"Grandpa..." Max exhaled in frustration, rubbing the back of his neck. "Why would you do that?"Grandpa Norman didn't even look up, casually popping another melon seed into his mouth. "Because you're too slow. Do you really think you can win her over by yourself?"Max was left speechless for a moment, clicking his tongue. "I think I can.""Sure, you do." Grandpa snickered, leaning back in his chair. "Anyway, I did my part. The engagement is tomorrow, and Ol' Langley is also expecting you both to come together. If you're not interested, I can call and let her know. But I'm sure you wouldn’t want to embarrass her. And don’t forget, you owe her a thank you for picking you up when you came back. Perfect chance."Max opened his mouth to retort but found himself at a loss. The old man was right—he hadn’t thanked her yet. Alexa had gone out of her way to help him and even bought a bar under his name. "I’m going upstairs to shower," Max muttered, heading toward the staircase. "Don’t bother c
"Hi, it’s Alexa." Her voice came through the phone, hesitant but clear. "I’m not sure if you have my number." "Yeah, I do," Max replied smoothly, his lips curling into a smile that didn’t quite reach his voice. There was a pause on the other end before she spoke again. "I heard you’re going to Erica’s engagement?" "Who’s Erica?" His tone was nonchalant like he hadn’t a clue what she was talking about. "Grandpa Langley’s granddaughter," she clarified, her confusion evident. "We’re supposed to go together. Didn’t Grandpa tell you?" Max blinked, and then the memory clicked. "Oh, right. Got it. I just didn’t know her personally." "Okay," she muttered, her voice dropping. After another pause, she ventured, "So, what’s the plan? Are we meeting at the hotel entrance?" Max could feel the awkwardness building like she was tiptoeing around something. Maybe it was the memory of that night when she'd gotten a little too tipsy. To break the tension, he leaned back in his chair and said, "Sin
Max turned to look at the speaker with confusion, and his eyebrows twitched when he saw who she was and her entourage. Sure enough, once the other party also saw who he was, she instantly sniggered, "Well, well, well," she sneered, "if it isn't the useless bum!" She spun around to her group, waving her hand dramatically. "July, look who we’ve bumped into! Your useless ex-husband. What on earth is he doing here?" Max slid his hands into his pockets, his initial surprise fading. July and Greg stood together while Vivi, the one who’d just snatched a tux from him, led the group. His eyes flicked around the room, quickly sizing up the situation and figuring that they must have just entered yet came to cause trouble. "What’s a loser like you doing in a place like this?" Vivi’s taunting voice rang out again, but Max didn’t even blink in her direction. That was until July took a step forward, crossing her arms with a smug smirk. Her gaze ran over him, dripping with disdain. "Don’t tell
Max stood there quietly as the three others exchanged smug glances. The attendant, growing increasingly impatient, tapped her foot. She had seen his type before—broke guys who wandered in just to take a few pictures for their social media. The store sold luxury clothes that even she couldn’t afford, and yet, Max dared to show up without a penny. Worse, on her shift. She could get penalized if anything went wrong, but thankfully, they seemed to be the only customers in the store for now.“Are you done wasting my time?” she snapped, eyeing Max. “If you’re not buying anything, leave.”Max raised an eyebrow. “You don't even know if I truly came here to steal or intend to pay for the tux. Is this how you treat all your customers? By judging them based on what some people say?”"Who are some people?" Vivi retorted and came forward, pointing at Greg and July. "You recognize them, don't you? They are regular customers. Are you sure you want to offend them by not throwing this penniless thie
“Sorry, your payment has been declined.” None of them reacted at first as no one expected that, but a couple of seconds later, they all came to their senses. Max’s brows knitted in confusion while the attendant's worried look eased. Meanwhile, Vivi and Greg gave one another pleased looks as they stiffened their mocking laughter. Only July had an angry look on her face as she felt embarrassed. “Let me retry.” The attendant spoke up, clearly relieved. “Maybe there was an error.” Although everyone knew it was probably an insincere attempt to further embarrass Max. After all, how could the system make a mistake? She swiped the card again, and sure enough, that same mechanical voice rang out again. She was about to put it in again when Vivi suddenly snorted and laughed, folding her arms, “Don’t bother. You can try all day and it won’t work. Didn’t I tell you he’s as broke as a church rat?” The attendant smiled, and she turned to Max, regaining her condescending look. “Maybe you gave t
July folded her arms, a smug smile playing on her lips. "We caught him red-handed, and when we asked him to pay up, he couldn’t. The attendant was ready to call the cops on him, but then you walked in."She seemed pleased with herself and kept looking at Alexa’s face to gauge her reaction. After all, no woman would be happy to hear that the man she brought to such an upscale store tried to steal. She expected Alexa to lash out, yell at Max, maybe even storm out in embarrassment. Although she actually knew Max was not the type to steal; he was the holier than thou type and would not do something like that. She just wanted to mess with him.But to her surprise, Alexa looked like she heard something ridiculous and looked toward the attendant. “Max would never do something like that. Could it be a misunderstanding?” Luxe also shot a sharp look at her. "Tell me exactly what happened. How did the tux I specifically put on the rack end up in this mess?" The attendant, now visibly nervous,
