Chapter 5

Hannah’s irritation didn’t subside until she got home. She saw her mother sitting on the sofa, watching in their big TV.

“Is Dad here?” Hannah asked her mother seriously. Elloise immediately turned to her daughter because she was surprised by the tone of her voice.

“He’s in a business meeting, why?” she asked curiously. Hannah sat down and turned off the TV so she could talk to her mother. Elloise looked at her daughter in confusion and waited for her to speak.

“What happened?” she asked impatiently. Hannah’s eyebrows were still furrowed.

“She’s home,” she replied briefly, causing Elloise to frown. She didn’t know what her daughter was saying.

“Who? Can you just tell me what happened?” she said, sounding annoyed because her daughter was keeping her in suspense. She was also nervous when her daughter was serious.

“Celeste is home, mom. Damn it! You know what’s even more annoying? Maximus saw her!” She couldn’t help but raise her voice because her anger was burning deep inside.

“Wait, what? Your sister is here?” Elloise confirmed, and Hannah rolled her eyes because did she have to repeat it? They weren’t far from each other for her mother to be deaf.

“Who else? If I only knew that she and Mia Moda were the same person, I wouldn’t have paid her to be the company’s designer! I know she’s doing this on purpose, I know she rejected offers from big companies so that when we offered her, she would have the opportunity to join the company and it’s not impossible for her to get the company back, mom!” she complained angrily. Even Elloise was flustered because of her daughter.

“I thought you already made a way for her not to come back to the country? What happened?”

“I forgot to do it because it’s been years. I also forgot about her because I was focused on the company and on Maximus. I didn’t think she would even think of coming back here.” Her voice was filled with anger, her teeth almost clashing.

“Stupid! She warned us before she left, so you should have done something from the start. Now, what will you do if she takes the company from you, especially if Maximus finds out that Celeste is the one he was with that night? You’ll lose everything and we’ll both end up in the trash!” Elloise shouted angrily at her daughter. She even hit her because she was so annoyed.

They were too complacent for many years because Celeste never bothered them, they just didn’t think she would come back to the country. Hannah just stomped her feet, she wouldn’t let Celeste take everything she has.

“Think of a way to get that woman out of your dad’s company. You know Celeste, she’s smart in all areas and she might find a loophole to get you out of the company, especially your position. Don’t let her take everything you have just because of her. You’re also your dad’s daughter, so you should have the sympathy of those on the board of directors, especially since you’re the one they know as your dad’s daughter.” Elloise muttered. Hannah crossed her arms over her chest as she thought of a way to get Celeste out of the company, especially in Maximus’ eyes.

“I need to make sure that Max’s attention doesn’t shift to Celeste. Maximus can’t have any interest in her because if I let that happen, Max might find out that I’m not the woman he was with 7 years ago—ouch! Mom!” she cried out when her mother hit her harder than before.

“Are you going to prioritize that over the company?!”

“Do you think I got the position of CEO if it wasn’t for Maximus? Mom, everything I have today is because of Max’s influence because they believe in Maximus. Whoever Maximus trusts, they also trust, so Max can’t be lost to me. If Celeste takes him, Celeste can easily take everything from me.” Elloise thought about it and realized that her daughter was right.

The board of directors trusted Hannah when they learned that she had a connection with Maximus.

“Why haven’t you gotten pregnant yet? You’ve been with him for seven years but you still don’t have a child, you haven’t even gotten an engagement ring. What are your plans? If Maximus has a child with you, he won’t be able to leave you.” Hannah was even more annoyed because she had been with Maximus for a long time but he never touched her.

She also didn’t know why Maximus wanted to stay with the woman he was with that night if he wasn’t going to marry her.

“Nothing is happening between us, mom. I don’t want him to see me differently if I’m the first to give the signal. I’m waiting for him to do to me what he did to Celeste, but so far he hasn’t done anything to me, he hasn’t even kissed or touched me. I tried to kiss him once, but he avoided my gaze and I was embarrassed so I didn’t try again.”

“Why didn’t you do something? What if Celeste seduced Maximus back then? Make a move when you’re in the room, not in the office because anyone can see you. I’m sure Maximus wouldn’t like that, if you’re not stupid.” Her mother continued to lecture her.

Hannah also wanted her and Maximus to have a child, but she didn’t know how. She was even more desperate now that Celeste was here. She was thinking of a way to attract Maximus so that something would happen between them and he would marry her. She wanted to be Mrs. Lim.

