Maya was in a state of shock. The woman that she helped earlier, was Chan’s mother? And to think she would never have to meet the woman for the time she's married to her son.

It seemed like this secret would be out in no time.

“Are you a full-time employee here?” Mrs Bang asked gently.

“Uh-- No… No. I’m an intern.”

Maya glanced at Chan, who was watching them at the side, with an amused smile on his face. She mouthed for him to help her. Mrs Bang caught their interaction.

“Don’t worry, my son won’t chide you for talking to me for a bit, I promise,” she eyed her son. “Right, Chan?”

Chan nodded and went back to his desk, Minho came knocking on the door, presenting three mugs of tea. He set them on the table before politely excusing himself out of the room.

"Maya?"

The gentle voice brought Maya back from her thoughts. She nodded. Mrs Bang gave her a warm smile.

"So, who do you have in your family?"

"Mom!" Chan chuckled, "What are you doing?"

"I'm helping you find out more about your employee," she narrowed her eyes playfully. "And find a potential wife for you."

Maya had taken a sip of her tea but choked when she heard what Mrs Bang said.

"Oh mom, you have no idea." Chan snorted.

Maya cleared , choosing to answer Mrs Bang.

"I have an older brother and my parents.”

“Are you married?”

Maya let out a cough and side-eyed Chan. He stifled a chuckle before heading back to his mother and hugging her lightly.

“Mom,” he called, laughing. “You’re scaring her.”

“But--”

Mrs Bang saw the blue ring on her son’s middle finger. She wanted to ask him about it, when she noticed the same ring around Maya’s neck. Her gaze switched between the two youngsters.

“Why do you both have matching rings?”

“Mom--”

“Are you guys a thing?” Mrs Bang got up, pointing at the two of them in excitement. “Are you finally cheating on your model girlfriend?”

“What? Mom, what are you talking about?”

“The rings!” She pointed out. “I see on your finger, one around her neck.”

Maya tugged on the end of Chan’s jacket, the guy gave her a look and nodded as they shared a knowing look. He turned to his mother.

“Okay, mom. There’s something you should know.”

Chan pulled Maya from behind himself and righted her next to him. His mother watched him.

“So, remember how I wanted to propose to Bona in Vegas?” He started. “Well, I did get married.”

Maya stiffened up as she prepared herself for Mrs Bang to be mad at her. Chan reached for her hand, squeezing it lightly to reassure her.

“I ended up marrying Maya.”

Silence enveloped them as the married couple waited for a response from Mrs Bang. Her eyes scanned both of them and stopped at their joined hands, Maya pulled her hand away.

“Oh my god.”

Mrs Bang shot forward and pulled Maya into her arms.

“I’m so glad my son married you, I never liked Bona much.”

“MOM!” Chan was surprised.

He knew that his mother didn’t like his girlfriend, but he never expected her to be so happy he married someone other than Bona.

“You know I never liked her career. I’m not saying she’s a bad girl, Bona’s nice. It’s just that there could be a better girl for you.”

Chan’s expressions fell a little, Maya noticed his change in mood and broke the hug with Mrs Bang. She stepped away from the mother and son, excusing herself from them and wanting to escape back to her desk to get work done.

“Wait, where are you going?” Chan asked.

“I need to get back to work,” Maya bowed at the both of them. “Please excuse me.”

She scurried out quickly and shut the door behind her.

Maya collapsed onto her chair and took a deep breath. She didn’t expect to meet Bang Chan’s mother this quickly - as her daughter-in-law too!

She straightened her back, took another deep breath before reaching for her papers and starting on them. She decided to throw everything to the back of her head - this was not part of her job scope.

***

Nearing the end of the workday, employees started to pack up to leave for home. Maya was still typing away on her laptop, rushing the report that was delayed in the afternoon due to some miscommunication between colleagues.

“Hey,” she heard a whisper.

A smile tugged on her lips when she saw Lucas standing in front of her.

“Hey, you off work already?”

He nodded, “Wanna ask if you would like to join me and my fiancée for dinner, I would like you to meet her.”

Maya cooed, “Aww, thanks for being so thoughtful! I’m almost done, we can leave in 10?”

Lucas gave her a thumbs up and went back to his desk to grab his stuff. Maya grinned to herself and started packing her stuff. Her mobile pinged, indicating a text.

Bang Chan

Do you want to have dinner with me?

Maya looked up at the direction of Chan’s office and saw him buried in work. She typed a quick reply and got up to leave.

Chan glanced at his phone, the sound of an incoming message caught his attention.

Maya

Sorry, I have plans.

He frowned.

Was it because of what happened earlier?

Was she avoiding him?

Or was it because of Bona's unexpected visit?

He was formulating a reply, dying to ask her if everything was okay when he received a call from Bona. Sighing, he quickly swiped to answer.

“Hey baby, you wanna grab dinner with me?”

Chan felt like slapping himself. He got so focused on Maya that he was starting to forget the fact that he had a girlfriend. He needed to get his priorities right.

“Sure, we’ve not gone for dinner together in so long.”

“Sweet! I’ll meet you at the restaurant?”

“See you in a bit.”

“Love you!”

Chan was stunned at the last sentence, but Bona hung up before he could reply.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “Love you too.”

***

Bang Chan stayed in his office till after work hours. Bona was running a little late from the last schedule she had. Minho came by to hand him some documents before he left for home for the night.

“See you tomorrow, Boss.”

“Wait,” the Director called out. “Is Maya--”

“Miss Lee has already left the office, with Mr Wong from Advertising.”

“Lucas?”

Chan straightened his back, his brows met. Minho gave the man a curt nod before excusing himself out of the office. He took in a deep breath and got up from his cha