeling that frequently resulted in his


    submission to her. This asion proved to be no different.


    He red at her fiercely, his gaze threatening as he warned, “You’d better be telling the truth, because


    if I find out otherwise, you know the consequences will be severe!”