Maya's POV
"Mmm… Good morning, Maya! And I must say—you look like someone who had a very wonderful morning," came Donya Esmeralda's voice behind me, rich with teasing amusement.
I turned around quickly, startled, only to find her standing gracefully beneath the soft light of the early sun. Her wide-brim straw hat cast elegant shadows across her exquisite features, and her eyes sparkled as if she knew something I didn't.
"Good morning, Donya Esmeralda!" I replied with a sheepish smile, trying to mask the heat blooming in my cheeks.
She eyed me with playful curiosity. "Well, well. It seems the Monleon heir fancies you, Maya."
I felt my face flush deeper. "No, Donya Esmeralda, you got it wrong. He's just… being nice. Rich asked him to befriend me, that's all."
But even as I said it, my heart betrayed me. I wished it weren't true—that maybe, just maybe, Adonis wanted to know me because he wanted to. Not because someone nudged him to.
