“Stop lowering your head, Gaby. I’m not mad at you,” Max said as he noticed the woman sitting next to him was still frowning.
“But, I feel guilty. What if your words become true? Sebastian come here to avenge what I did.”
Hearing Gabriella’s regret and concern, the man sighed and stroked her head. “It will not happen. I only scared you. After all, he doesn’t know that you are involved in setting up the trap.”
With pursed lips and furrowed brows, the woman considered her husband’s words.
“But he could have traced Camilla’s trail leading to Rose, then to me, then ending with you,” Gabriella explained curtly. Her thoughts had been clouded by the image of Sebastian’s face filled with hatred.
A second later, Max kissed his wife’s forehead. “Gaby, didn’t you promise not to talk about Quebracha? Since Sebastian is also part of that company, how about you ignore him too?”
The woman suddenly took a deep breath. “Should we buy two tasers like Mia’s? One for me and one for you. We have to be on guard.”
After noticing the seriousness of his wife, Max finally developed a smile and nodded. “Okay. I’ll buy a pepper spray for you too.”
Armed with such a weapon, Gabriella’s heart felt calmer. “Thank you, Max. And sorry for not thinking wisely when making plans.”
Without a second thought, the man nodded and stroked his wife’s head. “Now, do you want to rest? We won’t be able to sleep when we arrive at the transit airport.”
“I’m not sleepy, Max. My heart always beats every time I imagine our final destination.”
A second later, the woman tapped Max on the shoulder. “How about you just sleep? Your brain can’t be too tired,” she suggested with a sweet curve of lips.
Without hesitation, the man moved forward and leaned his head against his wife’s soft cushion. Smile had spread on his face.
“Sleep, Max. We’ll have fun when we get there,” Gabriella whispered as she started stroking her husband’s hair.
Hearing such a gentle voice, Max closed his eyes. However, after a moment of silence, his eyelids lifted again.
“Gaby, may I ask a question?”
Sniffing the doubt, Gabriella’s brows furrowed. “Of course you can.”
“What plan do you have for Herbert?” Max asked in a low voice.
The curve of the woman’s lips instantly turned flat. “Didn’t you ask me to remove your father from the list?” Gabriella replied.
In an instant, their eyes met again.
“So you didn’t make any plans for my father?” Max sighed with slightly raised eyebrows.
“Yes. I don’t want to be a disobedient daughter-in-law,” the woman said with round eyes.
Receiving such an honest answer, the corners of the man’s lips lightened up again. “Thank goodness,” he sighed, causing his wife to tilt her head.
“Are you worried about your father?”
“I don’t know why, I’m a little worried about him,” Max said before taking a deep breath. After a blink, he leaned back against his wife. “What do you think about the reason my father didn’t believe Julian’s confession?”
“Maybe, because he’s sad.”
Max spontaneously frowned. “Sad?” he repeated the questionable word.
“Have you ever heard of the stages of grief? When a person experiences extreme shock, denial will follow. Just like your father who doesn’t want to admit the truth. Because of that, he prefers to believe what was previously believed,” Gabriella explained, making her husband ponder for a moment.
“Did he do that to protect himself?”
The woman nodded approvingly. “Yes, to avoid confusion and too much pain.”
Unknowingly, the man’s frown had deepened. “Will the denial last forever?”
“Of course not. Sooner or later, he will realize that the denial does not change the facts. Therefore, the next stage is anger. He will start to get frustrated and blame the situation,” the woman continued with a sad look.
“Do you think my father will enter that phase soon?”
The woman suddenly took a deep breath. “Who knows? Mr. Herbert is not a predictable person. But, given the condition of Julian and company, he should have started to doubt the denial. If that really happens, I can’t imagine the fate of Quebracha in the future.”
A second later, Max looked up and forced a smile. “Whatever happens, we are no longer involved with them. Our lives are in peace, Gaby.”
Realizing that her husband was instilling suggestions for himself, Gabriella smiled back and nodded. “Yes, you’re right.”
While caressing, the woman let her husband sleep. She knew that the man was too tired to drive the problems that refused to leave his head. Max was also struggling with his own grief.
“Don’t worry, Max. I’m with you,” the woman whispered as her husband didn’t talk anymore.
When the man was already asleep, Gabriella’s cell phone suddenly brightened. Without making much movement, the woman checked the incoming message from Mia.
“Mr. Julian just had a big fight with his father. He kept claiming to be the illegitimate son, but Mr. Herbert did not accept. Julian still has to serve as CEO.”
Reading the report, Gabriella let out a faint breath. Wrinkling her eyebrows, she looked down at her husband.
“It seems, your father is still stuck in the denial phase. The worries you feared haven’t come yet, Max.”
***
Without anyone knowing, Herbert was struggling to maintain denial. He had just finished the liquor straight from the bottle, hoping that alcohol would dull logic.
“Julian is such an idiot! He simply cannot distinguish fantasy from reality.”
After laughing sadly, the old man grabbed a bottle that was still full then took another sip. However, instead of being relieved, his breaths became even shorter. The rumbling in the chest has urged to be released. After a few seconds, sobs began to be heard.
“There’s no way Max is my biological son. I’m not a bad guy who abuses his own child. I can’t make my son suffer. For a dozen years, I’ve targeted the right person.”
Once again, Herbert took a sip of the drink in his hand. Unfortunately, until the bottle was empty, the image of Max still haunted and even looked closer.
“You go. Go! Get out of my life! Your existence only give me pain and suffering!”
Herbert started swinging his arms in the air. He even pushed something that didn’t exist.
Annoyed that Max’s sad face didn’t go away, the old man groaned loudly.
“Why are you still here? Get lost, I don’t want to see you anymore! If you don’t leave soon, I won’t hesitate to ask people to get rid of you!”
After a while, the old man who was breathing heavily nodded and laughed sarcastically. “So, you still don’t want to go? Well, don’t blame me if your life ends sadly.”
A second later, Herbert staggered toward a table. From the bottom drawer, he took out a black cell phone that only had one contact.
“Let’s see if you can survive.”
Chuckling, the old man contacted someone. As soon as the call was received, he unceremoniously made a request. “Look for Max Evans! He dared to disturb me.”
“Do you want me to finish him off?”
“No, no. I heard the head needs to be protected. So, I want you to hit his head three times. Not over or less, exactly three times. I want to see if he still dares to act after that,” Herbert said in a slightly dragged voice. Even so, the recipient of the call still recorded his words.
“Okay. Is there any other request, Sir?”
The old man was silent for a moment. After a few seconds, he shook his head. “No. Just make sure you hit him on the head. Don’t fail. If anyone stands in your way, just finish that person. I really hate intruder.”
“Okay. I’ll do it right away.”
As soon as the call ended, Herbert laughed in satisfaction. But, after his apparent happiness subsided, the old man collapsed. He was unconscious on the floor.