Chapter 648: Missed Opportunity

Maria sat frozen where she was, completely overwhelmed by Diana’s sudden outburst.

The calm, elegant healer she had known for decades seemed to have vanished in an instant—replaced by someone fierce, emotional, and almost frighteningly intense.

Her lips parted as she stared.

"D-Diana..." She stammered in alarm. "What are you doing? How can you say something like that?"

She lifted her hands nervously, as if trying to calm her down.

"You’re a noblewoman, for the Goddess’s sake. You can’t go around cursing and saying such crude words. That’s...That’s not like you at all "

Her voice trembled with genuine concern.

But Diana didn’t calm down.

Not even slightly.

"I don’t care anymore."

Diana snapped immediately.

"I’m going to curse as much as I want."

Her eyes burned with frustration.

"How else am I supposed to show you how utterly frustrated and angry I am right now after what you just told me?"

She gave a short, dangerous chuckle.

That chuckle sent a shiver down Maria’s spine.

"After all." Diana continued, throwing her hands up in an exaggerated gesture. "You just made the dumbest decision a person could possibly make! You rejected Cassius! Of all people..."

"...you rejected CASSIUS!"

Maria tried to interject. "I don’t think it’s that dum—"

"Dumb?" Diana cut her off, her voice rising. "Dumb? My dear, that’s an understatement!"

She began pacing again, her words tumbling out in a passionate rush as she said,

"Accepting Cassius is basically a straight path to heaven!"

"The moment you marry him and agree to be with him, it’s like being sent straight into paradise!"

"You’ll be surrounded with safety and happiness!"

"You’ll feel like you’re at the very top of the world with how much he loves you!"

Her voice softened slightly, but it was still intense.

"The way he cherishes you, the way he respects you..."

"Just being with him gives you a sensation no other man can possibly bring!"

"And let’s not even mention his reputation..."

Diana continued, her voice taking on a knowing tone.

"...His reputation as an amazing lover!"

"The women of the Holyfield Estate are all vying after him. They do everything they can to try to get his attention, so that they can have a chance of marrying him."

Maria’s jaw dropped.

"What? No, that can’t be right. You’re joking."

Diana looked at her with a deadpan expression.

"I’m not joking, Maria. I’m absolutely not."

She gestured toward the door.

"You can go downstairs right now. Just bring up Cassius’s name. And you’ll see—instantly, an entire gossip circle will form."

"Girls will start squealing. They’ll talk about how amazing he is, how handsome he is, how funny he is, how they want to be his woman."

She shook her head.

"They put on makeup and try their best to get his attention every single day. I’ve literally heard them talk about plans and schemes they’ve come up with to make him fall for them."

Maria stared, utterly speechless.

"There was even this one case..." Diana continued, her voice dropping to a dramatic whisper. "...where a girl heard that Cassius was in the hospital. So you know what she did?"

Maria shook her head slowly.

"She intentionally injured herself. Just so she could seek medical attention from him."

Maria choked.

"That’s crazy! That’s absolutely insane for someone to do!"

Diana nodded vigorously.

"It most definitely is crazy. But what can that poor girl do? She’s trying to get Cassius’s attention. For her, it probably seems like a small sacrifice for something much greater."

She paused, her expression softening slightly.

"And honestly? Even though I’m completely against it, I can understand her to some extent. I totally understand why she would do something like that."

She leaned closer.

"That’s how much of an opportunity Cassius represents."

"That’s how many women want him."

"And you..."

Her finger slowly rose and pointed straight at Maria.

Her voice lowered.

"You of all people got that opportunity."

Maria stiffened.

"And you were the one who needed it the most."

Diana’s voice filled with concern as she said,

"I know you’re not in a proper place in your life right now, Maria."

"You’re drifting."

"You wander from place to place."

"You don’t even know what you want."

Maria lowered her gaze slightly.

"But this..." Diana said intensely. "This was the opportunity you were searching for."

"I can assure you..."

"The moment you get together with him..."

"All those insecurities and feelings of unworthiness will vanish. In seconds."

Her eyes burned again.

"This was the best opportunity you could have ever gotten."

Her expression shifted to utter disapproval.

"But what did you do?"

Maria shrank back.

"You rejected him." Diana said, her voice dripping with disbelief. "You rejected Cassius of all people."

She threw her hands up again.

"How could you do that, Maria? How?!"

She began pacing rapidly again, her hands gesturing wildly.

"In the hospital I’ve seen countless injuries. Most of them completely avoidable. Utterly careless mistakes."

