Maya grabbed the sides of her dress, feeling the fabric entangle between her fingers. She needed something to distract her from his gaze. Even behind Bess, she could still feel the Alpha’s glare.

Their encounter the night before had been interrupted, and she was still worried about the reason he had forcefully grabbed her shoulders. Maya doubted that was over. She winced slightly, still feeling the pain.

She would hate to trigger that once again, so she briskly walked to the table and took her seat by the very edge, keeping her gaze low.

After she was done with cooking, Agnes chased her off, not wanting her to spend another moment in the kitchen with her. The cook had neither approved nor disapproved of her cooking, but Maya didn’t miss that she was less snide.

She was grateful that Agnes told her to leave, as that gave her time to clean up before Bess came banging on her door, yelling that she was to join them for breakfast.

Maya found this a little unexpected. She was certain Keenan wanted her to spend as little time as possible in his presence.

The air was tense as she appeared, and while Keenan didn’t take his eyes off her, Winnie only offered her a glance and Theo didn’t look at her at all.

Alaina was the only one who had a pleased look on her face as she appeared. Bess looked slightly worried as she stood in the corner.

"The next time I have to send for you during breakfast or dinner, you’ll have no one but yourself to blame!" Keenan said as soon as she was seated.

Maya’s back straightened immediately, and she slowly nodded. She hadn’t expected him to call for her, especially after what happened last night. And he wanted her to always be there for breakfast and dinner.

Their marriage certificate had been stolen and he suspected she had something to do with it. She knew it hadn’t been swept under the rug, yet he wasn’t saying anything about it, and activities seemed to be back to normal.

She slowly turned her head to peek at him, and Maya regretted her decision. Maya felt queasy; discomfort crawled all over her body.

None of their behaviors made sense—especially Alaina, who had forced her to cook. Maya lifted her gaze to Alaina smiling deviously. When she saw Maya was looking at her, she leaned toward Keenan with a sultry smile on her face.

"Alpha Keenan," she grinned. "Won’t you try the chicken soup?"

Maya felt cold sweat break out on her back. She had a feeling she would be punished if something went wrong. Who was to say Alaina wouldn’t tamper with the dish and blame it on her?

Maya swallowed as she subtly watched the interaction. The chicken soup was scooped into a bowl next to the Alpha’s plate. Maya adjusted in her seat, heart in her throat.

It would have been no different from the rest of the dishes, but Alaina had drawn his attention to it specifically. It was hard to swallow as dread tightened her throat.

Alaina sneered in Maya’s direction just as Keenan took a spoonful to his lips. She was almost convinced there was something wrong with the soup.

"Hmm," Keenan said with a slightly raised brow. "Did Agnes try something new?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Agnes?" Alaina turned her head back to Keenan. She no longer had a smile on her face. A confused expression covered her features.

Keenan looked thoughtful as he scooped the broth, easily taking another taste. "Yes, Agnes," he replied mid-way. "It’s different."

Alaina blinked and tried the soup herself. Her eyes nearly bulged out of her skull. She glanced at Maya, anger blazing in her eyes, then at Bess, who slowly shook her head but couldn’t meet her mistress’s eyes.

Alaina nearly crushed the spoon. It was a compliment. Keenan didn’t speak about what he ate; he had no reaction to food whether it was tasty or not, but he had mentioned something about this one.

Alaina’s expression quickly changed, and a devious smile appeared across her face. "It is," Alaina replied sweetly. "I am glad you noticed. I made it."

Maya felt all the blood drain from her face. She would have reacted if she were in any position to react. Is this what she was planning? It seemed a little off.

Winnie and Theo’s reactions were instantaneous. They both turned their heads in Alaina’s direction hard enough for it to snap. They exchanged glances before returning to their meals. They both tried the chicken soup, and a look of surprise appeared on both their faces.

"You really made this?" Theo asked with glee on his face.

"Yes," Alaina said brightly but kept her gaze on Keenan.

Keenan, on the other hand, didn’t react to Alaina’s comment about making the soup; rather, he just kept eating without saying a single word.

"It’s really delicious," Theo added. "I didn’t know you could cook."

"It’s chicken soup, Theo." Alaina finally looked at him, clearly irritated. "Don’t act like it’s hard."

Theo shrank and forced out a polite smile. "I am just surprised, is all. It’s really good."

Alaina smiled at him, and he immediately looked relieved. Winnie watched her sister suspiciously, but she didn’t make any comment on the soup.

Alaina didn’t seem to like that. "What do you think about the chicken soup, Winnie?"

Winnie slowly blinked. "It’s good," she simply said and didn’t add more. But her reply seemed to be enough for Alaina, who turned to look at Maya with a self-satisfied grin.

Maya wasn’t surprised that Alaina was pretending she had cooked the soup, and in a way, she was relieved. She had been worried that Alaina had tampered with the soup. Since she cooked it, it would be easy to blame her.

Another thing she was worried about was that Keenan wouldn’t have been pleased if he heard she made the soup. He would toss it all away. It was better this way, she thought but she still couldn’t figure out what Alaina’s goal was.

I doubt she made me do all that cooking to say that.

The soup was as delicious as everyone claimed and Maya felt a little joy at that. She was a little worried that it might not turn out as good as she had envisioned. She did spend a lot of time in the kitchen but didn’t do most of the cooking herself.

The soup also reminded her of her sister. Maelle liked chicken. It brought memories of them eating together with Father. Maya shoved the memory back. She didn’t want to draw Keenan’s attention by not eating so she forced herself to concentrate on her meal.

"Alpha Keenan," Alaina said sweetly when he was halfway through the chicken soup. "Would you really not accompany us to the orphanage or at least the beach? It has been so long since we have been there together."

Maya’s ears perked. This was the second time she had heard about the orphanage. According to what she remembered, Keenan had just been there the day before.

Was it really still functioning? She wanted to know. Was the matron still there? If Maya recalled correctly, she was the only one outside of her new family who knew she was Penelope.