Chapter 782: Outsmarting Maya
Chapter 782: Outsmarting Maya
I put on a look of mild surprise, as if the idea she had just raised had caught me off guard, and then spoke in a careful, measured tone.
"No, Aunt Maya... It’s not like that. But I think even before Rachel and I confirmed our relationship, she already had some suspicions about you. She said it felt like you were trying to seduce me."
Maya’s eyes widened. For a moment she looked genuinely stunned, the earlier anger and conflict briefly replaced by disbelief.
"What...? That’s... no. When did I ever try to seduce you? You’re lying."
I shook my head slowly, keeping my voice calm.
"I’m not lying. Think about it. When you clung to me and insisted I carry you on my back... and before that, when your dress slipped and revealed your..." I paused deliberately, then pointed toward her chest, "...when it revealed your nipple."
Maya’s face flared a deep red. Instinctively, she raised both hands and covered her breasts, as if the mention alone had left her exposed again. Her voice came out flustered and defensive.
"I didn’t...! That was an accident... You...!"
I nodded once, still holding her gaze.
"I know. I know it was an accident. But... Rachel already had doubts. She asked me directly whether there was something between us."
Maya’s hands slowly lowered a little, though her expression remained tense.
"So what did you say?"
I let out a short, helpless breath.
"What could I say...? After last night, I thought you hated me. I thought you might not even want to see my face again. So I told her there wasn’t anything. I told her that maybe you were just confusing gratitude with attraction because I helped save your life..."
Maya’s eyes searched my face. After a moment, her voice turned sharper, cutting straight to the point.
"So what does any of that have to do with your decision right now? Just tell me clearly. Do you want to be with me... or with Rachel?"
The directness of the question made me stammer.
"I... I... I love you. I really do..."
Tears welled up in Maya’s eyes. Through my Mind Reading ability, her internal voice came through bitter and resigned.
[He’s really a scumbag... I...]
Before that thought could settle, I forced myself to continue, my face heating with a mix of embarrassment and resolve.
"But... Aunt Maya, I’m not a scumbag. I won’t abandon Rachel. She’s my woman... and..." I felt my ears burn as the next words left my mouth, "...she’s my first woman..."
Maya’s expression twisted with hurt.
"So you want to abandon me? After teasing me... after seeing me like that... after making me confess... you’re just going to throw me away?"
I stammered again, the weight of both women’s feelings pressing down on me at once.
"I... I don’t know what to do... Isn’t it partly your fault too? If you had said something earlier... if you had told me how you felt before things went this far with Rachel..."
Maya’s eyes flashed. She glared at me, the tears still clinging to her lashes.
"So now it’s my fault...?"
Her voice was quiet, but the accusation in it was sharp enough to sting. She stood there in front of me, waiting for an answer that wouldn’t sound like another excuse, while the silence of the forest pressed in around us.
I looked at Maya and asked quietly, the weight of the situation settling between us.
"So what do you want me to do...? You tell me."
Through my Mind Reading ability, her internal voice came through softer this time, touched with reluctant relief.
[No... he... isn’t abandoning Rachel. He’s not a scumbag...]
Even so, the words she spoke out loud remained resigned. She shook her head, wiping at the tears that still clung to her lashes.
"What... what do you want me to tell you? Just forget about me. From now on... live a good life with Rachel."
With that, she turned away, shoulders slightly hunched as she tried to put distance between us again.
I stepped after her, refusing to let the conversation end there.
"No. Then what about you?"
Maya kept walking, but I continued, my voice firmer.
"I’ll talk to Rachel about us. I’ll tell her the truth... and let her judge for herself."
Maya spun back around so quickly it almost startled me. Panic flashed across her face like a sudden spark. Her eyes went wide, and her voice jumped an octave.
"Tell her about us?! About what?! Are you insane?!"
She took a half-step toward me, then another back, hands rising as if she could physically push the idea away. The words tumbled out of her in a rapid, frightened rush.
"No—no, you can’t tell her! How am I supposed to face Rachel after that?! She already looks at me with those quiet, thoughtful eyes... If she finds out that I... that we... she’ll hate me! She’ll think I tried to steal you from her while she was injured and vulnerable!"
Her breathing had turned shallow. She pressed a hand against her own chest as if trying to calm her racing heart, but the panic only kept spilling out.
"And your mother—! Have you even thought about Victoria?! I’m older than you, Dexter. Significantly older. I’m supposed to be someone she can trust, someone closer to her generation, not... not the woman her son is involved with! If you tell her the truth she’ll look at me like I’m some kind of predator... or a shameless homewrecker. I won’t be able to stand in front of her again. I won’t be able to stand in front of either of them!"
Maya’s voice cracked under the weight of the scenarios she was already imagining. She shook her head hard, tears gathering again at the corners of her eyes.
"Please... don’t tell them. Don’t drag this into the open. I can stay quiet. I can step back. I’ll endure it. Just don’t force me to face Rachel and your mother with all of this laid bare. I don’t know how to do that... I really don’t..."
She stood there trembling slightly, caught between the faint hope she had felt earlier and the overwhelming fear of what full honesty would cost her in the eyes of the two women waiting back at the camp.
I held her gaze and asked simply,
"How do you know she won’t agree...?"
Before she could answer, I stepped closer, my voice turning quieter but more earnest.
"Aunt Maya... I really won’t be able to live with myself knowing that I hurt you in any way, not after everything you’ve done for us all these years. I just want to protect you... Pamper you... Spend our lives together. And if I tell Mom the truth... I think she might even be eager for us to confirm our relationship."
I closed the remaining distance and pulled her into a firm hug, holding her tightly against my chest.
"I know I’m being selfish... and even a scumbag for wanting both of you. But I don’t want to lose you. I almost lost you in that plane crash... I can’t go through that kind of fear again."
Maya’s body stiffened for a second in my arms, then gradually softened. Fresh emotion welled up in her eyes. The fear and hesitation were still there, but they were now tangled with something warmer and more fragile as she stood quietly in my embrace, listening to the steady beat of my heart and the sincerity in my words.
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