Chapter 290
Max’s gaze was cool and detached as Lillian charged at him. The clarity of his thoughts was almost unnerving, even as he chastised himself for being outwitted by a woman. It was a lapse in judgment, a moment of weakness when he had not considered the possibility that Brielle’s phone could’ve fallen into the wrong hands. He was emotionally compromised, a phrase he never thought would find its way into his world.
Lillian had thrown herself at him with abandon; her only desire was to drag them both down to their demise. She had lost the will to live and was determined to take Max with her. In the afterlife, she fancied them to be united as lovers, eternal and inseparable.
But she hadn’t anticipated the explosion that suddenly rocked the rooftop, nor the cacophony of sirens and screams that followed. She got distracted, stumbled, and fell onto the jagged debris. Her face looked like a canvas of blood..
Max stood motionless. His gaze was icy and disdainful as he watched her struggle on the ground. To him, she was no more significant than an ant beneath his boot.
Instinctively. Lillian felt reduced to nothing more than a writhing maggot in his eyes. She was like a creature that had never known the light, and was destined to be scorched by the brilliance that radiated from him.
Meanwhile, Max was indifferent to her internal turmoil. His attention was far removed from the night’s events. As a businessman, he was defined by his acuity, not by the emotions that seemed to desert him.
He dialed Patrick, calmly requesting a pickup. Upon hearing the news, Patrick slammed the pedal to the metal and raced to the scene.
Max leaned against the rooftop wall. The night sky was now illuminated by the raging fire that had spread two stories high. As the heir to the Dorsey family and the CEO of Dorsey
International, he was painfully aware of his transgression. The realization that Brielle could be his Achilles‘ heel was a new and unwelcome sensation.
Others might have been grateful to escape a fire unscathed, but not Max. He could’ve met his end in the flames without a flicker of emotion crossing his features.
The cufflinks on his wrist, once free of imperfections, now bore the grime of the night’s chaos. It was a reminder that succumbing to addiction was a sign of a weak will, and he was
determined not to succumb.
He reasoned that feelings should be as fleeting and inconsequential as the joy of munching on a bag of potato chips during a moment of happiness. His unannounced visits to the hospital to see Brielle and his care for her was just impulsive and temporary.
His next step was clear – to create distance between them. Dependence was a sign of frailty. and he refused to be weakened.
A woman’s panicked voice echoed from the corner, “My face! My beauty is ruined!”
Chapter 290
“Brielle, you bitch, it’s all your fault! Go to hell!”
Lillian’s ramblings sounded like those of a madwoman.
“Spencer, you heartbreaker, you bastard, I won’t let you off the hook!”
“Brielle, ha! You lost to me long ago. Everyone connected to you will pay! I will make you regret. this for a lifetime.”
“Max is mine and mine alone! I am the daughter of the Haywood family.”
Max listened quietly, finally putting a name to the voice–Lillian. He smirked, approaching the cowering figure.
Lillian tensed as she sensed his approach. Her eyes lifted to meet his. In the flickering firelight, his features were sharp and mesmerizing. She was captivated even as her tears continued flowing freely. If only a man like Max could love her, then she would sacrifice everything for just one glance from him.
Her sobs filled the air. She couldn’t accept her defeat.
“How am I inferior to Brielle? I’m smarter and more charming. Spencer chose me over her after all her years of devotion. I won’t lose.”
She refused to believe she could ever be beaten.
