When Zaden heard that, he gave a mocking smile. "The past is already over. I don't blame her. I just hope she can let it go." Back then, when Maya betrayed him and left the country to marry someone else, he couldn't move on for a long time. But after meeting Athena, everything changed. All those old wounds didn't seem to matter anymore. He had finally learned to let go. Preston frowned slightly and said to him, "What if I told you Maya didn't actually get married when she went abroad?" Zaden's face darkened instantly. His sharp gaze shot toward Preston. "I have no reason to lie to you and I despise doing so. It's because I've always felt guilty that I've been holding on, even after you've rejected me so many times." Athena listened quietly and suddenly felt lost. It seemed there was more to the story of Maya betraying Zaden back then. Her brain went blank. She couldn't even process what the two men said next. Panic rose in her chest, leaving her lost and confused. After a moment of silence, Zaden's lips curled into a sarcastic smirk. He looked at Preston and said, "Never expected that you would resort to these kinds of tricks for your own sister. It's truly despicable!" Preston wasn't angry. He remained calm. "Maya was forced to do that back then. Otherwise, when you two were so in love, why would she just disappear without a word? Haven't you ever thought about that carefully? Or is it that you just never bothered to check?" He paused, then said meaningfully, "And that daughter who suddenly appeared beside you ... Did you never wonder who her mother was?"Zaden frowned deeply, his expression turning grim. Ever since Maya betrayed him, he hadn't even bothered to look into her affairs. If anything, he wished he could erase her from his thoughts completely. As for Teri's mother, he really couldn't find any information. What did Preston mean by this? Was he trying to say that Teri was actually Maya's child? Zaden's brows drew tighter. A flash of cold light crossed his eyes before he smirked again. "Mr. Preston, if you're trying to mess with me, you're wasting your time. I know what kind of relationship I had with Maya. We were never that close. We never even slept together." Preston froze for a moment. Then he gave a small laugh. He smiled again and said faintly, "Are you sure about that? Before you had that child, are you certain that woman wasn't Maya? "She secretly came back for a while after leaving Vlephia, and she once went to sneak a look at you." Zaden went silent. He had been drugged that night. Even now, he didn't know who the woman was. He had assumed it was someone trying to use him for money. But later, that woman never showed up again. She only left the child behind. So, Teri's mother had become a complete mystery, with no information at all. If Preston was saying this, was it possible that the woman was Maya? Zaden quickly stopped dwelling on it. No matter what happened back then, he wasn't going to turn back. His relationship with Maya was a thing of the past. Now, his wife was Athena, and it would always be her. He would never let her know this secret. Athena stood frozen, her entire body stiff. Her thoughts were a tangled mess.She felt like she needed to calm down. Athena didn't think twice. She just quietly turned and walked away. Zaden and Preston were still talking. Neither of them noticed that Athena had been there, nor did they know their conversation had been overheard. When Athena got back to her office, Jaylee happened to walk in carrying a tray of tea. Seeing Athena's distracted look, she couldn't help but ask with concern, "Dr. Hall, what's wrong? Haven't all the patients been discharged? Your surgery was so successful. Why do you still look so worried?" It took Athena a while to pull herself together. She looked at Jaylee's worried face and tried to smile, but the words caught in her throat. There were some things she couldn't tell anyone. She just gave a faint smile, then said, "My surgery was supposed to be published in the medical journal, but now it's been reported and taken down." Jaylee gasped. "What? That's awful! Who would be so shameless to report you? That's ridiculous!" Athena just brushed it off, not explaining further. She didn't want to talk about it. Right now, she simply didn't have the strength to.