"And every time I see those cases, I shake my head and I think to myself how dumb people can be. How idiotic or strange their decisions were."

"I always thought those would be the dumbest decisions I’d ever encounter."

She stopped suddenly.

Turned.

And pointed at Maria.

"But what you did..."

Her voice trembled.

"What you did right now..."

"...is probably the craziest thing I have ever heard in my entire life. And I don’t even know what to say."

She gripped the edge of the desk, her breathing becoming labored.

"I-I feel like I’m about to have a panic attack from just thinking about it." She gasped. "My breathing is getting too heavy."

She panted dramatically, holding onto the desk for support.

Maria finally snapped out of her shock and rushed to her friend’s side.

"Are you alright, Diana? Do you need some water? Should I call a nurse?"

Diana’s head snapped up, and she fixed Maria with an offended glare.

"No, Maria!" She gritted out through clenched teeth. "I don’t need water! I need to know the reason why you rejected him! That’s what I need right now!"

Maria swallowed hard.

"I mean..." She fidgeted with her hands. "It’s because of our age, you know? There’s like twenty years between us."

"How could we possibly get together?"

Diana scoffed loudly.

"What are you even saying? Didn’t we just talk about this? He’s interested in older women!"

"Do you have memory loss or something?!"

Maria recoiled.

"What?! No!"

"Of course not!"

"How could you even say something like that?!"

She quickly added,

"And that’s not the only thing!"

"I have a daughter! A daughter older than him!"

"How could something like that possibly work?!"

Diana shook her head again.

"For Goddess’s sake, Maria..."

"I have a daughter too. And Vivi is married to him."

"So what exactly is the problem?"

Maria tried to argue back.

"B-But your daughter loves him! She cherishes him! She’s his happy little wife!"

She threw her hands up in frustration.

"My daughter, on the other hand? She absolutely hates him! Despises him! She calls him a demon to his face!"

She looked at Diana with desperate eyes.

"What do you think would happen? How do you think Joy would react if she found out that her mother was trying to get together with the man she hates most in the world?"

Diana’s expression softened.

She reached out and placed a gentle hand on Maria’s arm.

"Joy would understand." She said gently.

Maria blinked.

"Sure, she doesn’t like Cassius right now." Diana continued. "But if you were to tell her how happy he would make you, if you explained the life he would give you, the joy he would bring, I’m pretty sure Joy would understand your decision. She would come to terms with it."

Maria wanted to argue.

She wanted to insist that her daughter would never accept it, would never be okay with her mother being with that man.

But deep down, she knew Diana was right.

Joy loved her more than anything.

No matter how much she hated Cassius, if she knew that being with him would make her mother happy—truly, genuinely happy—she would grit her teeth and give in.

She would do it for Maria.

But still.

Still, Maria couldn’t accept it.

Finally, she played her last card.

"I am a sister, Diana." She straightened her back, trying to summon some dignity. "A sister of the church. I have dedicated my life to the Goddess. So how can I possibly get together with another man?"

"It’s...It’s against my religious vows."

Diana stared at her.

For a long, terrible moment.

And then—

She completely broke.

"That religious bullshit?!"

Diana exclaimed, her voice rising to a pitch Maria had never heard before.

"Who the fuck cares about that anymore?!"

Maria gasped.

Diana stepped forward, her eyes blazing with frustration and love and desperate concern.

"You’ve already dedicated your entire life to the Goddess!" She shouted. "You have done more than enough good deeds for the entire world to account for! More than anyone I know!"

She grabbed Maria by the shoulders.

"At this point, it doesn’t matter if you get married or not! You’ve done your bit! It’s time that you enjoy your life for yourself!"

She shook Maria slightly with each word.

"So you should’ve forgotten the religious stuff! Forgotten all of it! You should’ve abandon it and got together with Cassius while you still had the chance!"

Her voice cracked with emotion.

"That’s the best thing you could probably do right now! The best thing for you!"

She released Maria, stepping back with a look of utter pain and reluctance on her face.

"But you—" Her voice wavered. "You destroyed that. You rejected Cassius. You threw away the best opportunity you’ll ever have."

She shook her head slowly, disbelief and sorrow warring in her expression.

"I-I don’t even know what to say anymore."

Unable to hold back the overwhelming feelings any longer, Diana stumbled to her chair and collapsed into it.

She leaned back, staring at the ceiling like a woman contemplating the mysteries of the universe.

Or like a woman who had just watched her best friend make the biggest mistake of her life and could do nothing to stop it.