After spitting out these words, Maeve Reese felt the frustration that had been piling up in her hearttely had eased up a bit.


    She couldn''t just shrug off what he''d said.


    It was even less likely she could fib to her own heart.


    She cared about it a lot.


    Maeve Reese''s words seemed hard to swallow for Byron Mcdaniel.


    He looked at her serious and deste expression and exhaled deeply. His voice was slightly suppressed. "Maeve, what on earth goes through your head usually? When did I say that I don''t want to be engaged to you?"


    If he didn''t have any intention of marrying her, why would he go to all that trouble for a proposal ring? He rounded up all those world-famous designers and busted his butt to scrap and redo it.


    Even with work keeping in swampedtely, he hadn''t let the progress of the wedding ring slide. He made time to keep tabs


    on it.


    But what did Maeve Reese just say?


    He didn''t really want to marry her?


    Since she''d brought it up, Maeve Reese was now throwing in the towel. "I overheard your chat with Gilbert Mcdaniel when I swung by the Mcdaniel family that day. You said you''d be splitting with me real soon, and Gilbert Mcdaniel was on board with your n." He was the one who pped the fiancéebel on her.


    In the end, he was also the one who despised her so much that he had calcted the time to end their rtionship.


    That made her feel like a measly little ything that could be tossed aside whenever.


    And what''s worse,


    it was the guy she had a thing for.


    How could Maeve Reese not feel all wrong?


    She didn''t notice that after she spilled the beans, the gloom in Byron Mcdaniel''s eyes vanished in a sh and he was left speechless for a second.


    "Maeve Reese, why are you being so pigheaded?" Byron Mcdaniel pinched her damp chin. The look on his handsome mug was a mix of helplessness and amusement. "Even if you eavesdrop, you ain''t gonna catch the whole story."


    Maeve Reese''s cheeks puffed up a smidge from his pinch. She shot him a re with her sparkly eyes. "How am I unreasonable?"


    "Don''t act like a spoiled child." Byron Mcdaniel''s Adam''s apple bobbed. "I told Grandpa I''d end this thing with you down the road, provided we take it to the next level, get it?"


    Who was being all cutesy?


    Maeve Reese was about to jut out her lower lip when she heard what he said next. She was stunned.


    The fiancee went one step further...


    Wasn''t that marriage?!


    "Are you kidding me?" Maeve Reese looked at him suspiciously. Or are you getting a little carried away because you just acknowledged Theo?"


    Byron Mcdaniel was so ticked he almost busted a gutughing. Would I joke about something like this?"


    "But..." Maeve Reese was confused. She wanted to pipe up, but got cut off. "Maeve Reese, I want the truth. Are you chomping at the bit to cut ties with me?" Maeve Reese shot back right away, "Don''t go projecting your thoughts onto me. When did I ever think like that?"


    "Then why did you ask me to consider breaking off the engagement some time ago? You even said that the sooner the better?" Byron Mcdaniel grilled her.


    "I..." Maeve choked. "I overheard what you said to Gilbert. I figured you wanted to call off the engagement pronto, so I took the initiative to make your wishe true!"


    "So you never wanted to cut ties with me?"


    "Never!"


    Without even thinking, Maeve Reese subconsciously said what was on her mind. When she saw the grin that suddenly shed across Byron Mcdaniel''s lips, her ears turned red. Bastard!


    He was trying to wring the truth out of her!


    After getting Maeve Reese''s answer, the pent-up aggravation in Byron Mcdaniel''s chest finally fizzled out.


    He gave her soft cheek a gentle pinch like he couldn''t get enough. His slightly calloused fingers grazed it.


    Maeve Reese felt a tickle and wanted to ask him to knock it off, but she''d just identally spilt her guts. She pressed her lips together and yed it cool to hide the awkwardness in her heart.


    "You haven''t answered my question," Byron Mcdaniel said unhurriedly. "Why do you think I don''t want to marry you?"


    Maeve Reese pursed her red lips. "I already answered just now."


    "You didn''t give me a straight answer. That''s not what you really had in mind."


    Maeve Reese''s heart skipped a beat. His gaze seemed to pierce right through her. Her face flushed. She wanted to sink back into the tub and disappear, but her face was in his grip. If she budged, he''d give it a squeeze like he was warning her. She looked up and tried to think of a way to brush it off.


    "You''d better not lie in front of me." Byron Mcdaniel pressed his fingertips on her side carotid artery and said with a faint smile, "Oh, your heart is starting to beat faster. I want to hear what excuse you n to use to brush me off this time." Maeve Reese:!!!


    This guy was ying dirty!


    How could he have such a sneaky way to tell if someone was lying?


    Was the lie detector possessed?!


    Maeve Reese gritted her teeth. Her elegant, slender shoulders tensed up then slowly rxed.


    "Byron Mcdaniel, let''s set aside the issue between us for now. Let''s just talk about the fact that we''re from different social


    rungs. You seem to have forgotten that I''m the daughter of a fugitive. Even if I was just from an ordinary family like the Reese family, the gap between us ain''t small."


    "It''s not that I''m being a stickler, but reality is staring us in the face. Back then, when you married me, when I was still the daughter of the Reese family, those rumours never let up. Plus, my current status is so iffy. If you''re with me, what will people think of you?" Maeve Reese paused. The rest of his words were stuck in his throat.


    Those folks would say that the big-shot CEO of the Mcdaniel Group actually tied the knot with the spawn of a fugitive. Wasn''t that a p in the face for the family?


    Maeve Reese didn''t care whose daughter she was, nor did she care what people said about her.N?velDrama.Org owns this text.


    Usually, she''d give a smackdown right back if she ran into a loudmouth like that.


    But she cared about Byron Mcdaniel and didn''t want to be a liability for others to rag on him.


    Unexpectedly, after hearing her words, Byron Mcdaniel burst outughing.


    His low and maicughter was exceptionally sexy.


    Maeve Reese looked at him in confusion. What was heughing at? Was she ridiculous?


    "Maeve Reese, I just realized you seem to have the wrong idea about me." Byron Mcdaniel''s brows were arched with a faint smile. "Why do you think I''m some highfalutin goody-two-shoes?"


    "I don''t think you''re a saint, but you are definitely high and mighty," Maeve Reese said earnestly.


    Nobody in the whole of Kleymond was more powerful and respected than the Mcdaniel Group.


    Byron Mcdaniel''s smile widened. "But you seem to have forgotten that before I rejoined the Mcdaniel family, I was just an average Joe like you. Setting aside the glitz from my family background and status, I''m not as out of reach as you seem to think." "Maeve Reese, we''ve always been the same."


    He dipped his head a smidge and inched closer to Maeve Reese''s face, which was all steamy from the bath. The tip of his nose brushed against hers, and there were emotions in his eyes that she couldn''t quite decipher.


    "From the moment you saved me in the rain, you were destined to belong to me."


    "It''s mine."


    His presence enveloped Maeve Reese, like a she couldn''t escape. By the time she snapped back to reality, she was trapped.