Chapter 700
“Max, are you heading home?” Annie asked her eyes gleaming with a subtle light as she stood behind Patrick and Max
Patrick, observing Max’s slightly flushed cheeks and the drunken warmth in his eyes, knew that any more work at the office was out of the question tonight. Despite not being completely wasted, Max definitely needed some rest.
Annie, ever so considerate, slung her purse over her shoulder and stepped aside to hail a cab.
“Patrick, why don’t you take the boss home to sleep it off? I’ll grab a cab back. After you drop him off, remember to fix him some food for the hangover,” she said, turning to leave.
Patrick was pleased with her initiative. He opened the passenger door of the car so Max could climb in.
Just as Max was about to get in, a yellow object rolled to his feet. A little girl, bundled up in a white puffy jacket with a butterfly bow on her head, rushed over to pick it up. It was an orange that had rolled right to Max’s feet. He bent down to pick it up and handed it to her. The girl, barely reaching above his knee, looked up at him with big, grape–like eyes that blinked innocently. Those eyes reminded him so much of Brielle.
He vividly remembered the first moming he woke up in Brielle’s bed, consumed with initial panic as he grabbed her by the throat, demanding to know if she had a death wish. Those same pure, pained, yet defiant eyes met his gaze. That kind of look had a way of disarming him, even to the extent of making him want to gift her the world the should she desire it. So he knelt down, his long fingers picked up the orange, and handed it to the little friend.
The girl took the orange with careful hands, blinked her watery eyes, and then ran back to a man not far away, hugging his knees tightly. “Daddy, Daddy, I saw an actor!” she exclaimed.
The man lifted her up and perched her on his shoulders. “Really?” He said.
“It’s true, He is so pretty.”
By now, Max had entered the car and was watching the playful father and daughter through the window. The man hoisted her up, twirling her around, and the girl laughed and pointed ahead, prompting him to charge forward.
Max mused that if he ever had a daughter, she’d probably be just as adorable. He watched them for a moment longer before turning his
gaze away.
The air conditioning was on in the car, but Max felt suffocated and asked Patrick to turn it off. He then rolled down the window, letting in the chilly outside air, hoping it would help sober him up. “Take me to Pearl Estate,” he instructed, unbuttoning a few buttons on his collar and leaning back, falling into silence.
Patrick felt a tightness in his chest, knowing that Max was inevitably heading to see Ms. Brielle, He could only hope that Ms. Brielle was worth Max’s affection.
But Brielle wasn’t at Pearl Estate. Instead, she was sitting the CEO’s office at Dorsey International, occasionally glancing out at the city lights and feeling oddly comforted by Max’s presence in the room despite his physical absence.
As time ticked by, her nerves began to fray. What would she say to Max if he showed up?
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to his desk, only to notice a delicate hairpin lying there. It was a diamond–studded
Rubbing her temples, Brielle stood and walked over to accessory, glistening under the office lights.
Just as she reached out to touch it, the office door swung open. Her fingertips retracted quickly, and she pulled her hand back. Her heart. started racing, and she mustered all her courage to look towards the door.
