You’re my ex, and you have no right to interfere in my life

Author’s pov

"That is Mr. Wale!" Liam's heart sank. Maya and Wale were now at the door, and even Maya's heart began to pound, this time for Liam's sake. She quickly positioned herself in front of the door to block Wale, who appeared startled to realize someone was inside. He recognized Grayson's car but knew it wasn’t Grayson in the house. Despite Maya standing in his way, Wale forced his way in.

"You’re my ex, and you have no right to interfere in my life! It doesn’t matter who’s in my house. Get out of my…" Maya rushed after him and froze when they reached the sitting room. All that was there was a glass of half-drunk wine on the table.

Maya’s breathing grew uneven as the reality of what she had done sank in. She was about to put Liam in danger. But when she realized he had hidden himself, her fear lessened, and she started yelling again.

"Are you happy now?" she snapped, throwing her arms in the air. "Even if I had dozens of boyfriends, it’s none of your business!"

"Maya," Wale said, his eyes softening with emotion, "I still care about you."

"That’s the one thing I can’t stand hearing from you!" she retorted, her voice filled with rage. "You had the chance, Wale. You had me, and you dumped me for someone else. Now, you have the nerve to say you care? Care for what? If you had cared, our baby wouldn’t have died! And look at me now, what did I have to do to fix my life after you wrecked it? I became a babysitter! Do you know why? To heal from the disaster you brought into my life. You must have come here for your selfish reasons. Maybe your step brothers told you to marry me so you could keep your position. That’s the only reason you ever act, when it’s about your ego!"

"Why would you say something like that?" His voice dropped. His blinking quickened, as though holding back tears. "Do you think I didn’t feel the pain of losing our late baby? I’m human too, Wale. I felt everything you claim to feel.”

“Don’t tell me you’re sorry. it’s too late for that!"

"Maya, I am sorry," he said, his voice heavy with regret. He reached out as though to touch her.

"Don’t you dare!" Maya yelled, recoiling. "I’d rather die than let you touch me again! I failed myself for loving you. I failed my parents for trusting you. I thought everything would be okay, but I was wrong…" Her voice broke, and tears streamed down her face.

Wale stood there, helpless, watching her cry. He couldn’t bring himself to walk away, nor could he do anything to comfort her.

"Maya, I’m sorry," he said again, his voice quieter now. "Crying won’t bring our baby back, but that’s my biggest regret too. Tell me what I can do to help you heal. I’ll do it, Maya. Anything. I promise."

His words made Maya pause. She wiped her tears and stared at him, her face still filled with sorrow.

"You’d do anything to make me happy?" she asked.

"Yes. We can start over again," he said, thinking some kind of hope had come. 

"Then leave," she said firmly. "That’s the only thing that will heal me completely." She pointed to the door.

Wale froze, stunned by her words. He had expected her to demand something impossible, and he had been prepared to do it. Silence fell between them as they stared at each other.

"Go!" she repeated. "You said you’d do anything to make me feel better."

"But this… this isn’t what I meant," he stammered.

"I don’t care what you meant. I don’t need your so-called care. I just want to be alone. Being alone is better than having you here."

Wale’s fists clenched as he stared at her. Seeing his reaction, Maya added, "Yes, I mean it. Leave!"

He sighed and pulled a small box from his pocket.

"I noticed you broke your necklace. I got you a new one," he said softly.

Maya glared at him. "Let me correct you. I didn’t break it by mistake. I broke it on purpose. When I found out that necklace was from you, I felt suffocated. And now you think another necklace will fix things? I don’t need your gifts! You don’t even know what I like. If you’d cared, you would’ve known my favorites instead of lying to me and pretending to be busy at work, but you are with a lady. Why am I even explaining this to you? Just leave! I have better things to do. Here’s some advice for your next relationship, learn how to care. But as for us? Never..ever again!"

Wale’s fists tightened further, but he placed the gift on the table and turned to leave.

"You forgot something, Mr. Wale," Maya added, but the door closed before she could finish, leaving the gift there.

Once he was gone, Maya rushed to the window. She watched him get into his car and drive away. Sighing in relief, she quickly locked the door, leaned against it, and slid to the floor.

"What if he had seen Liam?" she thought, her mind racing. "Would he think we’re dating? Or worse, would he assume we were sleeping together back when I was in his house?" She closed her eyes, her heart pounding.

She knew she was right. That’s exactly what Wale would think. While nothing would happen to her, Liam’s fate would be different. Wale would stop at nothing to punish him. After all, Liam had stood up to Wale before resigning as Maya’s personal driver and Wale had never forgotten it.

