Kings On The Horizon (Vol. 1-3) ✓

72 | Like A Monster

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THE CLOCK CONTINUES TO tick inside a painfully quiet office room in Sinclaire Corporation. Max was staring at the screen of his laptop, trying to concentrate on what the words meant, but nothing was processing in the young heir's head.

     A lot of things happened in the past couple of days, and one of the events that recently happened - that is now stressing him out more than the other events  - was the incident with James Hudson.

     Never in a million years did Max thought that he'd pull an actual body out of a body bag just so they could inspect every part of him. It was a bizarre experience, and something about all that made him feel sick to the stomach despite feeling nothing after blaming innocent white uniforms just to get the job done.

     "This is all your fault," Max whispers underneath his breath as he remembers Cigarettes' leader. He remembers the smug look on his face and how he easily beat him up like it was nothing while Max was completely helpless.

     Max wanted to release his anger out, but he calms himself down instead before things could even get worse. He takes a deep breath and brushes his hair back with his fingers before looking back at the screen of his laptop. He tries to concentrate again, but still, nothing was coming up.

     Looks like everything that happened regarding his personal and school life was finally taking a toll on him, so Max turns off the screen in defeat, making him see his reflection on it.

     Max didn't look good, which was ironic since he just won a pageant a couple of weeks ago. He has dark circles underneath his eyes, and he looked completely drained. When he saw himself in such a state, Max angrily closes his laptop, revealing Étienne who's respectfully standing in front of his desk since the very beginning.

     The room was silent as Max closes his eyes to massage his temple.

     "You should rest," Étienne suddenly suggests, making Max open his eyes back to look at him.

     "Why, is it because I'm not going to be the chairman anyway?" Max fires back, and Étienne doesn't say anything anymore.

     Actually, ever since Max got back after being missing for almost two weeks, Étienne never really said anything to him because he knows how devastated Max is with the whole situation. Scolding him would only make things worse for his master.

     Though Étienne doesn't know that Max already has a secret plan of his own that involves getting Cj's trust - which is becoming impossible each day - Étienne would actually throw everything away just to help him. He wouldn't think twice about it.

    "Did you talk to your brother?" Étienne then asks.

     Without looking back at his butler, Max answers, "Marcus doesn't talk to me anymore."

     "It's because you're avoiding him," Étienne says. "And your avoidance has caused him to be stubborn and weak. Have you been aware of that?"

     Max finally looks at him, but he decides to keep his mouth shut.

     When Étienne realizes that his master isn't going to answer him, he continues, "Your father has been forcing him to learn about the business, and his mother has been demanding a lot of things from him, yet he remains silent. What did you tell him?"

     "I challenged him," Max immediately answers, surprising Étienne.

     "Why would you do that to him? You know Marcus has no desire to involve himself in the company. You love that company because of your mother and that's the exact reason why he hates it. It's like you threw him inside a pit of fire with his hands tied behind his back," Étienne scolds, and Max clenches his fist in anger.