The Bull Prince | Max Verstappen

SEQUEL - Chapter 39

Hello there, the piranhas are hungry so I'm feeding them with a new chapter so soon already. Joy. Actually no joy but yeah a chapter. I have nothing to say for myself basically, I hope you like it still, I understand every conflicting emotion towards me, you can tell me, no need to bottle things up. Grammar is still not my friend and just slowing me down. Cheers!

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It was a lengthy and long-drawn-out process until every lawyer which had been invited to explain their view of the situation at hand had given their statements, which bored Max nearly to death. He had been sitting at Joanna's side for the biggest part of the meeting until the lawyers started fighting which each other, which caused the Dutchman to get up, only to stop behind Joanna and squeeze her shoulder reassuringly once. The Austrian looked up briefly before she settled her own hand over his as they listened to another reason why they couldn't marry.

"Gentlemen, please." Joanna reminded them to be civil towards each other, which caused Max to snort before he stepped away and walked over to the window to overlook the garden while listening to the points made. How he would like to be outside now instead of in here. He never liked bureaucracy and now he was forced to expose himself to this farce just so he could marry the woman he loved.

"Ms Lauda." One of the lawyers called for Joanna's attention which caused Max to look over his shoulder at Joanna who had supported her head in the palm of her hand, her elbow leaning on the armrest of the chair.

Max wondered what they wanted from her. She hadn't studied the law or this goddamned contract that tied the Lauda family to the Lauda Foundation. The Austrian was clever and knew more about such contracts than must Max guessed, but they were here to tell them what to do, but all they did until now was argue and contradict each other.

"A solution has already been found to this issue, why are we discussing this anew?" He asked which caused Max to grit his teeth.

"Because the solution found is fucking unsatisfactory." He spoke, before turning around and returning to Joanna's side where he took his seat again. The Austrian fast to reach out and take his hand. Making eye contact with her shortly, Max took a deep breath to calm down again. Fighting their own lawyers won't help them.

"Excuse me, Mr Verstappen, but what did you expect? Contracts like this aren't like traditional contracts. Generations of Lauda tried to find loopholes, which they used and as a result, the foundation worked on closing them. The contract has been valid for over five generations, that we found any way to contradict the foundation as we did, resembles a miracle."

"Ms Lauda will not give up the custody of this child or any future children." Max pointed out sharply, expecting the lawyers to find them a solution they were able to live with but until now all they did was talk an awful lot.

"I fear there is no other way." The same lawyer spoke again. "If you refrain from marrying, you can take full custody as the father, so the foundation has no right to the children." The man explained again, which caused Max to wonder if he thought of him as stupid. He had heard that so often today already and he had told them that this wasn't a possibility the same amount. He wanted a normal life, that Joanna was burdened with the Lauda name was never supposed to be an issue. It wasn't as long as she hadn't been named the sole heir of her father.

"This has now been explained to me 12 times now and my answer each time was that this is not what we want." The Dutchman said again for good measure, while Joanna moved her hand from his to his lower arm, the engagement ring shining in the bright artificial light, reminding them what they were here for, why they went through this, what they desired to achieve. Max would marry his Joanna and if it would be the last thing he would ever do.