Villain’s Favorite 209

Chapter 209 Presents 

Finister 

George drifted over and tilted his head to get a proper look, letting out a low, drawn-out sound of genuine surprise. 

He spent most of his time running around causing chaos in the outside world, but his eye for valuable things had always been sharp. 

“You had a crown made out of taaffeite? Do you have any idea how much that costs? And you actually had someone cut a collector-grade stone like that?” He stared at Toby with undisguised incredulity. “You ridiculous, obscenely wealthy person.” 

Toby didn’t look at him. His attention stayed on the little crown. “Do you like it?” 

The crown was delicate and compact, its base color so faint it hovered somewhere between ivory and champagne. The edges were built up in layered tiers that curved and folded inward like the petals of a rose halfway through blooming. 

The gemstones nestled at the center of those petals caught the light in the palest shade of pink, shifting toward a soft lavender depending on the angle. Every edge was gently rounded, the whole piece shaped like a single half-bloomed rose resting in someone’s hair. 

No girl in the world would say no to a gift like that. 

Not one. 

Maya had gone completely still just looking at it. 

“I love it, it’s beautiful!” Her voice jumped up a full register. She lifted the crown and her eyes went bright. “Put it on for me.” 

Toby was visibly pleased with that reaction. 

He took the crown from her and settled it carefully onto her head, adjusting it until it sat exactly right, and then stepped back to look. 

It was genuinely lovely. 

Crowns were made for moments like this, on a small face, the effect was striking. 

She had naturally wavy hair with a faint warm-brown tint, fair skin, and features that leaned unmistakably sweet. With the crown in place, the whole picture looked like something rendered in oils, delicate and richly detailed. 

Toby had no further objections to the crown whatsoever. He pulled out his phone, took a photo without deliberating, and posted it. 

Adorable. 

George stared at his selfish, sharp-tongued little brother, who was currently standing there looking for all the world like a man completely and helplessly devoted to spoiling his little sister. 

Terrifying. 

1/4 

Chapter 209 Presents 

He was never going to let that happen to him. 

Finished 

Of all the gifts on the table, Toby’s was unquestionably the most expensive. But their mother’s came in a surprisingly close second. 

Wendy had retrieved something from her earlier years. 

“I don’t remember exactly which royal family it was. She hired me for a job, and we got along wonderfully. This set was her parting gift to me. 

“You’re still young, so you can wait until you’re grown to wear it. You’re going to look stunning.” 

The earrings and necklace were a deep, rich forest green. Royal pieces always had that layered, intricate quality that somehow never felt heavy. The entire set was gold filigree wrapped around glowing dark emerald, ornate without being oppressive, and genuinely beautiful. 

Wendy rarely wore jewelry herself. 

She held the set up against Maya and felt profoundly satisfied by what she saw. 

She could already picture exactly what Maya would look like in it someday. 

Her father’s gift had come earlier: a handgun, still locked in her dresser drawer and untouched. 

Of everyone’s contributions, though, George’s gift was by far the most entertaining. 

He accumulated things the way a raccoon accumulates shiny objects, always ranging far and wide and coming back with the most eclectic haul imaginable. 

Some of it was objectively valuable, things pulled from museum collections or private dealers, the kind of provenance that didn’t bear too close an examination. 

Some of it was completely impractical: a multipurpose army knife, hand-carved wooden figures from some far-flung country with a design sensibility unlike anything she’d seen, rocks of unusual shapes, shells in colors that had no business existing. 

In short, he’d dumped everything he had in her direction. 

Opening it was exactly like a mystery grab bag. You genuinely never knew what was coming next. 

It was actually kind of wonderful. 

“You gave her a pile of junk,” Alfred said. 

“It’s not junk,” George corrected. 

Chaotic as it all was, Maya found herself delighted by every single piece. She gathered it all up with real care and tucked it away safely. “Thank you. This is really fun.” 

George went still. 

His amber eyes swung back to her and held there, a little lost. 

2/4 

10:12 Tue, May 12 

Chapter 209 Presents 

Wait. 

She hadn’t yelled at him? 

His brothers always gave him grief when he brought home things like this. 

“I really love it.” 

“Thank you, brother.” 

George pressed his lips together briefly. His amber eyes made one small, involuntary circuit. 

Then he was gone, disappeared around the corner at a pace that suggested he had somewhere very important to be. 

He’d bundled up everything he had and thrown it at her with zero strategy and fully expected to get something thrown back at his head. 

But nothing came. No insults, no projectiles. 

He was, quietly, a little happy about that. 

“Since when does George get flustered that easily?” 

Maya watched the retreating figure with a blink. 

Finished 

Toby glanced once in the direction George had vanished, then let one corner of his mouth twitch upward. “A sentimental wild boar. That’s revolting.” 

“Say something nice,” Maya told him. “He is your brother.” 

Then it was Alfred’s turn. 

Maya unwrapped the small box, found a tiny velvet drawstring pouch inside, tugged the cord open, and tipped the contents into her palm. 

A miniature cloth doll, barely half the length of her hand, crafted with the precision of something meant to be displayed rather than played with. 

Maya reached out and gently pressed the doll’s body between her fingers. 

There was something inside. 

Not the soft, yielding give of cotton stuffing. Something firm was nestled in there, wrapped and hidden. impossible to identify by touch alone. 

On the back of the doll, a small pin had been sewn in, the kind that could be attached to a waistband as a decorative piece. 

Maya cradled the little doll in both hands, and something warm and tender moved through her chest. “I’ll keep it with me,” she said. 

Tue, May 12 

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