“Why are you sitting there?” Liam’s voice startled her as she sat with her head down.

“How did you manage that?” She stood up quickly. “My heart dropped when Wale barged in. I kept thinking, what could I say to defend you? Just you and I in the house.”

“There’s nothing you could say that Wale would believe. I saw the trouble coming and ran inside to hide.” Liam stood, staring at Maya, both of them lost in their thoughts.

“Wale would have caught us if we had been… doing anything hmmm,” she said and sighed.

“How did you guess my thoughts?” Liam paused for a moment, then added, “Please, try to forget anything that hurts you. I’ll help you go through Hazel’s phone if that’s what you need to find love again.”

“Thank you so much,” she said, opening her arms. Liam hesitated but stepped forward and hugged her.

“You’ll be free soon,” he said, tapping her back before pulling away.

“So, um… how do you want this to work?”

“It’s up to you, Mr. Liam. I don’t know your plans, but I need Hazel’s phone for thirty minutes or less. I just want the number of that man. He is the only one who can heal me now.”

“I’ll stay at Hazel’s house tonight. Once I have access to her phone, I’ll call you so we can meet, and you can get what you need. All I need to do is to drug her to sleep.”

“Thank you, Mr. Liam.”

“Thankful for what? You’re still my ma’am, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“Thanks again,” Maya said, clenching her fingers as she watched Liam leave her house.

“I’ll call you,” he said before closing the door.

Liam left and was on his way to Hazel’s house, Hazel called him.

“Where are you, dear?”

“I went to see a friend. I’m on my way back now.”

When Liam got out of his car and approached Hazel’s door, she opened it before he could knock.

“You kept me waiting,” she said.

“Sorry about that,” he replied and they kissed affectionately for a while.

Inside, a bottle of champagne sat on the table with two glasses. Hazel had already poured the drinks. She handed Liam one of the glasses and sat on his lap, wrapping an arm around his neck.

“This is for you,” she said. As he lifted the glass to drink, she placed her hand on his seductively. “Where did you say you were coming from?”

“I went to meet an old friend.”

“An old friend, huh? Doesn’t this friend have a name?”

“Michael Dan, my college friend.”

“Interesting,” she said with a smile, running her fingers through his beard. “Finish your wine, and then we’ll head to bed for some fun.” She tilted his chin up with her fingers just as her phone started ringing.

Hazel quickly left the sitting room to collect her phone in the bedroom and returned in moments, resuming her seat on Liam’s lap.

“Finish your wine,” she urged. “I like it when you’re a little tipsy.” She guided the glass to his lips, and he drank all of it.

Minutes later, she stood and sat across from him, her eyes shifting between him and her phone.

“Ahh…” Liam groaned, his face tightening in pain.

“Did you put something in this wine?”

“What kind of question is that?” Hazel snapped, standing up. She saw him stumble and fall, reaching out weakly for help.

“That’s the price of lying to me,” she said coldly. “Did you think I didn’t know you went to Maya’s house? ‘Old friend,’ my foot.”

“Please… help me,” Liam pleaded.

“Call Maya to help you. You’re not going to make it, this is a full dose of poison. I bet you’ve slept with her too. That woman has used her beauty to seduce both father and son, climbing her way to the top of my company. Does she think I’m stupid? Mr. Jackson, the CEO of Omega Corporation, only has one son-Mr. Grayson. But she’s married to some imaginary son who’s in a coma. What nonsense! And she wouldn’t allow me to see him when I asked to see her imaginary husband.”

By now, Liam was motionless on the floor, and Hazel sat down, glaring at him.

“She even had the audacity to go after a gigolo after the first night. And Mr. Blaze, he didn’t want me. I wanted to feel what Maya said she experienced with him. If I had known, I would have worn high heels or maybe not shaved my private parts. Stupid Maya. I asked her to arrange a night with Mr. Grayson for me, but she refused. Selfish friend. I’m glad I ended our friendship.”

Hazel tried dragging Liam’s body to the door, but found him too heavy to lift up. Her intention was to carry him to her car, then look for somewhere to dump his body. It was at this moment, she called Nathan, a man who had recently gotten her number.

“Come to my house, I need a favor on my bed,” she said and hung up.

Thirty minutes later, Nathan arrived. The moment he stepped inside the sitting room, he was astounded.

“What’s going on here?” he asked, staring at Hazel, who had let her gown drop to the floor and she was putting on nothing.

“Aren’t you tempted?” she teased, shaking her breasts to entice him. “This will give you all the energy you need to get rid of that traitor.”