July's eyes widened as the rip echoed through the room. For a second, she just stared at the fabric in her hand, disbelief washing over her face. Then, like a switch flipping, she jumped at Alexa, blurting out, "It's not me!"Alexa raised an eyebrow, momentarily stunned before letting out a cold laugh. "Are you serious right now? You were the one yanking at the dress. If it's not you, who is it? Me?""I said it's not me!" July retorted, bent on not taking the blame. She had merely wanted to feel out what was between Alexa and Max a little and intimidate Alexa while at it. She was absolutely not prepared to get in trouble while at it."You know what?" Alexa shook her head and laughed. "I won't bother arguing with you."She scoffed like she thought July was nothing but a joke before walking past her. July was stunned at first but quickly recollected herself and shouted, "Where are you running off to? You were the one who took the dress in the first place? How dare you try to leave it f
The person who spoke was a young lady in pink at the forefront of the group. When Alexa looked over, she quickly slipped her hand into the arm of the man beside her. The man in question looked at Alexa and seemed a bit flustered even though he managed to look calm. Alexa gave a light scoff at this, which Max noticed, and he glanced at her face before looking at the faces of the people in the group with a scrutinizing look in his gaze. There was only one man in the group, and when the girls saw him look over, they all began to stare at him intently with giggly eyes and whispering amongst themselves about how handsome he was. He didn’t recognize any of the faces but recalled that the girl at the front called Alexa, ‘sister’. Albeit, it was devoid of any sincerity. The girl in question faced her group of friends and said in an excited tone, “This is my sister, Alexa.” Her friends looked at Alexa’s face and gave her strange looks before looking at the face of the man Alexa scoffed at e
"This is the list for available artists," Ivan muttered, throwing the file in his hand on the desk casually. "Take your pick." His attitude was full of arrogance, and it was obvious he was throwing his weight around now that he was in charge of Max’s affairs. But the latter did not seem bothered by his attitude and simply picked it up, flipping the pages open to take a look. After some time, he looked up again and pointed to a name amongst the list. When Ivan looked down and saw who it was, his face instantly changed. "What? Marianne? Who put her on the list? She's my artist. Choose someone else." Max gave him a scrutinizing look and retorted simply, "She's the one I want." "What do you mean she's the one you want!?" Ivan was about to blow his top in anger. Just then, the door of his office opened, and Marianne entered right in time. She stood by the door, hesitant, and faced Ivan. "You wanted to see me." Ivan nodded, beckoning to her. "Yeah. Come over here." She looked towar
"Claire?" Max called out in surprise, and she spun around immediately when she heard his name. She looked surprised to see him standing there, but it was only for a moment before she looked at herself and the drunk man hankering about her, and a look of utter mortification crossed her face. The man who grabbed her didn't seem to care that there was a third party and continued to hanker, "Why the attitude, huh? Chris already gave his approval. You think you can last in this industry without pleasing us directors?" Claire’s lips curled in disgust, and she yanked her arm away from his grip. "So what if I can, you slimy old geezer? Do I look like some young girl you can prey on? Do I look like some naive starlet you can toy with? Take your filthy hands off me, you creep!" "You bitch-" The director looked even more furious when he heard that, and he reached out to grab her again. But Max was faster and directly pulled Claire over to his side, giving him a backhand slap. Probably, it w
Blue Lagoon Bar Max swung his car into the bar's garage, the quiet purr of the engine cutting out as he stepped out. The cool evening breeze tugged at the black-on-black outfit he wore—a tailored shirt and slim-fit trousers - simple yet unmistakably expensive. He adjusted his cuffs, a faint smirk playing on his lips as he strolled toward the bar entrance. When he entered, he found his former boss, Sam, waiting by the door for him with two assistant managers beside him. When Max entered, they all stared at him in a mix of shock and awe - Max had really hit a jackpot. He went from an ordinary bartender to a noveau riche out of nowhere. Even though he wore a simple black on black attire, it wasn't hard to tell that they couldn't have been cheap out of the market. "Eh, Max. It's really you!" One of the two managers leaned forward, blinking hard. "You've really changed." The second manager chimed in, still trying to process the sight in front of him. “Man, you’ve changed. If I didn’t
