Max leaned in the driver’s seat of his car, his eyes fixed on the rearview mirror as he waited patiently for his accomplice. They had agreed to meet up at ten in the dead of the night but the latter was late which was starting to get on Max’s nerves.
He subconsciously placed his hand on his forehead and swiftly retracted it back, groaning in severe pain. His face was heavily bloated with injuries inflicted on him by his cousin after he had challenged him regarding Isabelle.
The door to the passenger seat opened abruptly as a man in black sat on the chair comfortably like nothing was wrong.
“Woah!! What the hell happened to your face?” The man asked with a not-so-surprised expression as he attempted to touch Max’s face. He could already guess where the injuries came from.
“Be serious, Kyle. You already wasted our time” Max flinged the man’s hand away and uttered in annoyance. The constant reminder of his cousin was infuriating him deeply.
“Sorry, the lazy me forgot about our meeting and fell asleep. Thank goodness I set the alarm clock” Kyle explained with a carefree tone and a playful smile on his face.
“Whatever. Let’s get straight to the point” Max said dismissively, his expression becoming serious as he spilled out the question he had been dying to ask. “Did you manage to make Liam doubt Isabelle?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think it was that effective” Kyle shook his head in disapproval. “He’s not his usual hot-tempered self but strangely calm. I can’t seem to understand him anymore”
Max clenched his teeth in frustration. His obsession with Isabelle was getting out of hand, he needed her by his side in any way possible. “So, how do we get Isabelle to leave him?”
Kyle arched an eyebrow at Max’s question, “What about the video?”
“It’s not clear enough” Max replied with a slightly irritated tone. “I don’t think anyone would believe it. It lacks authentication”
“Then we make it authentic” Kyle countered with an amused expression. There was a simple way out of the mess. “Since the video is real, we could just add quality to it to make it more clear and real”
“How come I didn’t think of that?” Max’s eyes widened in shock. “It would be hard to decipher since the voices are real… Let’s get to work, do you by any chance, know anyone that can help with it?”
“Yeah, I do. I already contacted him and the blogger who is responsible for spreading the news. They need the documents and photographs of Isabelle which should be a problem, right?” Kyle gave the details and made to confirm. He had toiled day and night for those two people on his side. He didn’t want any loopholes.
“Yes,” Max nodded in affirmation. “It’s quite easy to get. She wouldn’t even know how it hit her”
“Good!” Kyle acknowledged as he stretched forth his hands, “Let me have all the necessary information required so that I can relay it to them. We don’t have much time”
Max, without hesitation, handed over the flash drive containing the video, pictures, and other documents to Kyle who quickly exited the car and went his way, leaving Max to his thoughts. It was high time he got what he’d always wanted. He was tired of living under his cousin’s shadow and tired of letting him have the things that he found worthy of his attention like Isabelle.
****
Isabelle’s eyes moved robotically, applying paints to the canvas the female fashion stylist had gifted her, but her heart remained lost in thoughts, grappling with the challenges that beset her.
Rachel’s dissatisfying options were already a handful and now her fiance’s mother had compiled her lingering problems with her ruthless words. She couldn’t bring herself to decide whether to face her problems or run from it.
Her stomach grumbled endlessly from hunger but the shattering sound in her heart was more vocal. She couldn’t even dare to think of seducing Max to get the video, her pride was already tattered. The only option to consider was to tell Liam the truth but would he forgive her?
A knock came on the door but the unknown person didn’t wait to be asked to come in and strutted into the room without a care in the world.
“Liam” Isabelle was stunned at the imposing figure standing before her, the man she never thought she would be able to talk to shortly.
“I see you’ve resumed your hobby. That’s great” Liam finally spoke out after a long moment of silence, his lips curved in a cold smile.
Isabelle couldn’t find the courage to reply to him and just stared blankly at the sad painting before her. Liam misunderstood her silence as her being irritated by his presence.
“Don’t forget that you still have to fulfill your part of the deal in the contract” Liam reminded her with a cold expression on his face. His words made Isabelle cringe in disgust, not at him but at herself.
“Why do you still hold on to this contract of a thing? I brought shame to your name, you don’t have to keep me by your side anymore”Isabelle poured out her bleeding heart to him in tears which broke Liam’s facade for a short time.
“As long as your mother hasn’t settled her debts, you’re not going anyway” Liam was ruthless with his words as he stared down at her with intimidation. Realization dawned on Isabelle; Liam was keeping her because of her mother’s debt, nothing more.
Meanwhile, Liam remembered his main purpose for coming to her room and said, “You should eat something, don’t die on me. A new maid from the agency will be here to resume work tomorrow morning. That way, you will be free to explore other things that might interest you outside this cage”
Liam walked out of the room, his cold facade wavering slightly. He could sense her pain and sorrows but he couldn’t bring himself to comfort without knowing her problems. He’s been having a disturbing feeling since Adrian mentioned something about an encounter before the scandals. He could take anything from her but not betrayal.