Chapter 5 And she was relieved

Maxwell had left Scarlett's place a few days prior, looking sexy and attractive. She continued to have interesting, enjoyable, and occasionally dull work. She was relieved that the new CEO, whose name she had not yet learned, had retained the personnel in the children's department despite making certain changes, including firing the majority of the staff and hiring new ones. Apart from Andy and Sofi, she already knew them all, and she was relieved that Ivy and the other children wouldn't have to cope with strangers.

It didn't surprise her when she learned that he intended to rename the business. She didn't mind the name, but it wasn't fair that he replaced the majority of the employees and fired them. That was simply heartless. She understood that he was carrying out his duties, but he had to have given them at least a week's notice, if not a month. Hopefully, he included severance money in his decision to terminate them. No one had yet gotten a look at him, but she had heard a lot about him from workplace gossip.

A knock on the door interrupted Scarlett's cooking in the kitchen.

Who might it be?

She pondered as she dropped her task and went to retrieve the door. When Scarlett opened the door and saw who it was, she gasped.

Oh no!

As her eyes deceived her, Scarlett went to observe him.

Wearing a black suit and a white shirt with a few buttons undone, he looked perfect. There was not a hair out of place on him. To put it briefly, he appeared flawless. She noticed a little smirk on his face as their eyes locked. She realized then that she had been staring.

"Are you done ogling me, Ms. Bennett?" She swallowed as Maxwell inquired in his deep, sultry voice.

It wasn't an easy assignment, so Maxwell had avoided her for the last two days in an attempt to clear his head and get his ideas in order. When he offered the woman a ride in the office garage that evening, he found it difficult to let go. However, he needed to remember that Scarlett Bennett is the woman who gave birth to his daughter and see her for who she truly was. He knew she wouldn't give up his kid, so he made the decision to start his plan. He intended to make her fall deeply in love with him by wining and dining her. Despite being one of those hard-to-get types, Scarlett Bennett was unable to resist his charms indefinitely. She would eventually break, and he would have preferred it that way since only then could he proceed with the remainder of his plan. He would adopt his daughter and marry her. He would only divorce his daughter after allowing his attorney, who was the greatest, to do his magic in court and grant him complete possession of her.

"I-I was not..." Maxwell was distracted from his carefully thought-out, cunning plot by Scarlett's stutter.

"May I come in?" He interrupted her to inquire.

Again, what was he doing here?

Scarlett pondered.

"Of course." She said as she widened the door. He moved in and headed into the living room, but not before making sure his arm touched hers and staying close for a bit.

With a sigh, Scarlett shut the door and followed him into the living room. When Scarlett arrived, Maxwell was looking about the room, something he hadn't done completely the last time he was here. Scarlett remembered the meal she had left on the burner when his eyes moved to the kitchen.

"Oh shoot!" Turning off the gas, she dashed into the kitchen. When she checked and discovered she hadn't burned her food, she exhaled with relief. She was too tired to make herself another dinner, so she would have gone to bed without eating it.

"Everything okay?" The proximity of his voice made Scarlett jump, and when she turned to look behind her, he was observing her.

Oh no! He made her already little kitchen appear even smaller.

"Yea,"" I said," she said. "All good."

The two times they had met, she had seen the strength and confidence radiating from him, but here, in her small kitchen, it was nearly overwhelming.

Hold on! What in the world was wrong with her and her current state of mind?

Scarlett jolted out of whatever daze this Greek deity had cast upon her.

"I'm sorry about that." She said, aware of his eyes on her as he followed her as she walked by him from the kitchen into the living room.

Maxwell sat on separate sofas and stared at her without saying anything.

"So, why...?"

She was interrupted by Maxwell, who stated, "I'm here to apologize for the way I stormed out of here the other day."

"Oh, that? It isn't anything. Everything is alright. You had, I'm sure."

"I remembered something really important I had to take care of." He said, cutting her off once more.

"It's all right. Really, I wasn't.

"I know, I just..." She interrupted him just as he was about to say something.

"You do know you haven't let me complete a sentence." Scarlett mentioned that his interruptions were starting to annoy her.

He appeared surprised.

"Excuse me?"

"You haven't let me complete a sentence since you walked through the doors." Scarlett grinned. "I don't know if you're telepathic or just..." pompous Scarlett said, "...that way" instead.

Something about him was odd.

Scarlett pondered.

A little smile was dancing across his lips.

"I apologize." I." Maxwell scowled as he offered the woman his second apology of the day-something he had never done before. "Is your meal edible enough?"

"What?" He shifted the subject, leaving Scarlett perplexed.

"The food was on when I walked in." "I said," he said. "Is it edible or did it get burned?"

"Oh. No, it's edible."

"That's a shame. I'd have wanted to take you out for dinner."

Scarlett felt the blush creep from her neck to her cheeks but she fought away the pleasure that surged up to the surface at his oblique invitation.

"You do remember that I have a daughter, right?"

As if on cue, Ivy's shriek resonated through the house.

"Excuse me." Scarlett got up and rushed down to the spare room she used for Ivy while she was busy in the kitchen.

She pulled the door wide and the minute Ivy saw her, she quieted down.

"Momma," she said, raising her hands for Scarlett to carry her up.

"Hey, princess." Scarlett picked up a pouting Ivy and grinned. "Hungry?"

She uttered, "Hunguwe."

Scarlett gave her a downcast smile. She returned to the living room where she had left her unexpected visitor after adjusting Ivy on her hip.

Scarlett replied, "I don't think you've officially met my daughter," as she walked into the living room. When Maxwell heard Scarlett, he stood up and turned.

His eyes shifted from Scarlett to Ivy, and his face became blank. He didn't realize she was his biological mother when he had admired her the first two times. He felt his heart widen and fill with love, though, now that he knew. Love for his young daughter, whom he longed to fully own.

He wouldn't have to endure this if Bea hadn't abandoned her. He would have been the happiest man if he had been with his daughter.

Scarlett noticed a look pass in Maxwell's eyes and couldn't quite place it. Watching the emotion flicker in his eyes as he gazed at Ivy was almost depressing. Ivy always brought joy to anyone who encountered her, yet also brought sadness to this man. At that, Scarlett scowled.

With a broad smile on her lips, Scarlett walked toward him, glancing from Maxwell to Ivy to observe how she responded to a stranger.

Then Scarlett added, "This is Ivy."

The dimple on Maxwell's cheek did nothing to soothe her tumultuous heart, but his thinned.