Three Times of Love

All Maisie could recall from last night was that she had been celebrating her birthday with Willow. After taking a few sips of the sangria Willow had brought to her, she passed out!

Could it be that her drink had been spiked!?

Maisie gnashed her teeth and walked out of bed. With every ounce of composure within her, she tried to remain as calm as she could. She swiftly slipped on her clothes from last night, tidied herself up, and fled. She needed to get home immediately so that she could talk to Willow and find out what had happened!

When Maisie reached home, she saw her father sitting on the sofa waiting for her.

Stephen asked with a calm expression, "Where were you last night?"

Maisie pursed her lips, thinking about the events of last night before finally replying, "l fell asleep in a friend's house."

'Bam!'

Slamming a picture on the table, he roared furiously,

"l know you spent the night with a man in a hotel room! How dare you lie to me?"

The sight of the photo made the blood drain from Maisie's face. It was a picture of a man she did not recognize, helping her into a hotel room.

Willow rushed down the stairs in her high heels. "Dad, calm down." As she continued to talk, she walked toward Maisie and pretended to nag at her.

"Zee, how could you embarrass the family like this? Even if you are in love with the man, you should know not to cross the line before getting married."

Maisie was completely startled. What did she mean by that?

She had clearly been unconscious at the time!

Just as she suspected, Willow would never be so kind as to celebrate her birthday for her. It had all been a set-up!

Maisie tried to explain herself, "Dad, listen, I was out celebrating my birthday with Willow. There was something in the drink that Willow gave to me-"

"That's enough!" Stephen stood up, pointed his finger at her, and growled,

"Willow is your big sister. Don't you dare blame her for your own actions!"

'Sister?'

Listening to her father's accusations, Maisie clenched both her fists tightly until they trembled. Her mother should have known that her father was an unfaithful man. He had been keeping a woman on the side from the very start.

Who could have guessed that within a year after her mother's passing, even before her ashes had turned cold, he would remarry so quickly with Leila Scott?

What had come as a greater surprise to Maisie was finding out that they had long given birth to a daughter of their own!

Maisie had always known that Willow was trying to win over their father for years now. She would act a certain way in front of their father and turn into something else behind him. Never did it ever occur to Maisie that Willow would try to sabotage her on her very own birthday!

"l was planning to pass on Vaenna Jewelry to you when you finally came of age, but y-you... I can't believe you pulled such a stunt to tarnish the family name!

I never want to see your face again! The Vanderbilt could do better without a shameless wretch like you for a daughter!"

Maisie stuttered, "Dad, a-are you... kicking me out?"

Stephen smashed the mug he was holding right at her feet. "Get the hell out of here!"

Trembling uncontrollably, Maisie lifted her head only to catch Willow sneering back at her along with her father's untrusting grimace. She could not help but feel a chill in her heart.

As Maisie was dragging her luggage out through the front yard, Willow came up to her. Pretending to be sweet, she reached out an arm and offered to help with the luggage. But instead, her reaching hand was slapped away by Maisie.

"Get lost."

Seeing Maisie's hostile attitude toward her, Willow finally showed her true colors.

"I'll be honest with you. I did add a little something into that drink last night. I'm guessing it must feel horrible to be tainted by a man."

With much dismay, Maisie chewed on her lips. "You and Leila got what you wanted by worming your way into our home. What more do you want?"

"What I want is your status!" Willow walked right up to her and stared fiercely into her eyes. "Why am I the illegitimate child when you get to be the crown jewel of the Vanderbilts? You were born noble and proud, weren't you? Well, now you're nothing but a used, torn-up shoe. By now, you should know where you

stand. So, why don't you just move along."

Willow waved her phone in front of Maisie's face with much delight.

"If you don't want this video leaked to the media and risk ruining your life forever, then hit the road.

"And don't ever come back!"

Maisie stared back blankly. She loosened her clenched fists. She hauled her luggage off the ground with a stiff look on her face and headed straight into her car without a second glance.

Willow watched as the car drove farther and farther away. A smug smile spread across her face. Not only did the Vaenna Jewelry now belong to her, but everything else under the Vanderbilt was hers for the taking!

Just as she was about to turn around, a Rolls-Royce stopped right at their front door. Four bodyguards in black got out of the car and stood in a line next to it.

With a long leg forward, a man stepped out. He was tall and had an athletic build.

He wore a black striped suit, elegant and simple, yet posh at the same time.

Willow was frozen in place, 'Isn't that... Nolan Goldmann, the successor of the Goldmann family from the royal capital of Bassburgh?'

