Chapter 72: Cancelling the Wedding

Kelvin’s POV

I watched Maya for a long time.

Her last denial was still hanging between us, but I no longer had any reason to believe it. The documents in front of me had already answered most of the questions I had been asking since the Hugo lawyers left my office.

What I had been struggling with was not whether Maya was involved. It was the fact that she had looked me straight in the eyes and lied.

I picked up the transaction records again and glanced through them. "Maya, you knew about these payments."

She wiped the tears from her cheeks and shook her head. "I didn’t—"

"Don’t." My voice stopped her. Then I looked at her properly. "I have gone through these documents several times. I know what the lawyers showed me and I know what they found. So, whatever you’re about to tell me, don’t insult me by lying again."

Her lips trembled. I could see the moment she realised that there was no longer any point pretending.

Her eyes filled with tears. "I didn’t want you to find out like this."

I placed the papers back on the table. "So, you admit it?"

"Yes," She nodded slowly. "I contacted them."

I lowered my head briefly before raising my gaze back to her. I didn’t have much to say right now, but I was curious about her reason, so I asked, "Why?"

She wiped her face. "Because I knew Emerald wouldn’t stop."

Her voice trembled, but her explanation was clear enough.

"She had already lost her position at Mercer, but I knew that wouldn’t be enough for her. She would eventually come back. She would fight you and try to take the company from you. I wanted to make sure she couldn’t."

I looked away. I understood what she had wanted to accomplish. But what I couldn’t understand was why she had believed she had the right to make that decision without me.

"You should have told me," I said to her.

"I was afraid you would refuse."

"You were right," I admitted. "I would have refused because there were better ways to deal with Emerald. We both wanted the same thing. If you had come to me, I could have helped you find a way to handle the situation without dragging my name and my company into this."

She lowered her head.

I was disappointed. That was the part I couldn’t shake. "What was the harm in telling me the truth, Maya?"

What was so difficult in sharing her plans with me since she was trying to help me?

She didn’t answer, so I continued, "You didn’t just act behind my back. You used my account to make payments without my knowledge. Do you understand how serious that is?"

"I was going to put the money back," she quickly explained.

"That isn’t the point," I said to her, and she fell silent.

I had trusted her enough to build a future with her. I had never imagined that she would take matters into her own hands and involve me in something I knew nothing about.

"What were you thinking when you did this?" I asked.

"I thought I was helping you," she replied.

I found her answer ridiculous and wanted her to know. "You thought you were helping me by putting me in a position where the Hugo family could trace the money back to me?"

Her eyes filled again. "I didn’t think they would find out."

"That is exactly the problem," I slammed. She was just so ignorant about the whole consequences of her actions.

The room had become unbearable, so I walked toward the window.

I had spent the last few hours thinking about Emerald’s demand for three per cent of Mercer Technologies. Now I understood that Maya’s actions had helped create the very situation she had been trying to prevent.

She had wanted Emerald gone permanently, but in the end, she had given Emerald and the Hugo family another weapon against us.

Behind me, Maya began crying again. I closed my eyes briefly, refusing to let it get to me.

"I’m disappointed in you," I confessed. She needed to know this much.

Her cries stopped as she suddenly went quiet.

I turned around. "And it isn’t because you wanted Emerald out of Mercer. You already knew we both wanted the same thing. I’m disappointed because you never trusted me enough to tell me what you were doing."

She shook her head. "I was scared."

"And now look where we are."

She had no answer. Neither did I.

My eyes fell on the phone she had left on the sofa. The jewellery she had been showing me earlier was still displayed on the screen.

Only a few hours ago, she had been talking excitedly about our wedding. Now, I couldn’t look at those pictures without feeling something inside me change.

Maya noticed where I was looking. "Kelvin..." she drawled.

I took in that guilty expression and shook my head. I refused to be moved by it, so I said to her, "I don’t think we should continue with the wedding."

Her expression changed instantly. She stared at me as if she hadn’t understood what I had said. "What?"

"I don’t think I can go ahead with this union."

Her face crumpled. "Please... Kelvin."

I watched at her, but I couldn’t take back my words. "I need time to think about everything that has happened. I can’t simply go ahead with our wedding and pretend that this hasn’t changed anything between us."

She tried to speak again, but I stopped her with a look.

"I’m not making this decision because I’m angry. I’m making it because I no longer know if I can trust you."

The tears continued down her face.

I picked up the folder containing the Hugo lawyers’ documents and headed for the door.

Behind me, Maya called my name again, but this time I didn’t turn around.

I opened the door and walked out, leaving the wedding plans, the jewellery and everything I had believed about our future behind me.