From Betrayal to Brilliance Her Rise to a New Life novel Chapter 266

Chapter 266 The Wish Jar

The sharp sound of heels echoed through the office, making Zaden frown. When he looked up, the person

who walked in was Maya.

She wore a perfectly fitted dress, her hair cascading smoothly down her back. Elegant and porsed, she looked more polished than he remembered.

Zaden scowled at this. Somehow, he found her unfamiliar.

For a brief second, he realized he could barely remember the woman she used to be. Maybe what he missed before wasn’t her; it was just the feeling he once had.

“Zaden, are you busy?” Maya asked softly. Her eyes shimmered with affection, the kind that could stir any

man’s heart.

But Zaden didn’t move. His face stayed calm, distant. “What are you doing here?” he asked in a cold tone.

“Can’t I come see you without a reason?” Maya said, her lips curling into a smile.

She placed a small jar on his desk and added playfully, “I came to make you keep your promise.”

Zaden’s brows tightened again. The sight of that jar pulled him straight back to the past.

Maya had brought him a wish jar they’d buried years ago, back when they were still a couple.

Zaden couldn’t remember all the details of that day, but the wish inside–he remembered it perfectly.

Maya’s wish had been to marry him one day, have two children together, and grow old by his side.

Her smile carried a hint of confidence. Maya’s eyes locked on Zaden. “Do you remember the promise you. made to nie back then?”

Her heart beat faster as she looked at him.

The man sitting before her now had a quiet, commanding presence, the kind of authority that came from real power.

He wasn’t the same boy she once knew. Zaden had become someone far beyond her reach.

Before Zaden could answer, Maya went on, her voice soft but full of longing. “We buried that wish jar together, remember? You promised you’d give me a big wedding one day. You promised to make me your wife. You even said we’d have two kids.”

Zaden listened, his face unreadable.

Inside, he felt nothing but irony.

How foolish he’d been–reckless, naïve, and blind to what kind of person she really was.

Maya had thick skin.

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Chapter 766 The Wish Jar

Zaden let out a cold laugh. “Expired wishes never come true,” he said flatly.

Then, after a pause, his tone dropped lower. “And you sure don’t have much shame, do you?”

His sharp words cut through the air. The mocking look in his eyes made Maya’s chest tighten with embarrassment. For a second, she felt humiliated. But then, she caught herself and smiled.

Finished

Zaden still remembered. He still brought up the past with emotion in his voice. That meant he hadn’t been forgotten.

The stronger the love, the deeper the hate.

To Maya, that only proved one thing–after all these years, Zaden still cared. He just couldn’t forgive her

yet.

And that thought alone filled her with twisted satisfaction.

Maya looked straight at Zaden and said softly, “Zaden, you never really forgot about me, did you? I know you still care. I’ve realized my mistakes too. Maybe we can start over.”

Zaden’s face stayed cold and unreadable.

When she finally finished speaking, he said in a detached voice, “Aren’t you a little too confident? I don’t have any feelings for you. And I’m married now. I’d appreciate it if you stopped coming here. I don’t want my wife to misunderstand.”

Maya’s smile froze on her face. For a second, it felt like the blood in her veins stopped moving.

His wife? He means Athena, doesn’t he?

Are they re

Married?

She could hardly believe it. When she’d looked into Zaden’s background before, she’d seen some news about that, but she had brushed it off as fake.

Zaden never seemed like the type to settle down so easily.

Is he lying? Or he’s telling the truth?

Zaden didn’t seem interested in explaining. He picked up his phone and called Tommy. “Come in,” he said shortly, “and show Ms. Rice out.”

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