The CEO of Blackgold Group, also known as the youngest king of business and commerce in the patriarch of Zlokova. Nolan Goldmann had a net worth of hundreds of millions. Not to mention, he was a very powerful man within the royal capital!

What was he doing here at the Vanderbilt manor?

Nolan Goldmann's unfeeling eyes swept over her. He uttered coldly, "Are you, Willow Vanderbilt?"

Her heart skipped a beat. He recognized her!

She nodded gleefully and chimed, "Yes, that's me."

"Were you the woman who spent the night with me in the Empyrean Hotel, Room 6228?' Willow pressed her lips together.

Empyrean Hotel, Room 6228!

The room she had purposely reserved for that shameless b*tch? Could it be that the man Maisie had slept with last night was not the old fart she had intended?

But rather, it was Nolan Goldmann! 'That darn b*tch! I can't believe she lucked out!

Maisie could have all the luck in the world, but so what? In the end, she was nothing more than just a stepping stone. Oh, Nolam Who in their right mind would ever pass up on the chance of becoming your lover?'

Willow nodded with a grin. "Why, indeed. I'm the woman you were with."

At the airport of the royal capital of Bassburgh...

Among the sea of tourists, a mother and child walked out. At that moment, all eyes were on them.

To be precise, it was actually a mother with three exquisitely beautiful children.

The woman was glamorous and poised. What made people stop and stare was the stunningly gorgeous little girl she was carrying in one arm. The girl had thick, curly locks, which made her look just like a doll.

The two similar-looking boys following alongside her had excellent features, a pair of sparkling amber eyes, dark brown hair, and milky-white skin. They seemed so surreal!

The woman standing in front of the BMW took off her sunglasses. Watching Maisie Vanderbilt carrying a child in her arms and the other two following closely behind, she gasped in shock.

"Holy cow, Zee! You had three kids in just one pregnancy?"

She was rendered speechless by the sight of them! Forget the fact that Maisie had triplets, what was truly unbelievable was how they looked like angels sent from Heaven, and they were still so young! The woman could not help but wonder who was this handsome celestial being that Maisie had slept with!

Maisie put down the little girl in her arms. Touching all three of their little heads, she said to them, "Meet your godmother, Ryleigh Hill."

Ryleigh was Maisie Vanderbilt's best friend. After getting kicked out of the Vanderbilt manor, she had gone abroad. Ryleigh had stayed by her side the entire time.

Not long after settling down, she had realized she was pregnant. She had considered abortion. It was Ryleigh who had kept trying to persuade her otherwise that she finally decided to keep the babies.

In order to allow her best friend a comfortable life abroad, the headstrong daddy's princess pawned one of her father's antiques, which was worth $6,000,000, and gave Maisie the money.

Maisie's bank cards had been Frozen when she got kicked out of the Vanderbilt manor. If it weren't for Ryleigh, Maisie would have been sleeping on the streets.

"Nice to meet you, Godmother!" The three rug rats bowed down in an unsynchronized manner as they greeted her with their honey-soaked kiddie voices.

Overwhelmed by their cuteness, Ryleigh felt the blood rush to her head. She smiled and waved back at them.

"Aww, you sweethearts are such angels!"

The second eldest, Colton Vanderbilt, turned his head to his eldest brother,

Waylon Vanderbilt, and garbled, "Our godmother sure looks silly!"

Maisie placed each of her hands onto the two boys' heads. "What are you two whispering about?"

"Umm..." Colton hesitated.

The youngest among them, Daisie Vanderbilt, proudly sold them out. "Waylon and Colton were wondering why Godmother looks so silly!"

The two boys were dumbfounded. She was undoubtedly their sister.

As Ryleigh was driving, she glanced through the rearview mirror to see the little rug rats snuggling up to one another, fast asleep. Finally, she asked, "Zee, why did you decide to return to Zlokova now?"

Maisie, who was leaning against the passenger seat window and curling her hair playfully on her fingertips, gushed with a giggle.

"Vaenna Jewelry paid $7,000,000 to poach me so that they could hire me as a designer."

"Doesn't Vaenna Jewelry belong to your family?" Ryleigh tutted and shook her head in disbelief.

"Your cunning b*tch of a sister, Willow, is now the director of Vaenna. You're saying, she paid $7,000,000 to hire you?" She let out a chuckle at the thought of that.

"When she finds out that you are the world-renowned designer, Zora, from Stoslo, she's totally going to flip out!"

