The Heir's Secret Bride

After taking Leon's measurements, Maeve recorded his personal preferences as reference for when she was brainstorming designs. As they were chatting, Paige knocked on the door and entered.

Paige reported, "Ms. Reese, Tom hasn't returned to the studio. No one picked up my call. What should we do?"

Maeve's heart skipped a beat. She wondered, 'Could he have attempted to commit suicide again?'

Tom currently stayed very close to the studio. Maeve reached his place after a five-minute walk.

Maeve did not hesitate. She took out the spare key and opened the door. She called out, "Tom? Are you home? Tom... Oh dear!"

When she saw Tom lying on the living room floor with his face down, Maeve's face turned pale. She took a few steps forward and flipped him over. She said, "Tom? Wake up!"

Just as she was about to call an ambulance, Tom grunted in discomfort and opened his eyes.

He said, "Maeve?"

Maeve heaved a sigh of relief. She asked, "Are you alright? How did you end up fainting at home?"

Right then, she saw the lower half of Tom's face that was not covered by his scarf.

She was taken aback.

The upper half of Tom's face was as handsome as that of an ancient Greek god. His facial features were well-defined. However, the lower half of his face was the complete opposite.

The side of his face was covered in dark brown burn scars that snaked all the way to his chin and neck. The burn scars looked like a ball of knotted thread. There were also densely packed blood scabs that had coagulated on his face. It was so terrifying that it made Maeve's skin crawl.

The scars ruined Tom's supposedly good-looking face. It was like a crack on high-quality porcelain.

Tom met Maeve's gaze and realized that she had seen his true appearance. His expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly pulled the scarf over his face.

His wrist was trembling slightly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to look." Maeve came back to h when she sensed that Tom was shaking.

senses and apologized to Tom. She blamed herself even more

Tom had always been covering his face with a scarf. Maeve thought he was afraid of the cold. She would never have guessed that Tom was using the scarf to hide the burn scars on his face.

Maeve reckoned Tom must have rolled in fire before to have resulted in such a large area of scarring. The mere sight of it was painful.

When Tom saw how guilty Maeve looked, he said calmly, "You don't have to apologize. I'm sorry I scared you."

Even Tom felt disgusted by his appearance. He was not surprised that other people were as well.

3

Maeve quickly shook her head. She said, "No, I don't think the scars on your face are scary. To be honest, I was once poisoned and disfigured. I didn't want to see anyone for a long time. Even when I looked in the mirror, I felt that I was ugly and despised myself." She laughed self-deprecatingly and continued, "But later on, I felt dissatisfied. Why should I admit defeat to a mere scar? Look at me now. I've already overcome my self-induced anxiety over my appearance."

As she spoke, Maeve stood up and extended her hand to Tom. She said, "I believe you can do the same sooner or lat Moreover, the wound on your face can still be treated."

Tom looked at Maeve's serious and gentle face. His heart skipped a beat as he took her hand.

He had long given up hope of being cured.

However, now, he felt ashamed to give up on himself after seeing how resilient Maeve was. Tom felt slightly motivated.

He asked, "Can you please take me to the hospital? My stomach seems to be hurting a little."

Maeve hurriedly said, "Why didn't you say so earlier? Let's go now."

She thought Tom was fine since he looked nonchalant.

It turned out that he had fainted from stomach pain. That was no small matter.

When they arrived at the hospital, Tom went through various checkups. Finally, the doctor confirmed that Tom had chronic gastroenteritis, and it was caused by his irregular eating habits for an extended period of time.

While Tom was in the gastroenterology department, Maeve secretly went to the dermatology department and asked the doctor to prescribe some medicine for serious burns.

Perhaps to Tom, she might be overstepping boundaries. However, he was now her subordinate, so she felt the need to look out for him.

Besides, Tom had helped Theo a lot.

When Maeve went to the dermatology department, Tom came out of the consultation room with the doctor's prescription and bumped into Hudson and Clarissa Nolan.

Tom lowered his gaze and walked forward without looking at them.

"Prince Hosea!" Hudson exclaimed and grabbed Tom's arm. Hudson sounded overjoyed even though he suppressed his voice. He said, "Is it really you? Why are you here? Her Majesty has been looking everywhere for you. Your sister is also very worried about you." "You are mistaken." Tom's voice was hoarse as he retracted his hand calmly. "Please move aside."

"It can't be! I know you well." Hudson was very excited. "We came to Setigal to look for you. Our hard work has paid off."

Clarissa chimed in and said, "Your Highness, Her Majesty is busy and worried sick about you. You should not act so willfully." Tom stood in his spot indifferently, but it was clear that he was tired of this.Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

Maeve returned to this floor with the burn medicine. Seeing the group, she walked over to Tom's side and asked, "Do you know each other?"

Tom looked at her. He answered, "I don't know them. They've been pestering me. It's very annoying."

07:52 Wed, Nov 6 W.

Hudson and Clarissa Nolan were shocked. They thought, 'Does His Highness find us annoying?'

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Maeve vaguely remembered that these two people were Leon's family members. If she recalled correctly, they were the Duke and Duchess of Erancia.

They were probably not acquainted with Tom, her poor bodyguard who used to live under the overpass near her house.

Maeve said, "Then, let's go." She took the prescription from Tom and walked toward the elevator.

Tom followed her silently.

Anxious, Hudson wanted to grab Tom's arm. However, Clarissa stopped him.

Clarissa said, "Can't you see that there's something wrong with His Highness? It's as if he doesn't know us."

Hudson looked at Tom in shock. He mumbled, "This is strange. Did His Highness lose his memory?"

Clarissa's expression was solemn. She said, "It seems about right. Otherwise, he would have recognized us. This is troublesome. We have to inform Her Majesty as soon as possible and let her decide the next course of action." The queen's beloved son had lost his memory and was stranded in a foreign country. If other forces discovered this, they might take advantage of it and stir up trouble.

After entering the elevator, Maeve recalled Hudson's anxious expression. She was a little doubtful.

She probed, "Tom, they seem to really be your acquaintances. They might know who you were in the past. Why don't you talk to them? You might be able to remember some things from your past."

She thought that Tom would agree, but he unexpectedly rejected her suggestion.

"That won't be necessary. It doesn't matter to me whether or not I can remember my past. I'm good with how things are now," Tom said calmly. "Besides, looking at the bigger picture, it's better if I am not around." Maeve did not understand what he meant by the bigger picture. Tom appeared even more mysterious to her now.

She thought to herself, 'Is he really just a bodyguard?'

Maeve dismissed the idea as soon as it surfaced in her mind.

No matter who Tom used to be, now, he was just a bodyguard she hired.