"Jared," Maggie was dumbfounded to see Jared at this time of the day. Although it was not unexpected to see him in front of her room, she had not expected him to do so either. Her reaction made Jared chuckle and his heart turned giddy seeing the effect he had on her.
"May I come in?" His strangely calm face made Maggie worry about herself and she did not know how to react. Never had he behaved with her this way before. The man did as he wished without asking anybody their permission. His sudden change in behavior was unacceptable and Maggie was having an ominous feeling all of a sudden.
"Why are you being strange all of a sudden?" The words left Maggie's lips before she could even control herself and Jared's smile only widened at her confusion.
"Strange? How am I being strange?"
"It was never your style to ask permission. You did as you wished and if you wanted to enter my room, you would have done so by now."
"That was before, Maggie. Now, I cannot behave as I want with you especially after..." Jared stopped suddenly and Maggie frowned at his words. She had already had enough of his nonsense for the day. But she could not stop him either. Jared would not leave until he had achieved what he had in mind and seeing his determined face, Maggie was sure that Jared was here on a mission.
"Especially after what, Jared?" Maggie questioned back, folding her hands.
Jared looked around him and saw his men staring at him with a questionable gaze. On seeing him glare at them for gawking at him, they averted their eyes at once. But their ears were still trained at the two who suddenly became the center of attraction.
"Maggie, can we talk inside? This might take some time and I am sure you do not want an audience around you." Maggie wandered her eyes and saw the other men inching closer to her room, trying to catch on to what they were speaking. Although she did not want Jared in her room, she did not want many people's eyes on her either. Reluctantly, she moved away, allowing Jared to enter in, much to his happiness.
"What did you want to talk about Jared?" Maggie could not stop herself when more than five minutes had passed. Since the moment, he had entered the room, he had not spoken any word at all. Maggie was running short of time and it would be a matter of time since the dusk arrived, the time she had decided to escape from the hell hole forever.
"Maggie, what do you think about me?" Jared questioned suddenly stunning the girl who was losing patience slowly. "Be honest."
"Why are you asking me?"
"I want to know what you think about me. It is very important for me, especially if I want to proceed further with what I have in mind."
"Should I be honest?" Jared turned around to face her and nodded lightly.
"Annoying." Jared smiled at her reply and Maggie had the intense urge to roll her eyes at him. Her answer was supposed to make him angry, not make him smile. She wondered if there was something wrong with his brain for he behaving completely different than usual.
"And that is what I like about you. You are the only woman who has the courage to speak the truth."
"Are you done?" Maggie was done listening to his nonsense and she wanted him to leave as soon as possible. It was time when the guards changed shifts, a time convenient for her to escape unnoticed.
"Not at all. Maggie, I like you. I like you very much."
"But I don't Jared. I don't like you." Her answer did not annoy Jared. He had expected it long ago.
"Why?"
"What do you want me to say?" Maggie stared at him as though he had grown a hundred heads. 'That you disgust me. Just your presence is enough to make me nauseous. You are loathsome. If I say everything I have in mind, I will not be leaving this place forever.' She thought to herself.
"Tell me, Maggie. Is it because of my womanizing nature?"
"That is one of them," Maggie answered.
"I can understand. As I said before, I will stop my habits if you are willing to be with me."
"And if I don't will you continue?" Jared remained silent and Maggie got her answer, not that she wanted one in the first place.
"Look Maggie, that was all in the past. It was before I fell for you."
"And what about Rachel? If I am not wrong, you were pursuing her before right?" Maggie asked, taking a glance at the time on the clock behind Jared.
"Maggie, Rachel is a part of a plan I have for my mortal enemy. She is an interesting woman, there is no doubt about that. But she is not the one I like. Let me be honest here, I will not stop pestering her for she is the route for me to get to her brother. I am going to use her to defeat the man I hate the most."
Maggie's eyes widened for a split second after listening to him. 'Rachel's brother? Noah? What enmity does Jared have with Noah and why does he want to destroy him?' She pondered over it but she could not find any clue whatsoever.
"But that is all. She is not the one I like. Rachel is just a toy in my game." Although Jared was being honest with his words, to Maggie they were nothing but the most disgusting declaration ever. She was amazed at the man's brutality and shameless. He had the nerve to tell her he liked her when the entire city knew about his womanizing nature. Maggie also knew some things that nobody other than Jared and his assistant knew.
She had a list of all the girls Jared had slept with and also, apprehended what had happened to them once he was done having his way with them. The man before her was the worst of a kind she had come across and she wished to never have any sort of relationship with him.
"Look, Jared..." Maggie started only to stop when Jared held his palm at her.
"Maggie, let's talk about this matter some other time. I have come here to discuss something else."
Maggie was relieved at the change of topic. However, she was not willing to hear what else the man had to say to her. She was running short of time and if she did not leave before the night fell, there was no way she could leave that day.
"I want you to delete all the proofs the Intelligence has collected regarding my Dad," Jared stated the purpose of his visit and Maggie wanted to smack the man's face for his audacity.
"Why? Even if I delete them, there is no way we can save him. He has solid proofs against him." Maggie tried reasoning with him and Jared pursed his lips in deep thought.
"Maggie, none of the proofs have come out in public and nobody other than a few people in the Intelligence and the President knows about the matter and what the proof is. It will be easy for us the delete the proofs given your skills. At least I can reduce his punishment, even if I cannot avoid it completely."
His words stunned Maggie completely. 'How did he know that only a few people knew what the proofs held? If I am not wrong, nobody other than Ivy, Valerie, Ryder and Preston know about it. How did Jared know that nobody else has an idea about it?' She wondered and her heart thumped loudly on realization. 'No way. There is another spy in the Intelliegnce. What the heck!!' She cursed in her mind and tried to find who it could be. However, she could not suspect anyone.
"It will be easy to tackle the case if there are no proofs." Jared stated, his eyes gleaming in evilness.
'You have got to be kidding me. Why will I delete the proofs myself when it was I who tipped Ivy in the first place? No way.' Maggie thought to herself, her face not giving away anything that was running in her mind. 'You are just delusional.'
"I'll try, Jared." Even though Maggie had no intentions of following his orders, she had to put an act before him so as to not rise suspicions. "But I cannot guarantee that I can erase it completely."
"What do you mean?" Jared frowned and he blinked at her in confusion.
"It would be easier if they have just one copy of the proofs. I can hack into the Intelligence network and delete it. However, if somebody else has it, then that would become difficult."
"That's fine. Give it a try. We will see what we can do." Maggie smiled at him lightly. It did not matter to her if she followed Jared's orders or not for she could always send it to Valerie once again. She had the copy of the video with her.
"I'll see you at dinner." Jared smiled at her, his feelings for her evident in his eyes.
As soon as Jared left her room, Maggie closed the door and slumped against it. Only she knew how much energy she had used to stay sane in his presence. Jared was driving her crazy and angry. All she wanted to do was pull her gun out and shoot him in the eye. But there was a problem with that too. She did not have a gun with her in the first place.
Maggie's phone dinged suddenly startling her. She pulled out her phone and saw a message from Aria. 'Don't leave from there today. Wait for my message. I'll seek Noah's help. We cannot risk your safety this time. And don't you dare ignore my words, I will kill you myself if you put your life at risk once again. I am warning you.'