Zora had caused quite the buzz in the international jewelry scene. Her work combined modern jewelry elements with vintage Victorian-style craftsmanship.

Every one of her designs was known to people as the work of God.

Even the royal crown worn by the queen of Stoslo during her wedding last year had intricately been designed by Zora.

Ryleigh thought hard but still could not make sense of it. "You came back for just $7.000,000? You are worth way more than that. Aren't you giving them too good a deal?"

When the jewelry company in Stoslo, Luxella, had wanted to hire her, they had offered a price of $90,000,000!

Maisie turned to look at her with a broad grin.

"Which is why I declined their offer and made a new one for $150,000,000 instead. If the Vanderbilts wanted to pay me $150,000,000, I couldn't possibly turn them down, could l?"

Now that Maisie came back, she was going to do whatever it took to get back her shares in Vaenna!

Ryleigh took a deep breath. Family out to get family. Brutal!

Boy, was she keen to see the look on Willow's face when the sh*t hit the fan.

As the car pulled up to the entrance of Vaenna Jewelry, Maisie turned around to face her three angels.

"Mommy needs to settle some matters. Godmother Ryleigh will take the three of you home first."

Her three angels nodded obediently.

After Maisie got out of the car, the children glanced at each other, then scrambled over to Ryleigh's side of the car.

"Godmother, tell us all you know about the Vanderbilts and Mommy!"

"Yes! You must tell us in secret. We promise not to let Mommy find out!"

Taken by surprise, Ryleigh's gaze darted across their faces. "Why do you want to

"Because we're Mommy's sweethearts, and we won't let anyone bully Mommy!"

They had followed their mother back to the country because they wanted to get revenge for her. Nobody got away with bullying their mother!

Ryleigh felt a trickle of cold sweat down her spine. Were they really just a couple of 5-year-olds!?

Maisie stepped into the lobby of Vaenna headquarters. Although Vaenna belonged to the Vanderbilts, it was her mother's blood, sweat, and tears. She couldn't believe that her father had actually left Vaenna in the hands of Willow, an outsider!

During her years abroad, Maisie had stayed up to date with news related to Vaenna. Using her new-found status of Miss Vanderbilt, Willow had gotten rid of several high-level executives who Maisie's mother highly valued. Thus, causing a decline in Vaenna's reputation in recent years.

Vaenna had paid $150,000,000 to hire a designer from another country. Knowing the Vanderbilts, they could not possibly afford such an exorbitant amount.

Maisie was curious to know who had helped pay this $150,000,000.

She made her way toward the receptionist. "Hi, I'd like to meet with Miss Vanderbilt."

The woman working the desk asked casually, "Do you have an appointment?"

"Not at the moment, no. But it was Miss Vanderbilt who contacted me." Maisie was annoyed by the treatment given by this lady.

It seemed that the personnel hired by Willow was truly unprofessional after all.

The receptionist gave her a passing glance. "If you don't have an appointment, then I'm afraid I can't help you. Our director is a very busy woman."

Maisie smiled politely. "Does everyone here at Vaenna have such an awful attitude like you?"

"Excuse me? What do you mean by that? Can't you see that I'm super busy right now? Besides, Miss Vanderbilt isn't just anybody who you can meet as you please!"

"Oh, my. I was wondering who was causing a scene. I'm surprised it was you, Maisie. Didn't think you'd be so bold as to show your face in this country again!"

The moment Willow walked out of the elevator, she happened to catch a glimpse of a familiar face. To her surprise, it was Maisie!

That shameless set had actually come back!

Maisie slowly turned around. As Willow finally took a proper look at Maisie, a sense of gloom washed over her. It had only been six years since they last met, yet this b*tch has completely transformed. She looked like a seductive succubus!

"Weren't you the one who invited me back to Zlokova?" Maisie chuckled softly.

Willow was taken aback yet seemingly arrogant as ever. "I invited you? It's only been six years, and you've become so brash." She walked toward Maisie with her arms crossed around her chest. "Haven't these past six years in exile taught you anything?"

Upon hearing the mention of what had happened six years ago, Maisie's eyes turned cold while she remained nonchalant on the surface.

"Congratulations on becoming the director of Vaenna Jewelry. However, the company seems to be

doing worse and worse under your care. Hopefully, the business won't close down one day."

"You!"

Willow lifted an open palm and slapped her in the face.

The loud smack left everyone in the hall astounded.

"What seems to be the matter?" A deep, cold voice came toward them.

