Chapter 69

 Chapter 69

Max's Point of View

I couldn't take it anymore. Her laugh kept hitting my ears like nails on a chalkboard. Each time she laughed, my blood got hotter. I stared at my whiskey glass, then slammed it down so hard I thought it might break. Some of the drink splashed onto my hand, but I didn't care. All I could focus on was Eva sitting in that corner with *him*.

The bar was dark except for the weak yellow lights hanging from the ceiling. Through the haze of cigarette smoke, I watched them. She looked beautiful tonight, her black hair falling past her shoulders, her red dress hugging her body just right. But it wasn't her beauty that was killing me. It was how happy she looked with that guy. Even his smile made me want to punch something.

He kept putting his hand closer to hers on the table. Every time his fingers moved an inch closer, my jaw clenched tighter. The way she smiled at him, the way she leaned in when he talked it was like someone was twisting a knife in my gut. That should be me making her laugh like that. That should be me she looked at with those bright eyes.

I couldn't sit there anymore. My chair made an ugly scratching sound as I pushed it back and stood up. The bartender looked at me with worried eyes. He'd probably seen enough bar fights to know when one was coming. But I didn't care what he thought. I couldn't stop myself from walking toward their table.

Eva didn't see me coming at first. She was too busy laughing at whatever that stupid guy had just said. The man beside her Nathan, I assumed from the overly friendly way someone had called his name earlier But then she felt me there she always could sense when I was near. Her laugh cut off like someone had hit a switch. When our eyes met, it was like watching a door slam shut. All that warmth and happiness disappeared, replaced by cold, hard anger.

"Max," she said my name like it was something rotten in her mouth.

Nathan sat up straighter. He wasn't smiling anymore. Instead, he was watching me like a guard dog getting ready to attack. He was bigger than I remembered from across the room. Broad shoulders, expensive watch, perfect haircut everything about him screamed success. It made me hate him even more.

"Eva," I said back, not even trying to hide how angry I was. "Having fun?"

She crossed her arms tight across her chest her classic defense move. But I saw her hands shake a little before she could hide them. "I was. Until you showed up."

Her words felt like a slap, but I didn't let it show. Instead, I turned to Nathan, looking him up and down like he was something stuck to my shoe. "Who's this supposed to be?"

Nathan leaned forward in his chair. His jaw was tight, and his eyes had turned hard. "I don't think that's any of your business."

"Everything about her is my business," I growled, looking back at Eva. "Or did you forget she's still my wife?"

Eva let out a laugh that sounded more like a bark. She stood up so fast her chair almost fell over. "Your wife?" Her voice shook with anger. "That's rich, coming from the man who sent me to prison. Or did you forget about that little detail while you were following me around like a jealous stalker?"

The guilt hit me hard in the chest, but I pushed it down. I stepped closer to her, close enough to smell her perfume the same one she used to wear when we still teenagers. "Don't act like you're so innocent in all this. Here you are, hanging all over this guy like we aren't married."

" Married?" Her eyes flashed with a dangerous light. "You mean the marriage that you never wanted."

Nathan stood up then. He was taller than me, and he used every inch of it as he stepped between us. "I think you need to leave," he said, his voice quiet but threatening.

"Stay out of this," I snapped at him. "This is between me and my wife."

"Ex-wife," Eva cut in. The word hit me like a punch to the gut. "And it stopped being between us the day you chose your precious Sara over me."

She moved around Nathan, but stayed close to him. Too close. My hands curled into fists at my sides.

"What's he to you, Eva?" I demanded.

Nathan leaned forward, his expression hardening. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

“Oh, it’s my business,” I snapped, my gaze flicking back to Eva. “Everything about her is my business.”

Eva let out a harsh laugh, standing abruptly. “Your business? The last time I checked, you made it very clear I wasn’t your business, Max. You threw me to the wolves six years ago, remember?”

The accusation hit like a slap, but I refused to back down. I stepped closer, my voice lowering to a growl. “You’re my wife, Eva. Or did you forget that little detail while you were cozying up to him?”

Her eyes flashed, anger blazing to life. “Don’t you dare play that card with me. You lost the right to call me your wife the moment you sent me to jail for something I didn’t do.”

Nathan rose to his feet, placing himself between us. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and annoyingly confident as he stared me down. “I think you need to leave,” he said firmly.

I scoffed, my gaze flicking over him dismissively. “Stay out of this. It doesn’t concern you.”

“It concerns me when you’re harassing her,” he shot back, his voice steady.

Eva stepped around him, her expression cold as ice. “Nathan, I can handle this.”

He hesitated, glancing at her before stepping aside reluctantly.

“You’re really something, Max,” Eva said, her voice cutting through me like a blade. “Showing up here, acting like you care, when all you’ve ever done is push me away. What do you want? To humiliate me again? To remind me of how little I mean to you?”

“Stop twisting this,” I growled, stepping closer. “You don’t get to act like you’re innocent in all this. You’ve been out here what? Laughing with this guy? Acting like nothing happened? Like the last six years didn’t exist?”

Her face hardened, the pain flashing in her eyes only fueling her anger. “What happened in the last six years, Max? Oh, that’s right I rebuilt my life while you wallowed in your self-pity and threw tantrums like a spoiled child.”

Nathan moved closer again, but Eva held up a hand to stop him. Her focus remained on me, her voice steady and sharp. “You have no right to barge in here and accuse me of anything. You’re the one who destroyed us, not me.”

“That’s not fair....” I began, but she cut me off.

“Fair?” She let out a bitter laugh. “You’re lecturing me about fairness? Do you know what’s unfair, Max? Spending two months in prison for a crime you didn’t commit. Being betrayed by the one person you thought you could trust. 

So don't you dare stand there acting like the wounded husband. You have no right to act like a jealous husband because you were never a husband to me Max”

"I have every right!" I shouted. People at nearby tables were staring now, but I didn't care. "You think you can just move on? Act like you didn't destroy my life?"

"Move on?" Her voice got quieter, which was somehow worse than her yelling. "Move on? So you don't want me to move on from all the torture that you made me go through, Max. I didn't destroy your live, you did that all on your own Max, stop blaming me from all your misfortunes."

Nathan put his hand on her shoulder. The gesture was so gentle, so familiar, that something snapped inside me.

"Get your hands off her," I snarled, stepping forward.

Nathan's face hardened. "Or what?"

"Or I'll make you regret ever meeting her."

Eva tried to step between us, but Nathan was faster. His fist came out of nowhere, cracking against my jaw. Pain exploded through my face as I stumbled backward. The taste of blood filled my mouth.

"Stop!" Eva's voice cut through the ringing in my ears. 

I steadied myself, ready to launch back at him, but what I saw made me freeze. Eva wasn't trying to protect me. She was standing in front of Nathan, her hands on his chest, holding him back. Protecting him. From me.