The Queen's Back

Teddy didn't even look at the message when it came in. He was too busy fooling around in bed with Barbara. He had to admit, he was really into her body and that soft, delicate voice-it just made him want to push her around even more. 41%

After some intense action, Teddy lay back, holding Barbara close and playing with her hair. He thought to himself that Barbara was indeed good company. If it were up to him, he'd consider sticking with her long-term.

But he couldn't shake the memory of Mona's tempting look at the café. It stirred up a craving in him. Mona had always been so conservative. Even after dating for years, all they ever did was hold hands; she wouldn't let him kiss her, insisting she'd save everything for their wedding night.

Back then, he thought it was beneath him to push her and was fine with waiting. But now, seeing how irresistible she looked and considering they'd been together for four years, he figured she should be his at least once.

"What are you thinking about, Teddy?" Barbara's fingers traced his lips teasingly. Honestly, if Maxwell weren't in the picture, Teddy would have been her top choice for a husband. But with Mona landing someone like Maxwell, Barbara felt Teddy just didn't measure up. In this life, all Barbara wanted was to outshine Mona. If Mona liked something, Barbara wanted it too. She'd taken Teddy just because Mona liked him, and now that Mona was engaged to Maxwell, she wanted him too.

"Nothing much, just wondering what wild thing Mona might be up to now," Teddy replied, "If we don't get her in check, we'll never get her shares of Clem Group." He thought, 'If I could take over Clem Group and merge it with Powers Group, what would I have to worry about from the Carter Group?

"Exactly, Teddy. You should really work on winning her over. I'm just hoping to get some of the leftovers from your feast," Barbara said playfully, nudging him on. She had set up today's café meeting to give Teddy a chance to patch things up with Mona. But to her surprise, Mona wasn't playing along at all, bluntly kicking Teddy out.

"Yeah, if I manage to get a full meal, I'll save some soup for you," Teddy grinned, giving Barbara a kiss on the cheek.

A few hours later, Teddy finally saw Quinn's message. When he saw that Mona had bought a suit for Maxwell, he was furious. She used to pick out all his clothes, including the suit he was wearing today. The thought of her doing that for another man drove him crazy. That suit should've been his.

"Damn it! What's Mona thinking? If she wants me to notice her, she should just talk to me. But no, she's gone and gotten engaged to Maxwell and is buying him clothes. Where does that leave me?" In a fit of anger, he kicked the table, feeling both helpless and enraged. Barbara quickly got out of bed and tried to calm him down. "Teddy, how about we turn this around? Let's tell Maxwell that Mona originally bought the suit for you, but when you got upset and refused it, she gave it to him.

"They don't have a strong relationship anyway. If you plant some doubt in Maxwell's mind, he might even eall off the engagement. After all, what man can stand to see his fiancée still hung up on someone else?" Teddy's mood lifted immediately. "Barbara, you're a genius! I'm posting something right now."

Maxwell was in a good mood all day. Mona had agreed to get the marriage license without hesitation, and he even let his secretary off the hook for a mistake.

Teddy posted a cryptic message on social media, visible only to Maxwell: [So you're marrying someone else to get back at me? Regretting it already?] The post included a photo of the silver-gray suit Mona had bought.

Maxwell wasn't one to check his social feed often, but today he was feeling unusually cheerful and decided to scroll through it. He saw Teddy's post and immediately took a screenshot, ready to confront Mona. Were they not supposed to be getting

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married? Why was she buying suits for another man?

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He even opened up Mona's chat, preparing to ask her about it, but then chickened out. What if she replied, (Yes, I do regret it]? That would crush him. Better to act like he didn't know, he decided.

Meanwhile, Mona had no clue about the drama. She was busy admiring the suit in her closet. Among her colorful dresses, the silver-gray suit stood out, giving her a sense of satisfaction.

She thought it might be too eager to hand it to Maxwell directly she needed a good excuse. But after brainstorming all night, she couldn't come up with one. By the next morning, she woke up with dark circles under her eyes.

To her surprise, Maxwell had sent her a message-something he rarely did. It read, [Mona, I'll pick you up at 8 a.m. Let's go get the marriage license.] Then she noticed it was sent at 3 a.m. Did he stay up all night?' she wondered. Her heart raced. Maxwell was more eager than she'd expected. She quickly replied. [OK, see you then.]

Then she rushed to get ready-moisturizer, serum, eye cream, primer, foundation... she used everything she had. Finally, she put on a white blouse with a short skirt and let her slightly curled hair fall naturally over her shoulders.

Pleased with her bright-eyed, red-lipped, long-legged reflection in the mirror, Mona marveled at how being two years younger worked wonders-no sign of those dark circles at all.

When she got downstairs, Maxwell was already chatting with her grandparents. Whatever he had said had them both grinning from ear to ear. Mona had always thought Maxwell wasn't much of a talker, but clearly, she'd underestimated him.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

After greeting everyone, she sat down next to Jane, who handed her the birth certificate with a smile. "You're going to get the marriage license, right? Don't waste time-get it done and come back quickly."

Mona blinked in confusion. She had planned to sweet-talk her way into getting permission, but it seemed Maxwell had already taken care of that. Before she could react, Maxwell took her hand and led her outside. He only dared to hold her hand in front of their families. "How did you get my grandparents to agree so easily?" Mona asked, her fingers tugging at Maxwell's sleeve.

Maxwell's voice turned cold as he shot back, "Why, did you not want them to agree?" But as soon as he asked, he regretted it. What if she said "yes"? That was the last thing he wanted to hear.

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