The expression on Willow's face changed almost instantly. The arrogance and tyranny that was there vanished as she walked over to the man with an aggrieved look.

"Nolan, it was all her! I would've forgiven her for humiliating me, but she went too far when she cursed that my company would close down."

As Maisie turned around, she met the man's sharp gaze. She was dumbfounded by the sight of this man's face.

The man had pale white skin, exquisitely profound facial features, distinct amber eyes that seemed to hide a pool of unfathomable coldness, and tight, thin lips that could cut like a knife.

His face was so similar to both Colton and Waylon. Even his eyes were the exact same color!

Maisie had only found out she was having triplets when she went into labor in Stoslo. Neither her firstborn nor the second had inherited any of her features.

However, her youngest had some resemblance to her, but with ink-black hair-just like that of the man standing in front of her now.

Maisie's eyes filled with curiosity as she gazed at the man before her.

'Who is this man? What is his relationship with Willow?'

Nolan Goldmann focused his gaze on Maisie's face. He scrunched up his brows.

This woman...'

Catching Nolan as he studied Maisie's face, Willow silently gnashed her teeth.

'Sh*t, there's no way Nolan would recognize her, right?

No way was she going to let that happen!

She put her hands around Nolan's arm, and with a pitiful gaze, she said, "Nolan,

I'm sorry I shouldn't have acted so impulsively. But my father poured his heart into Vaenna Jewelry. I only did it because I felt protective of the company."

Nolan's eyes turned cold as ice. Ignoring Willow's explanation, he marched forward. "Vaenna Jewelry will go bankrupt, was it? What gives you the right to say that?"

Maisie scoffed. Her father had poured his heart into it? Please, all her father had done was bask in the shade of a tree planted by someone else. Willow really knew how to paint her own narrative.

Maisie lifted her head and looked right into Nolan Goldmann's eyes. "So what if I said it?"

Hearing those words, everyone in the room inhaled sharply.

How dare this woman talk back to Mr. Goldmann!?

Did she have a death wish?

Seeing Nolan's face turn gloom, Maisie crossed her arm and smiled. "How does that concern you? Are you sticking up for her just because you're her man?"

What a perfect douchebag couple!

A man who would fall for the likes of Willow could hardly be a decent fellow.

"Do you know what you're talking about?" Nolan imparted coldly.

Maisie lifted a brow and retorted sarcastically, "Of course, I do. This company had me poached but is now deliberately making things difficult for me. The service of this place is just fantastic."

Willow staggered. "What... What are you saying? When did Vaenna ever approach was this b*tch crazy?

"Miss Vanderbilt, I'm afraid your memory seems to be a bit foggy. Didn't you willingly offer $150,000,000, just last month, to have me poached from Luxella? If Vaenna Jewelry has no intention of respecting me, then we can forget about our collaboration."

Everyone was stupefied!

Maisie turned out to be the internationally-renowned jewelry designer, Zora!

Willow looked shell-shocked. "Impossible. How could you be Zora!?"

Right at that moment, Nolan's cold gaze swept past her. Willow was forced to hold back her words before she could finish speaking. Her face flushed with embarrassment.

Maisie directed her gaze toward Nolan. "I'm assuming you, sir, are the man who paid the $150,000,000 behind her back?"

Forking out that kind of money was not something her father, Stephen, could afford, and certainly, neither could Willow, which left this guy.

The truth was, Willow had indeed stowed away quite a large sum of money over these past few years.

Nolan looked at the woman before him. She gave him a strange sense of familiarity, but he just could not quite put his finger on it. It was as if they had met somewhere before...

Willow was afraid that Nolan would come to recognize Maisie. Hurriedly, she rushed to his side. "Nolan, she must be lying. There's no way she could be Zora!"

How was it possible that Maisie and Zora-a world-renowned designer-were one and the same? She had lived with Maisie for such a long time. How could she not know that her stepsister had a knack for designing jewelry?

Even the media of the fashion industry had never seen this mysterious designer in real life. Anyone could easily pretend they were the infamous Zora, right?

"You claim that you are Zora. Well, then show us the proof. As far as I know, the infamous Miss Zora had received a commemorative badge from the royal family of Stoslo. That's not something any plain jane can have!"

As Willow finished her sentence, smugness flashed across her eyes.

'That's right, she can bluff all she wants.'

If Maisie could not take out the badge, then it would prove that she was just an impersonator who, in addition, had offended Nolan Goldmann. She may as well forgot the thought of stepping foot in this country again!