Max laid back on the comfy sofa in the private club room, partially drunk with several bottles of expensive wine resting on his table. He was trying to numb his mind of the painful thoughts of the past, but no amount of drink could relieve her of the pain of his father’s betrayal. Growing up, Max was closest with his Dad and would do everything together. He was his role model which was why it hurt more when his father started to misbehave. Even though he was closest with his Dad, he loved his mom to death, causing him more pain as he witnessed his parent’s fall out due to his father’s affair that started when Max was 17.Because he had the door of his room slightly opened, he could hear the noise and laughter coming from the room next door and instead of just closing his door, he stood up and staggered toward the room who also had the door of their room slightly opened. He angrily pushed it open and yelled at the top of his voice, “Keep it down or get the f!ck out!” Tate Wilson, w
Just as he was about to turn around to face him, the third person, Sam Dennis, quickly threw an unexpected punch at Max’s face, giving him a small cut on his lips as his ring brushed over Max’s lips. “He’s an annoyingly disrespectful waiter, of course. He has no idea who you are.” Sam explained. Eric frove as his eyes set on Max’s face. The light in the room was dimly lit but he could make out the face of the man he knew well and even saw just two days back. “I–I’m doomed.” He mumbled, dropping to the floor on his knees. “Sir…sir, I am so sorry, I didn’t know it was you…”Max scoffed loudly, intentionally interrupting him as he inspected his torn lip. “Eric Newman, I should have known it’s you. I just had no idea you prefer younger women despite being married with children her age.” He said.Unlike the other two staffs, Eric Newman was a high official at PetroVista and had been working there for years, he was quite acquintained with the Stratfords and knew Max from when he worked
As Max reached the receptionist counter at the lobby, he dropped his car key on the desk and ordered, “Get me a driver!”Seeing Max for the first time, the receptionist calmly asked, “Your card, sir?“I need to show you a freaking card? Where the f@ck is your manager?” He asked angrily, transferring his aggression to the lady. The lady tried to calm him down by apologizing and explaining, “Sir, I am sorry if I came out rude, but everyone needs a card to assess the resources available in this club. It is so that the club runs smoothly.” Max angrily smashed the telephone on the table, scaring the hell out of the lady. “I have had enough tonight. I swore to my mom that I wouldn’t drive drunk. Get me a f@cking valet right now before I do something worse.”Scared, the lady whispered into her ear pod, “Security, we have a situation…”“A situation? Do I look like a f@cking situation to you? And you dare call the security on me?” Max yelled angrily, pulling the land line from her. Hearing
After several minutes of driving in silence, the car came to a halt in front a familiar gate. She looked beside her at Max who was slowly dozing off and announced, “We’re here.”Hesitant, Max winds down the window hissed in disbelief, “I gave you this address?” He asked still tipsy. “Yeah…”“Stupid me. What’s so great about her that I can’t even forget?” He mumbled, clear enough for her to hear.Confused, she asked, “what are you talking about?”Max sighed, rubbin his palms roughly against his face. “This house, it’s my ex’s. I signed the divorce papers two night ago.” He replied, “Oh, I’m sorry about that.” she apologized. Max who didn’t want ot open up to anyone about his divorce just started to rant, “You know, it’s already bad that she was cheating on me with that twerp we met at the club earlier, but she lied about having a kid for me. Even though I never saw him, he was the best thing that ever happened to me.” “In fact, I already had his life planned out. I promised myself
With this response, Miguel was convinced something was up. Max was sensible enough to know that there was an extent to which he could lie about his look, so he decided to go with the most believable one. “Fine! I got into a fight.” Max lied. “With who? Why?” Miguel asked curiously. Max bit his lip as he tried to come up with a believable response, “Well, I met Tate Wilson. I just found out he was working with Mr. Newman. I was going to ignore him, but I couldn’t help listening to his trash.” He explained, stylishly readjusting his pants. With the details, Miguel had no reason to doubt Max and quickly believed him, saying, “Don’t worry, I will have the contract terminated.” Max let out a sigh of relief, seeing that he was finally free “There is no need for that. I have better plans for him.” He said. Soon enough, they arrived at the house, and fortunately, there was no one around to question him as they had already left for their respective businesses and homes. Max asked
The ladies exchanged glances and giggled, believing Max's words for the first time. This statement alone was enough to make Msx lose all his charm in Aria’s eyes. She moved closer and whispered in his ear, “This is the difference between you and Tate. He would never have a reason to steal or fear being fired.” Max smirked as he shoved her off and walked into the city hall, leaving them stunned. “That poor skunk. How dare he…” Aria scoffed in disbelief. Cynthia patted Aria's shoulder as she walked past her, reassuring her, “Don't worry. He has no one else except us. He will come back begging once Tate makes him lose his job. Then we will be able to pay him back for this embarrassment.” Aria agreed swiftly following her mom into the hall. Aria has already completed all the steps for the divorce and since they both agreed ‘on paper’ that they ended things on mutual consent, the divorce was quickly processed and sent to the city hall, thanks to Tate’s connections. Once it was Max
A satisfying grin spread over Max’s lips as the neon light of the bar cast a glow on the beautiful piece of five-carat diamond ring cradled in his hands, causing it to reflect the diverse colors. “Aria and I have been married for three years, and I haven’t given her any precious gifts. This would be a perfect gift for our anniversary.” He mumbled to himself when a firm hand suddenly jabbed his shoulder, startling him into dropping the ring which landed with a soft thud on the bar counter. “What do we have here, Max?” muttered the snarky middle-aged, obese looking man, “Planning to pawn off some fake jewelry to pay your bills again?” Max always hated Manager Hollis because of his rude and demeaning way of speaking to him, so he wasn't surprised at his statement at all. Rather, he was ready to defend himself. “No sir, this is actually a real five-carat diamond ring.” He defended. “Something you’d never be able to afford.” He mumbled. “What did you just say?” Hollis scoffe
Max snapped his eyes open to a very unfamiliar ceiling. For the first few seconds, he couldn't tell where he was as he scanned his eyes around the room. “Hospital?” He wondered as he tried to sit up, but a sharp pain at the back of his head forced him to lay back down. “Mr. Stratford, you're finally up?” A nurse asked as she walked in and quickly checked his temperature, after which he helped Max sit up. He hissed in pain, asking, “How did I get here?” “The ambulance brought you in.” She replied “You look sturdy. Who would have thought you were so weak?” She mumbled to himself. Max, who heard her clearly, quickly defended himself, “Weak? I was hit from the back! That's one cheap move!” He looked through the window and noticed the sun was already up and remembering he was hit last night. He quickly asked, “How long have I been out?” “15 hours. You spent the night and a substantial part of the day here. You can leave now after paying your bills and getting your drug