Maya's POV

Annabelle and Pedro were exhausted by the time we got home, they went to bed at once without dinner.

Everyone was leaving tomorrow, it was Monday. The kids had to go to school; Eden to his workplace and I back to square one.

Well, it was not exactly square one since I now had money unlike before. I wasn't that same Maya who couldn't afford to change her wardrobe at intervals; who had to survive on poor, insufficient meals; I wish Andrew was here to see my notable progress.

Since he wanted a rich girlfriend, I would have rubbed my resources all over his face. It was rude of me to say this but the breakup benefited me financially.

But still, I missed him; no money in this world would substitute Niklaus's presence even though he's an asshole. God Maya! stop wallowing in heartbreak.

I was alone with my thoughts when the sofa dipped slightly, Eden sat down beside me.

"Hey"

"Hey"

My attention was focused on the wine in his grip and the two wine glasses in his other hand.

He pulled out a small sturdy stool from beside the couch and dragged it to the front of us, placing the wine and glasses on top of it.

"Why the sudden wine? " I asked in surprise. Days ago, he was mad at me for drinking wine in a bathtub, now he was offering me a drink.

"You're leaving tomorrow, why don't we drink to that? " Eden suggested, "Or we can drink to you surviving and clearing the scandal? "

"I'll rather toast to leaving tomorrow then, just because the scandal was cleared doesn't mean people won't stop talking. I just pray this doesn't affect my audition" I sighed.

"Don't worry, Isaac is a partial person" Eden informed me while removing the cork, "Just impress him with your acting skills and you're good to go " he passed a glass to me which I took.

I swirled the rich red liquid before bringing it to my lips and took a sip while Eden scrutinized me closely.

"Whoah, this is strong " I pointed out while staring at my glass."Why didn't I see this one that day? "

"It's my cellar, I know where the good stuff is stocked " Eden answered while drinking.

Swallowing the rest in one gulp, I set my empty glass down on the stool but Eden was quick to refill it.

His quick gesture made me eye him questioningly, why was he so eager to serve me tonight?

"Tonight is your last day here, have some fun " Eden explained himself as if he knew the question on my mind.

Scratching my chin, I discovered his words made sense: I was returning to that hellhole of a city tomorrow, so why can't I enjoy this last night?

"Let's toast to your returning " He suggested and refilled my glass, handing it to me as he lifted his glass.

"To your well spent holidays in the countryside, " He said with a hint of laughter.

Chuckling, I lifted my glass in his direction and concurred," To my well spent holidays then "

We clicked glasses, then drank.

"You're a good drinker " Eden drew attention to my drinking capacity, he was quite observant this night.

I waved it off, "I'm nothing compared to my grandmother. You should see her, even up-to-now I still can't beat that old woman in a competition; she's a drinking demoness "

"Shouldn't she refrain from drinking due to her age? "

I snorted, "I told her so but each time she replies and I quote 'An old woman is never too old to perform her favorite dance step; age can never stop what a person is used to' and she moves to the next drink "

Eden smiled slightly but that was all and that caught my attention, I faced him asking, "What's your dream?"

He was surprised, I could see it in his eyes when he glanced up at me. He gulped and looked away leaving me puzzled, did I ask something I wasn't supposed to?

Weird, I didn't find anything wrong with the question nor too personal considering our close relationship.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to " came my remark while taking another glass, I could sense I made him uncomfortable.

Eden shifted uneasily in his seat and just when I was about to change the topic, he answered.

"I don't have a dream"

" Huh? "

There was a trace of confusion mixed with disbelief on my face, what is he talking about? Who in this world doesn't have a dream?

"That's impossible "

"Once you're born in the Spencer family, you already have a role; there's a paved path waiting for you to follow " he answered with an apathetic demeanor but I could tell he was just masking his feelings, this was his most vulnerable state.

I kept the glass on the stool, took his hand without warning, and placed it on mine.

There was a rollercoaster of emotions on his face while watching my gesture, it was obvious he was bottling his feelings.

"I'm not going to press further if you don't want to open up but you should know this; everyone deserves to be happy and that includes you.

"Sometimes duty wins over our desires and it's hard to retrace those baby steps but find an equilibrium, a point where you can balance both and make yourself fulfilled " I pep talked to him and boomed a warm smile afterward.

For a while Eden was lost, he stared at me without blinking, making me think my motivational speech damaged him.

"Hey, you okay?" I waved at his face when he withdrew his hand from my clasp with lightning speed.

Eden coughed and looked away, he looked flustered or so I thought, his next statement belied it.

"You should keep that crap for people who need it, not me. How do you know I'm not happy with what I'm doing? Must I have such a childish fantasy to be happy? "

I made faces and punch gestures at him when he wasn't looking but behaved myself when he turned around.

So frustrating! Couldn't he just say thank you for my words of encouragement? Did he know how much I racked my brain just to come up with those?

Just him wait, when I become a celebrity and get invited to seminars, these words of mine would become powerful and I'll copyright it just to rub it on his face.

I grabbed the wine I had grumpily filled and tried to take a drink but he snatched it away from my grip abruptly.

"What now?! " I whined, flinging my leg in the air and shaking my body in a childish fit.

"No more drinking for you " Eden declared firmly.

"You're seizing my drink because of my speech? What's so wrong with what I said?!"

"Everything," he said with no emotion. How did he turn from a sweet company to this cold, petty, annoying frenemy that quickly?

"You're narrow-minded, I just gave you a good talk nothing else " I pouted my lips in a mean moue while targeting the wine glass he held above his head.

That drink was the last from the bottle and I had purposely taken everything without leaving any for him, hehe - it was not much though, but half bread was better than none.

"Go to bed" He ordered and that was it.

In that moment of distraction, I reached for the wine but Eden was quick to counter my intention; sadly, the glass slipped from his hand and fell to the ground, shattering to pieces.

"Satisfied now? " He asked sarcastically with a raised brow.

I made a scoffing sound and pushed away from him but I made a mistake. Forgetting the fact that I drank beyond my limit, I shot up to my feet and my world swirled.

Never did I expect that he would catch me. I blinked and shook my head to clear the fuzziness, God, I was drunk.

Suddenly, Eden carried me off my feet drawing a startled scream from my lips while I held onto him for dear life.

He shook his head with a mocking smirk and began to head to God knows where.

I panicked, "What are you doing? Where are you taking me? "

He stopped and gave me a lewd grin, "What do you think? Of Course, I'm taking you to my room so we can have a steamy and passionate time together. Imagine the fun we would have tonight " Eden whispered into my ears seductively, causing my throat to dry up as I watched his lewd grin evolve into an evil one.

"Put me down, " I said to him but he ignored me and continued his joyous journey.

"Put me down now! " I barked and when he refused, bite into his arm hard causing him to wince and he had no choice than to drop me.

"Ouch " I winced as my bum hit the hard floor. I glared up at him with anger as tears threatened to well up in my eyes, that was really painful.

"You're welcome by the way, " Eden remarked sarcastically as he began to climb down the stairs.

Wait a minute - stairs.

That was when I realized he dropped me right in front of my door; I was too drunk and furious to observe my surroundings earlier; he was just playing me, tsk how annoying!

I stood to my feet, dusted my bottom before heading to my room with no idea that a simple motivational speech saved my ass tonight.