Chapter 49 Max POV "This is a family affair, what the heck has it gotten to do with the company? Why did they have to do that?" I rant at my dad even if I know this isn't any of his faults. "Why are you taking it out on me? Didn't you think about this when you were busy going around and doing that nonsense? How is this any of my fault?" He snaps at me, and I gulp down nothing. Yes, he's right anyway, it's not his fault, so I should find a solution and not take it out on him. "Dad... What should we do? I've lost about 60 billion already. Please help me," For the first time in recent years, I need this man's help so badly. For the first time, I fall to my knees and beg him for mercy, because at this point, I can't take the pain anymore. I might just commit suicide if things get worse. "What should we do? 'We'? You started this yourself, shouldn't you clear the mess, huh?" He snaps at me, and I slowly clench my fingers as a drop of tears slides down my cheeks. My hear
Chapter 50 Ariel POV I missed her so much which was why I came here to see her, but seeing her now irritates me as all the memories of what happened keep flooding my mind. How she and her husband maltreated me, how she watched her husband beat me, and how she allowed that bastard to abuse and still took sides with him. Why did she do all of that? Was it because she so much hated me and wanted to get rid of me? Was it because she wanted to keep that bastard by his side? Those are the questions I've still not been able to wrap my head around even after all these years. "I heard your husband left you. Why?" I smirk at her, and I watch as she bites her bottom lip. I heard that bastard exploited all the money she worked hard for, and ran away with it. It hurts to see her hurt, but the pain in my heart is overpowering my empathy for her. "Ariel... I'm so..." "What do you want to say? You are sorry? You are sorry about everything, and you never meant to do any of that to
Chapter 51 Max POV Seeing Alicia here kind of makes me feel guilty. I made her pass through a lot, and it hurts that I can't even make up for it. "Alicia..." I pause and bite my bottom lip as I become nervous. I have no idea where to start, or how to apologize, I don't just know what to do. I know that no matter what I do, nothing can make up for what I've done to her. "How have you been, husband?... Hold on, I'm sorry, you no longer belong to me, so I have no right to call you that. How have you been, Max, rather?" She asks after she glances at Ariel, who just stares back at her. "You've been fine, it's obvious," She shrugs before she catwalks over to me. "You didn't miss me, did you?" She bites her lips as tears well up in her eyes. The pain in her eyes makes me feel this sting in my heart which I know was caused by a guilty conscience. "How would you miss me, when you have your new wife here with you? That's crazy of me think to think that. But come to t
Chapter 52 Alex POV I pace restlessly in the hallway as I wait for the nurses that rushed Max and Ariel into the ward to come out and tell me how their health is. I went there this morning to see Max since I've been calling him nonstop and he never answered any of them. I was shocked when I got there and found Ariel in a pool of her blood, and Max was on the verge of passing out. I have always known him to be hemophobia since childhood, and I don't know what would've happened if I wasn't there to help them here. Pushing all the thoughts to the back of my mind, I take a deep breath and sit on the bench before I run my fingers through my hair. At this point, I don't even think I have the mind to hurt Max anymore. He has been through a lot already, and as much as I need this, I also don't want to cause him any harm, because he never deserved any of this. All he did was love me with everything in him. All he ever did while we were growing up was take care of me and made s
Chapter 53Max POVMy body trembles, and tears stream down my cheeks as I listen to Alex. I can't believe I have always thought my dad loved me, but I have been mistaken all along. My dad was behind everything that has happened to me in the past, and still happening now. As for Alex, I don't even know what to feel toward him."Why... Why did he do that to me?" I run my fingers through my hair as tears stream down my cheeks uncontrollably. I feel like my whole life is a mess right now. It doesn't hurt that he treated me like that, but what hurts the most is knowing that it came from the person that was supposed to be there for me and protect me, being the only parent I have."I'm sorry, Max. I know I don't have the right to stand in front of you and say this... I shouldn't have accepted it in the first place, but I was mistaken to have done that. I can't betray you, thinking of the way you have shown me nothing, but love," I watch as Alex slowly shakes his head, and I sigh briefly. He
Chapter 54Max POVIt irks me to be here in my so-called dad's house, but I have some business to take care of. A part of me feels like I shouldn't have found out the truth, but the other part of me feels like it's a foolish thing to think of. Maybe I would still be going around, clueless, if Alex hadn't spoken to me about this.The sound of the footsteps descending the staircase and the smell of his cologne irks me as I tilt my head to find him walking toward the living room. Slowly, I clench my fingers tightly into a fist as I feel my heart wrenches painfully. Having him in front of me now reopens the scar I've tried to bury and pretend nothing happened. Now that I think of it, I suspect he has something to do with my mom's death years ago, because why the heck shouldn't I think that?'He never loved your mom. He married her because of her money, and that hatred spread to you' Alex's words echo in my head, and I gulp down nothing. My mom must've been through so much emotional shit.
