Chapter 35 #3
“Max, you can’t keep me here forever like this. You said we could start over… We still can. We can pretend none of this ever happened.”
Max stares at her with an unreadable expression.
“And we’ll just carry on like before? Just like that?” he asks quietly.
“Of course,” she replies with a faint smile, trying to sound convincing, though she can hear her heart racing, the pulse thrumming in her ears.
His eyes narrow as he answers coldly, “Do you think I’m some kind of idiot?”
Lila’s breath hitches in her throat as she realizes how useless her words are to him. His jaw tightens as he reaches over and cuts her scallops into thin slices, the muscle along his jaw twitching with irritation.
“Eat,” he commands, pushing her plate closer to her.
Lila scowls. Before she can respond with a snide remark, the chef, who has been little more than a faceless presence until now, emerges from the kitchen with two plates in hand. After setting down the second course and offering a brief description of the lamb chops, he turns to Lila.
“You don’t like it, Miss?” he asks, eyeing her untouched starter plate with a frown.
“Oh, it’s fine,” she squeaks. It’s been a week since she’s spoken to anyone besides Max. “I just got a little distracted.”
“Please enjoy,” he says, his gaze lingering on her for a moment before turning away.
Feeling drained, Lila jabs a slice of scallop with her fork. “Do you think I’m some kind of idiot?” she mutters, mimicking him. “Why don’t you go eat a steaming pile of…”
When the third course is served, Max thanks the chef and sends him home.
After that, no more words are exchanged, and they eat in tense silence.
Lila makes no attempt to hide her misery as she samples the food before her, determined not to let it go to waste despite her lack of appetite.
Max, meanwhile, wears his usual mask of indifference, his expression impassive as he eats and occasionally sips from his glass of red wine.
Lila feels his eyes on her as she takes the first spoonful of the dark chocolate hazelnut mousse. The rich, decadent dessert stirs something inside her, and despite her earlier mood, a fleeting smile of delight appears on her face.
It’s a shame it’s such a small portion, she laments as she reluctantly swallows the last bite.
To her surprise, Max slides his untouched dessert toward her. Suppressing the urge to thank him, she begins to dig into his portion.
His phone suddenly vibrates, the buzzing breaking the silence between them. She glances at Max, catching the faint lift of one brow as he checks the notification on his screen.
“I guess we have company,” Max mutters, pushing back his chair to stand. “How did you even get chocolate all the way up here?” he asks, tutting softly. Picking up a cloth napkin, he gently wipes it against her cheek. “What a messy eater you are.”
Then, adjusting the cuffs of his sleeves, he leaves her sitting alone at the table.
Lila places her spoon on top of the gold-rimmed porcelain plate, her curiosity piqued.
She has been with Max long enough to know that unannounced visitors are unheard of.
Even the dining table, splendidly crafted from light oak, has always seemed excessive in size for just the two of them.
Everything in his world runs on a strict schedule.
The housekeepers, laundry service, and the personal chef who delivers his weekly meals all follow meticulously arranged routines to ensure that Max’s peace remains undisturbed.
Yet now, someone is at the door, disrupting the carefully controlled environment he has maintained so well.
Unable to resist, she waits a moment longer until she’s sure she can follow him without being seen. Then, as quietly as she can, Lila slips from her chair and follows the sound of Max’s deliberate footsteps, her bare feet making no sound against the glossy, cold tile floor.
As she nears the foyer, a voice cuts through the air, sharp with anger and dripping with malice.
“Well! How does it feel to betray your whole fucking family, huh? You’ve successfully fucked me over!”
Her heart pounds in her chest as she cautiously peers around the corner, her eyes settling on the scene before her.
Max’s brother, Matt, stands unsteadily in the middle of the foyer, his face flushed with a mix of alcohol and rage.
His clothes are disheveled, his tie loosened, and the glassy look in his eyes makes it clear he’s been drinking heavily.
He sways slightly, using the wall for support as he glares up at Max with venomous intensity.
“How did you manage to convince them to screw me over, huh? I found out just hours ago that you’ve been secretly campaigning for the sale behind my back for months, you evil little snake.”
Max remains composed, his expression slightly amused as he looks at his brother. Lila presses herself further against the wall, trying to make herself as small as possible while she watches the confrontation unfold.