The secretarial section was empty when Max got to the top floor of the company, so he knocked on the door of the presidential office directly. “Come in,” Lawson’s voice echoed from inside. Max twisted the handle and strolled in, shutting the door behind him with a soft click. The secretary standing before Lawson paused mid-report, glancing briefly at Max, who made himself comfortable on the sleek leather sofa in the middle of the room. Lawson barely looked up, simply brushing over the secretary’s report, and it was obvious he didn’t want Max to hear what was being said. “That’ll be all. Leave it here.” The secretary nodded, placing a folder on the desk before making his quiet exit. Once the door clicked shut, Lawson turned his attention to Max, an exaggerated look of surprise washing over his features. He stood up and took a seat opposite Max, throwing his coat over the second sofa. “Well, well! If it isn’t our rising star,” he chuckled, slapping his thigh theatrically. “I sho
"I didn't expect that this new manager is quite skilled," Max heard one of the members of the legal team mumble as he approached the meeting room. "Yeah, I simply thought he was fooling around that time he followed us. Who knew he was actually scheming?" "Yeah. So much evidence. Who knows how long he has been tailing that man to have found out so much? He even dug so deep that he found things that Richard himself would have forgotten." "Better be wary of such scheming people." Max merely chuckled to himself when he heard that and strode into the meeting room. His gaze found the speaker, and he muttered, "Don't worry, I'm not a rabid dog who goes around biting other people. As long as you don't cross my path, don't be too wary of me." The man instantly gave an awkward laugh when he heard that, and the rest of the room chuckled, except Ivan, of course. "Just saying..." Max took a seat and looked toward Ivan, who sat with his legs crossed and folded his arms. He was giving Max a p
In Apex Villa, Somewhere in between the livecast, Noah had sat up again and was now watching intently. Once it eventually came to close and the Thompsons were escorted away by the police, he leaned back, folding his arms and stared at the figure in black shirt and white pants languidly striding out of the hall without a word. Meanwhile, Lauren and Jasper were still speechless at the sudden turn of events and everything that just happened. "What a dramatic turn of events!" Jasper finally broke the silence, slapping his thighs as he leaned back in his seat. “Richard was a full-on creep this whole time? He was the one behind everything, and yet he went around blaming you, Noah. Crying in front of the cameras like he was some victim. I swear, I didn’t see that coming.” Lauren’s eyes darted toward Noah, brows furrowing. "Did you know about it? That he was the culprit?" Noah sighed, shaking his head slowly. "No. Not the full story." He thought it had been a simple case of Richard
Max's smile didn’t falter even though she had hit the jackpot just like that. It seemed everyone knew what was going on with Oliver but just pretended not to.He calmly responded, “Yes, we’re here to discuss Oliver’s role and—”She cut him off, a cold laugh escaping her lips. “Dream on. Just because he got a few fans overnight doesn’t mean we owe him anything. In fact,” her gaze hardened as she glanced at Oliver, “he should be grateful we haven’t shown him the door yet. Zero revenue, zero worth. Do you understand what that means?”Oliver swallowed when he heard that, his shoulders tensing, and he looked at Max, whispering, “Maybe we should just go. I don’t want to make this worse.”Max didn't seem bothered at all. Instead, he gave a small smirk as he turned back to the HR head. “No need to worry, Oliver.” He took out his phone, his fingers moving swiftly as he typed. “If you think we’re not worth your time, then I’ll let the committee decide.”The HR head was stunned at first, but sh
Max rubbed his eyes, still processing Oliver’s shocking news. “You’re telling me that your insta went viral? Like, overnight?”“Yes!” Oliver practically shouted through the phone. “A friend sent me a screenshot, and people are talking about me. And it’s not just the followers! Fans are sharing posts about Blades of Honor. They’re reminiscing about my old stunts!”Max couldn’t help but smile. “That’s incredible! Did you check to see if you got hacked?”“I’m worried I did! What if I can’t get my account back?” Oliver’s voice was tinged with panic.“Relax, Oliver. Let me check it out.” Max flipped open his phone, but before he could dive into the app, Oliver sounded panicked again.“Wait! What if someone posted something embarrassing?”“Hang on, I’ll find out right now,” Max assured him, swiping the screen. “But I think you’re just experiencing an overnight fame surge.”“Seriously? Do you think my stunts are that good?”“I don’t know, man,” Max said, stifling a chuckle. “But let’s not wo
Max sat on his bed, phone in hand, eyes narrowed in concentration as he scrolled through the footage he'd captured of Oliver’s stunts earlier. He watched as Oliver’s punches and kicks cut through the air, his movements swift and precise. A smirk tugged at Max’s lips.“Not bad, Oliver,” he murmured to himself. “Not bad at all.”A soft knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He glanced up, giving a brief sigh. “Come in.”The door creaked open, and a young maid entered, head bowed. “Sir, a package just arrived for you,” she said politely.Max gestured to the bedside table without looking away from his phone. “Leave it there. Thanks.”With a quick bow, she set the package down and slipped out, leaving Max alone once more. He didn’t give the box a second glance, too engrossed in sorting the video clips. Finally, after a few minutes, he saved the best parts, satisfied with the shots.His gaze shifted to his laptop, curiosity sparking as he opened the browser. A quick search brought up c