Chapter 55 Max POV The company has been giving to Alex, and everything is moving smoothly with us pretending nothing ever happened. I just hope that this ends well, if not, then I'm doomed for life. "Are you ok?" Ariel's voice pulls me out of my train of thought, and I raise my gaze to see her standing in front of me with a questioning look on. I feel bad for not telling her about what is happening, but I don't want her to worry about anything, which was why I never bothered to tell her. "Hmm. I'm fine. Come here," I pull her close after I stand up, rubbing my hand on her big stomach. She should deliver her baby in a few months to this, and I want everything to be fine by then. I don't want to worry about anything. "It kicked just now," She chuckles as I place my ear on her stomach, and quickly pull away from her. "Really? It really kicked?" I blink my eyes as I stand up to look at her. Gosh! I was waiting for the day I would see the baby kick, but maybe I was
Chapter 56 Alex POV It has been a couple of weeks since I became the CEO of Dante's empire, and it has felt so good all this while. Yeah, I love the feeling, considering the people of nobility I have met so far, but that won't ever get into my head to betray my brother once more. I have given him my word, and he is counting on me to get everything back for him, which is exactly what I'm going to do. I am having an appointment with the contractors today, and I'm hoping to get his money back for him in no time, and all this shit will be over once and for all. "It's time for the meeting, Sir. The client is already here," My secretary said once she knocked and I ushered her in. Ariel is no longer working here for now, since I have taken over, and also she is heavily pregnant, which will prevent her from working. "Alright. I will be there in a few minutes," I say to her before she nods her head and strides out of my office, and I finally leave for the conference room fo
Chapter 83"Why are you doing this?" Alicia yells at the top of her voice as tears stream down her cheeks. Alicia has been untied, and they are both inside a room now."You are going to kill everyone, and take what belongs to them? Are you this much of a monster?" She yells again, but Dennis doesn't look like he is going to listen to her."We've got what we want now... Why don't we leave for a faraway place where nobody will ever be able to get to us? I am giving you a chance to do this now," Dennis replies to her as he hands her a pistol."If you want to live, go out there, and shoot them one after the other. Kill them all and let's leave here once and for all. This is the only chance you have, Jessica. If you turn your back on me now, I will take you as my enemy for real this time," He utters, and she gulps down the lump that forms in her throat as she stares at him. Her hand trembles nervously, and she gulps down nothing again. It's literally her first time holding a gun, and she c
Chapter 82"How dare you, bitch!" Dante yelled at the top of his voice as he sent a hot slap across Elisabeth's cheek. After looking for her everywhere, Viper was finally able to get her from the hotel where Max had hidden her all this while."I told you to never mess with me, but you didn't want to listen to me. How dare you!" He yelled for the second time, sending another hot slap across her cheek. Her mouth is already bleeding. She is supposed to be in tears, but she is rather smiling as she stares back at him with a satisfactory look on."Do you want to slap me again? Go ahead and do it. Do you want to kill me? Then just go ahead and shoot me right here... Don't forget that Maxwell and Alex will be coming for you. They won't stop, until they hunt you down," A smirk settles on her lips as she emphasizes her words, and he finally punches her hard in the face this time, sending her roughly to the floor along with the chair she was tied to.He squats in front of her and grabs her hair
Chapter 81Ariel's head hurts and she groans as she tries to open her eyes, but she gasps upon finding herself in a strange room. She tries to recall what happened, and where the hell this place is, and just like that, memories of the previous day came flooding her head, and she gasps. She slowly looks around the room, and that is when the realization dawns on her that she isn't the only one in the room, but with her dad, stepmom, and the two little girls that were supposed to be her stepsisters."Daddy... Daddy... Are you ok? Joann... Ella... Ma'am... Are you ok?" Ariel asks worriedly as she manages to sit up on the cold floor, realization dawns on her that they have all been abducted. Hearing a silent whimper behind her, she slowly tilts her head to find Alicia tied to a chair too. Wow! This is crazy."What's going on here? Why are we here?" Although she knows her question is really crazy, but she couldn't just help it."Oh, you are awake? I thought you died in your sleep. That woul
Chapter 80"What's going on?" Ariel muttered as she run her fingers through her hair crazily. She has been trying to reach everybody, but no one was answering her calls, not even Max or Alex. She gulps down nothing worriedly, praying nervously that nothing happens. It's past 10pm, and Max hasn't been back yet after he told her earlier that he was going to attend to something and come back immediately."Answer your call, please," She mumbles as she dials the number again, and when it didn't go through, she decides to call Alex, and maybe, who knows, his number might go through, but it was still the same result she got.Many questions run through her mind as she sinks into the bed, grabbing a handful of her hair in her hands as she drops her gaze to the floor. Could it be that something happened while she is here? Were they abducted? Those are the questions that keep running through her mind as she tries to gather her thoughts together, but it only ends up getting ruined since she can't