“It didn’t take much.” Max shrugs. “All they had to do was compare our track records. Who are they more likely to follow? Me, with my proven ability to revitalize struggling subsidiaries and achieve what many thought was impossible, or you, with your consistent knack for losing profit? Once I laid it out for them that I saw no viable path forward, the investors understood the urgency.”
“I should’ve known. You hated him so much.
So much so that you didn’t even want to show up at his funeral and then had the gall to fuck your little whorish girlfriend next to his cold, dead body…
Yeah, I saw the camera footage, you sick fuck.
Are you a sex addict now? Did you think you wouldn’t be discovered?
Or are you so dead and empty inside that you didn’t even care?
I did you a solid by having all traces of it deleted.
If I’d known you were planning on stabbing me in the back like this… ”
“Are you implying you’d have leaked my sex tape, big brother?” Max taunts, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. “Naughty, naughty. Did you enjoy it at least?”
“I pitied you, you creep. I thought you were just a broken coke fiend, but it turns out you’re just as cruel as he was. Maybe even worse. You’ve taken everything from me, knowing how hard I worked for it all my fucking life, while you just got high and fucked around.”
Matt slumps against the wall, his head tipping back with a dull thud. The anger in his voice fades, replaced by exhaustion and disbelief. His hands drag down his face as if he’s trying to steady himself, smearing the sheen of sweat and liquor across his skin.
“Can you leave?” Max asks casually. “You keep wanting to bring up the past, but my little whorish girlfriend and I are having dinner, and your presence is seriously bumming us out. You reek, and your alcohol-induced rambling is, quite frankly, spoiling the mood.” He leans in close, lowering his voice to a mock conspiratorial whisper.
“Why don’t you head home? I’ll let you know when the sequel tape is out, okay? ”
Lila lets out a startled shriek as Matt pushes himself off the wall and forcefully shoves his brother in the chest. Max stumbles backward but quickly regains his balance, a flash of shock and anger crossing his face.
Without missing a beat, Matt storms forward, his livid expression terrifying.
He thrusts a finger into Max’s chest, jabbing it aggressively as he leans in, his face inches from Max’s.
“You fucked me over!” he roars, his face reddening until it turns a purplish shade. “CTEC was promised to me! Me! Fucking me, you fucking junkie!”
Max wipes his cheek with the back of his hand. “Say it, don’t spray it,” he says evenly as if lecturing an errant child.
“Fucking fuckity fuck, fuck, fuck! Do you know how much I’ve sacrificed? I was the one who was supposed to run it!”
Max swats away Matt’s hand and sighs in exasperation.
“And you did, for a while. You would’ve run things into the ground if you’d stayed any longer.
Sorry, they found a better fit. It must suck to be replaced by a cowboy-wannabe Swiss.
If you have a problem with the new management, why don’t you go gripe to Daddy Dearest about it? ”
Max gives a dismissive shrug before feigning a look of horror, as if he’s just remembered something dreadful.
“Oh, wait—he’s dead! Ah, shit. Who are you going to cry to now?
Why don’t you, oh, I don’t know, go sob in your diary or something?
Here, take this to wipe your tears when you’re done.
” Max pulls a balled-up paper from his pocket and throws it at his brother.
Matt, looking exhausted by his brother’s theatrical antics as the balled-up paper hits him, lets out a low, frustrated groan. “Why did he do this? It was his whole legacy. I just don’t understand. Why would he give you half of everything, knowing you were a junkie?”
“Why shouldn’t I have it?” Max replies, rolling his eyes as if speaking to a dense child.
“I spoke with him alone just before Thanksgiving. You’d think he would’ve mentioned it to you, given that you were Daddy Dearest’s most bestest boy…
I’m sorry you were blindsided,” he adds with a hint of smugness, fully aware that this revelation would hit Matt where it hurts most.
Matt’s shoulders sag in defeat. Seeing his brother’s disheartened reaction brings a wider smile to Max’s face. As the brother who had always lived in the shadows, Max revels in the satisfaction of finally besting him.
The look of defeat on Matt’s face quickly twists into one of pure rage. “You!”
Matt lunges for Max’s collar, trying to shake him, but Max, taller and stronger than his older brother, shoves him against the wall, pinning him there and leaving him completely immobilized.