Max POV
It 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. If he never loved her, then why the heck did he married her? Why did he have to be with her for her money?
“Have you been waiting for long?” He asks as he sinks into the couch, but I quickly shake my head. How he manages to keep an innocent expression as if nothing happened, is really crazy, but that is not my problem, anyway.
“No, I just got here,” I reply to him, and he slowly nods his head.
“I will cut to the chase. I have been able to talk to the shareholders, just as I said on the phone earlier, and they are demanding that the company be handed to someone else if you still want them to be partners with you. They said that they can’t work with you anymore,” He utters those words I have been expecting, and just as planned, I stare at him, feigning shock for some time.
“Wh… what do you mean?” I stutter, and gulp down nothing. I am bad at acting, but I know that this is my only chance, so I have to give it my very best.
“I think you should hand the company over to your brother for now, while we work on restoring everything,” He suggests, and I scoff.
“Are you kidding me, dad? There has to be another way, dad,” It irks me to call him dad, knowing how he betrayed me, but do I have a choice at this point? I have to continue to fool him.
“I am trying to help your life here, Max. Do you think I want this too? It was all your fault! You started this in the first place, the moment you…”
“It’s fine, dad. I know you want the best for me, so it’s fine. For how long will it take to get the company back?” I ask him, and he sighs deeply.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but I don’t think it’ll take much time. You should be patient, while Alex handles the company for now,” He replies to me, and I slowly nod my head.
“I will send the papers to you later in the day,” I say to him, and he nods his head. I bet I saw him smile. This is what he wants, anyway.
“Alright. I will contact Alex too,” He replies to me. I finally leave for the hospital after spending another ten minutes, talking about business.
“Shit!” I curse under my breath and hit the steering wheel as I pull over at the side of the road on my way to the hospital.
“Why? Why did he have to do that to me?” The tears I have been trying hard not to let out, finally found their way out, and I can’t even stop them, because why the heck should I? I feel like I’m going to die, I feel like I’m suffocating. It hurts, no matter how much I try to be fine. Nothing is just working fine.
The sound of my ringing phone pulls my attention back to reality, and I check the screen to see that the call is from Ariel.
“Hey, babe,” I wipe my tears before I answer the call.
“Where have you been? I’ve been calling you,” Her thin voice sounds through the phone.
“I’m on my way back there now. I’ll see you in a bit,” I reply to her before the call drops dead.
Pushing all the thoughts to the back of my mind, I ignite the car and drive to the hospital, arriving there in exactly fifteen minutes.
I stride toward the back door as soon as I hop out of the car, making sure that nobody gets a glimpse of me because I will be in trouble if anybody should see me.
As I walk into the ward minutes later, I find her sitting on the bed with her phone in her hand. She raises her gaze to look at me as soon as she notices my presence, and I can’t help but feel excited at how she’s fast recovering. What would I have done if anything had happened to her? What would I have done if anything had happened to our baby?
“You are here?” She smiles as she puts her phone away.
“Hmm. Have you been sleeping?” I ask as I walk over to sit on the bed with her, but she smiles at me.
“I love you, Max,” It was the first time she was going to look me in the eyes and tell me randomly that she loves me, and I feel so excited right now.
“I know we have been through a lot lately, and you might feel like giving up but don’t. I love you, and I promise you that we will win this fight together. We will be together, and have children, ok?” She holds my cheek and stares into my eyes, giving me all the assurance I need, and for seconds, I forgot that I have something bothering me.
“You are making me emotional now,” I scoff as I throw my gaze away, my heart pounding hard against my chest.
“I love you too, baby,” I reply to her before I kiss her forehead.
“Do you want to walk around the hospital? I’m bored of this place,” She pouts her lips, and I smile at her.
“Do you want me to snuggle on the bed with you, hmm? You can’t go outside now, wife… It’s kind of not safe out there,” I reply to her as I tuck the strand of hair on her forehead, behind her ear.
“I’m sorry about this, but I promise to fix things as soon as I can, ok?” I assure her, and she quickly nods her head.
“It’s fine. We should snuggle on the bed then,” She smiles at me excitedly, before she lay on the bed, and I pull the duvet to cover her body.
“Let me just sit here and watch you sleep, ok?” I whisper to her, and she nods her head as she blushes hard.
“I love you, Ariel. I hope when all this is over, we will eventually have a happy life with our kids. I just want you to be happy around me. I just want to give you the best life you deserve,” I whisper as I stare at her close her eyes, probably sleeping, but the question is, when will this be over? Will we ever be able to pull out of this? And even if we eventually do, what about the aftermath?
“Everything will be fine, Max. Just be patient,” I assure myself…