Chapter 79After hearing everything from Alex, her heart sinks into her stomach, her cheeks are wet from her uncontrollable tears. Her heart wrenches in pain at the thought of being betrayed by the man she so much loved with everything in her, but on a second thought, she feels like he was right about everything. If she truly loved him, she wouldn't have agreed to that in the first place. Does she even have any right to feel used when she already hurt Max so much? Does she have any right to be hurt with just this, when she has lived all her life hurting people?As she drags her feet along the lobby and heads to her room, her phone suddenly starts ringing and she rolls her eyes when she checks the screen and finds out that the caller is Dennis.She crashes against the bed as soon as she steps into her room, staring up at the ceiling with a pool of tears streaming down the corner of her cheeks.'There is no wedding for us, Alicia. Do you think I would still marry you after everything? Y
Chapter 78 Alicia POV I arrived at the hotel room a few minutes ago, and I haven't been really at peace. Did I make the right decision? Should I have worked with him? Those are the questions that keep lingering on my bed as I toss on the bed before I sit up. Memories of the past came flooding my mind, and for the first time, I feel guilt wash through me. Thinking about Max makes me go crazy. I feel like I was being unfair to him. Although he later changed, which was all I ever wanted, but still, it didn't change the fact that I hurt this emotion. I know this is too sudden, and you must think that I'm really crazy, but trust me, it's nothing of such. I'm just feeling remorseful for my actions in the past. I don't want to end up like Dennis, and with the way I'm going now, I might end up clouding my heart with hatred like him, and end up tormenting people, which is the last thing I would never want to do in my life. I need to make things right. Besides, I've always lived a s
Chapter 77Silence creeps into the atmosphere as Alicia stares back at him, shocked at his confession. Is he trying to pull a fast one on her or what?"There's nothing bad in wanting to spend time with my daughter, right?" He breaks the awkward silence, but she only stares back at him with many thoughts running through her mind.As her eyes roam the entire restaurant, the realization dawns on her that they are the only ones in the restaurant."Oh, sorry if that came as a shock to you. I booked the restaurant for the time we will spend here. I didn't want someone to disturb us," He breaks into her thoughts as if he was reading her mind, and she sighs briefly before she turns her gaze to look at him with a blank expression on.Memories of years ago flood his mind as he stares at his daughter that is all grown now. How they would go to bed without food, how they suffered, and how he watched her grow with another man, calling him 'dad' when he was supposed to be the one she calls that. Th
Chapter 76"What is the meaning of this, Laura?" Dante's eyes widen in shock as he stares at his wife who just slapped him. He had just come here to see her since she was sick for the last few days, only to be welcomed with a slap.Tears stream down Laura's cheeks as she stares back at the man she has been with for the past thirty-three years of her life, the man she has spent her whole life loving, unknown to her that he has been lying to her. Just the thought of it was messing her head and driving her nuts. Laura and Dante have been together for thirty-five years. Three years of courting, and thirty-two years of marriage. She has always thought that this man was the most faithful man any woman would want to spend the rest of her life with, she thought he was the best man in the world, well, he was, up until the last few hours she found out what this man has done. It breaks her heart to know that she has been fooled and used for the past years that she has been with him."Are you ok,
Chapter 75I toss on the bed for the umpteenth time, trying to get some sleep, but I can't even bring myself to do it. The scenario from earlier today is still stuck in my head, and the more I try to get it off, the more I find myself thinking about it, and it's really driving me nuts. "Is he kidding me?" I scoff as I sit up on the bed, ruffling my hair that I already parked inside my cap, allowing them to fall carelessly on my shoulders. The room is air-conditioned, but I feel so hot and just feel like I need fresh air, but I know that I don't need it. I may feel cold if I decided to step out of the room now.It bothers me to think that Alex has been playing me, but I also don't want to conclude that it's what I'm thinking. What else would it look like? He was obviously playing you. I also try to assure myself that it's not what I'm really thinking, but fuck! My head is so messed up that I can't even gather my thoughts together.Pushing all the thoughts away, I lay back on the bed,