3rd person POV
Max barely remembered how he got back to his car. His steps felt automatic, his vision a blur, his mind drowning in a storm of emotions he couldn’t control. The air was cold against his skin, but it did nothing to numb the sharp, twisting pain in his chest.
He yanked the car door open, slid into the driver’s seat, and gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white. His breath was rough, uneven. He needed to move. To get away from this place. From her.
But before he could start the engine, the sound of hurried footsteps hit his ears. Then-
“Max, wait!”
Vivian.
He shut his eyes for a second, willing himself to block her out. But the next moment, she was beside the car, her hands pressed against the window, her face desperate.
“Please don’t leave like this,” she said, her voice breaking. “Let me explain.”
Max’s hands tightened around the wheel. A bitter laugh almost escaped his lips. Explain? She had just ripped him apart, left him bleeding, and now she wanted to explain?
He rolled the window down just enough for his voice to carry. “You already did.”
Vivian’s breath hitched. “Max-”
“Is there anything else you forgot to mention?” he cut in, his voice cold. “Or was that it?”
She flinched, her fingers gripping the edge of the window. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
Max let out a harsh breath. “How exactly was it supposed to happen, Vivian? Were you ever going to tell me? Come with me, I will protect us, you and the baby and we’ll live together” Max said with determination, for the very first time, the desperation to have her back was evident in his voice_ but it was too late_ her mind was locked up, her heart sealed; He caused it, every single thing she went through to this day had been because of his ignorance but now, she’s riling with mixed feelings but her decision doesn’t change as her mind flashed back with memories_ Everything was at stake, her baby, her Mom. To save them, she had to give up her own feelings, give him an information that would make him not to look for her; it’ll hurt, she knows but it was for the greater good and she wouldn’t mind giving it her all.
” I’m sorry Max but I can’t stay with you” She almost broke down as she said those words, watching those hard and stern expression he wore on his face everytime dissolve to fear, her heartbeat skipped, it felt completely empty, felt like she was leaving a part of her behind.
“But why? I could change Vivian, I could forfeit the gang if you want, just let me__ I don’t mind taking care of the baby as mine, as ours”
“I can’t Max because it’s not your child! I’m not pregnant with your child and the father wouldn’t be pleased with it” She finally divulged the information and for a moment, shoving the false harsh truth on his face, a dangerous glint crossed his eyes. ” I can’t because it’s not your baby Max, so let go!” She hesitated as those words left her mouth. A second too long.
His chest tightened. “Just like I thought.” He sounded pained.
She reached for the door handle. ” Max listen”
Max locked the doors. The sound echoed between them.
Vivian sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes shining with something raw, something painful. “Don’t do this,” she whispered. “Please.”
Max swallowed the lump in his throat, forcing himself to look at her. The woman he had once been willing to fight for, to protect at all costs. The woman he had loved. And yet, standing here now, she felt like a stranger.
He exhaled slowly. “Goodbye, Vivian.”
Then he started the car and drove away.
The roads blurred past him, but his mind was somewhere else. Everywhere else. The conversation replayed in his head like a bad dream, twisting inside him, refusing to let go.
Vivian. Pregnant.
With another man’s child.
His grip on the wheel tightened as his jaw locked. He had thought she was his. He had thought they were building something real. But now, everything he believed, everything he felt, had turned into nothing but a lie.
A sharp buzz from his phone snapped him out of his thoughts.
He glanced at the screen. Ray.
For a second, he considered ignoring it. He wasn’t in the mood to talk. But something in him-some deep, restless energy-made him pick up.
“What?”
“You sound like you want to kill someone, Boss” Ray said, half-joking, half-concerned. Apart from the fact Ray worked for him, he was also a close friend to Max.
Max’s fingers curled against the leather steering wheel. “Maybe I do.”
Ray sighed. “So, I’m guessing you talked to Vivian?”
Max let out a slow breath, the words bitter on his tongue. “She’s pregnant, Ray.”
A silence. Then, “What?”
“And it’s not mine.”
Ray cursed under his breath. “Shit.”
Max pressed a hand against his forehead, trying to push down the tightness in his chest. “Yeah. That about sums it up.”
Another silence. Then Ray’s voice came back, cautious. “Who’s the father?”
Max’s jaw clenched. “She didn’t say but Ruth said it’s Daniel’s but I still don’t believe it”
Ray exhaled sharply. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“None of this makes sense,” Max muttered, frustration boiling inside him.
Ray was quiet for a moment. Then, his voice lowered. “Max… what if Ruth was lying?”
Max froze.
His mind turned sharply, replaying everything. The phone call. Ruth’s voice, smug and satisfied. The way she had wanted him to break, to believe the worst.
But then there was Vivian. Her hesitation. Her silence. The way she hadn’t denied it.
Max exhaled slowly. “Vivian didn’t argue. She didn’t say it wasn’t true.”
“Maybe she’s scared,” Ray offered. “Maybe there’s something else going on.”
Max stared at the road ahead, his mind racing. He wanted to believe that. He needed to believe that. But what if he was just fooling himself?
Ray hesitated. Then, carefully, “What if the father isn’t Daniel, just some random guy?”
Max’s grip tightened. “What are you saying?”
Ray’s voice was serious now. “I’m saying maybe you’re asking the wrong questions Boss”
Max frowned, his heartbeat picking up. The wrong questions.
His mind spun, connecting dots that hadn’t made sense before. Vivian’s grandfather’s sudden involvement. The pressure on her to take over the company. The way she had left without a word.
And the fact that she still refused to name the father.
Max’s stomach twisted. “You think… someone forced her?”
Ray’s silence was enough.
A slow, burning anger built in Max’s chest, something dark and dangerous. If someone had hurt her, if someone had forced her into this-
“I need to know the truth,” Max muttered, his voice low, determined.
Ray sighed. “Be ready Boss. Because whatever this is-it’s bigger than we thought.”
Max’s pulse pounded.
And for the first time since walking away from Vivian, he realized- This wasn’t over. Not even close.