Days passed, Sarah visited Celeste, bringing with her the information she gathered about Hannah. She found Celeste facing her laptop on the sofa so she sat beside Celeste.

She put the brown envelope on the table, which made Celeste look at it.

“There’s the information I got about Hannah.” Celeste took it and opened it, frowning as she looked at the many papers.

“I don’t have time to read all of that, I know you’ve already read it. Just tell me.” Celeste said, making Sarah roll her eyes because she felt like a secretary when she was with Celeste.

“Hannah had a  plastic surgery at a clinic in Thailand, a few days after you flew to France. That’s all I found out, which clinic she had the surgery at and when. She didn’t have anyone with her when she went there. The documents also include before and after pictures of Hannah. You can use it against her if you want. I didn’t find anything about her and Mr. Lim.” Celeste looked at her friend with a frown because why was Maximus included in the conversation?

“I don’t care about Maximus, especially their relationship. I don’t care when they became a couple because all I want to know is why Hannah imitated my face. I was going to think that she wanted to steal my identity because Dad drove me away, but she didn’t steal my name. I know there’s a big reason why she had a plastic surgery and that’s what I want to know besides wanting to get Mommy’s company back from her.” Sarah nodded.

She thought that Celeste’s request also included Hannah and Maximus. Sarah was going to think that her friend had a crush on Maximus because who wouldn’t? He’s the most powerful man in this country.

“Where are the kids anyway? I don’t hear them making noise?” Sarah changed the subject and looked at the room.

“They’re with their nanny, they went to the mall.” Celeste replied, making Sarah look at her friend in confusion. When did her children have a babysitter?

“They have a nanny? When?” she asked.

“She just started today. I got her from an agency,” Celeste replied while looking at her laptop. Sarah just nodded, after all, who wouldn’t get tired of taking care of those three? Celeste raised her children alone so Sarah knew that Celeste was also tired of taking care of the children.

Sarah was still wondering who the mysterious father of Celeste’s children was. Sarah asked about it once but she got no answer from Celeste except for her friend’s sharp look at her.

“I’m going back to the company and I’ll meet with the board of directors. I know they’ve been waiting for me since last week and it would be embarrassing if I canceled again, especially since we’ve already signed contracts.” Celeste said, then she closed her laptop and took her bag.

“Just tell me which mall the kids went to so I can follow them.” Sarah muttered.

“At MOA,” Celeste replied briefly. They both left the house and went their separate ways when they both got in their cars. Celeste went straight to the company, she saw a car beside her at the entrance of the company but she didn’t pay attention to it.

A man immediately approached her and gave her her key, but another man got ahead of her so Celeste looked at him in confusion to see who the man was who got ahead of her in giving the key to the man so he could park her car.

She just laughed wryly in her mind when she saw Maximus.

“You saw that I was the first one he approached, right? You’re still competing.” she said gruffly, but Maximus just looked at her blankly.

“You were approached first because you’re beautiful, but I got here first.” Celeste laughed wryly again. Did a Lim really know how to compliment women now? Or did he just say Celeste was beautiful because she looked just like Hannah? Celeste rolled her eyes when she remembered Hannah.

“I’ll just park your car after Mr. Lim.” The man said in a low voice, as if he was embarrassed. She couldn’t argue because Maximus was the one she was facing. Celeste just ignored him and gave him her car key, then she entered the company.

Maximus was with her and she wasn’t affected by his presence. Maximus was looking at Celeste’s back and he could say that she was very different from Hannah. They had many differences, Hannah was like an angel, especially her voice and her actions, but Celeste was the opposite of Hannah.

Celeste’s face was too bold and aggressive, her behavior seemed rough based on what Maximus saw. She was too straightforward and seemed to be afraid of nothing.

Celeste got on the elevator and Maximus followed her. Celeste’s arms were crossed and she could see her reflection and Maximus’ in the elevator.

When Celeste’s cell phone rang, she answered it.

“What?” she said in surprise, causing Maximus to look at her even though Celeste’s cell phone wasn’t on speaker, Maximus could still hear the conversation because it was too quiet where they were.

“Your dad is in the hospital, they rushed him there earlier because he had a heart attack, I think, while he was in a business meeting.” Sarah said. Celeste just rubbed her temple.

“I have a meeting with the board of directors today and it would be embarrassing if I canceled again. I’ll visit him later,” Celeste replied, then she hung up the call.

Maximus frowned because Hannah told him that they had no contact with Celeste and that her family disowned her because Celeste didn’t care about them anymore and she even swore that they were her family, but why did it seem like something was wrong with Hannah’s story?