Kings On The Horizon (Vol. 1-3) ✓

64 | Unexpected Visitor

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"WHERE ARE YOU?" JEAN - Max's second cousin and the CEO of Sinclaire Corp. - asks over the phone.

     Max, who's smoking on the balcony at Viktor's apartment, slowly exhales the cigarette smoke from his mouth and completely ignores his cousin's question.

     Everyone has been looking for him, even his family, but Max has remained hidden to cool his head. And even though he doesn't want to admit it, he's grateful for Viktor's assistance, especially since Viktor's personal guards would even send him meals three times a day, which he sometimes would barely even touch.

     Though he's grateful for the king's kind gesture, Max is very much aware that he has to pay a price for such kindness. He doesn't know what it is yet, but he knows that Viktor wouldn't be so kind about it in the future. There's bound to be a catch.

    "Max, it's almost two weeks now. Isn't it about time you return? Or are you actually planning to go AWOL for a month?" Jean continues to ask, but like earlier, Max doesn't answer him.

     Jean sighs in frustration. The two were silent for a while, but afterward, Jean asks again, "Hey, I heard from some of the directors. It hasn't really been announced publicly yet, but is it true that the chairman is going to marry Edith Thompson?"

     "Yes," Max finally answers.

     "That son of a bitch," Jean curses underneath his breath. "So your chances of inheriting the company is getting slimmer, huh? He must have planned it."

     Max doesn't say anything, but he chuckles and throws away what's left of his cigarettes.

     "I want to be optimistic and tell you that in a heartbeat, your brother will no doubt give you the rights to the company if we simply asked him to, but I'm a hundred percent sure that that's the last thing that you want to happen," Jean assumes, which he was right about.

     As much as Max loves the company, he loves his brother too. Like what Jean said, Marcus would give it away with no hesitation if Max asked for it, or maybe even just give it to him without the need to ask for it. But that's not something that Max wants, and that fact alone pisses Max even more because his only weakness is his brother, and his father Denzel is well aware of it.

     "If I want to take the company, I have to take it on my own terms. I told Marcus that he should take whatever our father intends to give him. I will not put my pride down and suddenly take back my words," Max says with complete sincerity, remembering the time he and Marcus were able to talk in private during his first day of school.

     "So what are you planning to do?" Jean asks.

     Max was silent for a second. He pulls out another cigarette stick from the pack and lights it up. As he inhales the smoke that warmed his entire body, Max looks at the city lights in front of him.

     "Hidden stocks," Max finally answers, the smoke running out of his mouth as he said it.

     Jean was surprised by what he heard that he couldn't immediately respond. But after composing himself, he asks back, "D-did you just say...hidden stocks?"

     Max inhales the smoke in one go like he was intentionally trying to damage his lungs. The gust of smoke enters his body, and Max almost ended up choking from it. He coughs and throws the cigarette away, and then he grabs a bottle of beer and chugs it down.

     "You heard what I said," he answers as he slams the bottle down on a round table. "I thought about this for days. Running a business can get your hands dirty, and I've known that since I was twelve. As great of an empire our company is, we needed the support of the underground business world to keep the company running. That's where hidden stocks come in, and hidden stocks are one of the reasons why the Sinclaire Corporation is unbreakable," Max explains, and Jean aggressively shakes his head in denial.