Chapter 62 Double role
Veronica's POV:
"Well... you're really hard to understand," I confessed;
Max only chuckled... that always did strange things to my insides.
We took our seats at the table opposite each other, and I immediately noticed the imperfections—the table wobbled when I rested my elbows on it, the chair squeaked loudly as I shifted my weight, the whole setup looking like it had been salvaged from someone's garage sale decades ago.
I wondered how the food could possibly be any good in a place like this. Max, who usually ate at high-level restaurants with Michelin stars and prix fixe menus—just like me—was actually willing to eat here... in this tiny, run-down café in the middle of nowhere with furniture that looked like it might collapse at any moment.
But when our food arrived, and I tentatively touched a French fry into my mouth, I was stunned.
It was delicious. Not just good—absolutely... mind-blowingly delicious. The fry was perfectly crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, seasoned with just the right amount of salt and something else I couldn't quite identify.
I found myself munching on them almost unconsciously, reaching for another and another, unable to stop.
These were the best French fries I'd ever had in my life. Better than the truffle fries at that fancy bistro in Paris. Better than the hand-cut fries at the five-star hotel in New York.
"Good, right?" Max said, watching me with that knowing smirk.
"How—" I started, but was interrupted by an elderly woman approaching our table.
"Nice to see you again, young man," she said warmly, placing a weathered hand on Max's shoulder. "Where were you? We've been missing you at home."
Max stood immediately. "Mrs. Chen. I have just been involved in something these past few weeks. How's everything going there?"
"Oh, the usual chaos," she said with a wave of her hand. "Though the security alarm has been broken for the last two weeks. Complete disaster, that. And last Thursday, a burglar actually climbed inside through the back window!"
My eyes widened, but Mrs. Chen was chuckling now, clearly pleased with herself. "You should have seen how we chased him away with our walking sticks," she continued, demonstrating a surprisingly vigorous swinging motion with her cane. "Poor boy probably thought he was going to rob some helpless old folks. Got the surprise of his life when Margaret cornered him in the hallway. She's been taking those tai chi classes, you know. Very fierce."
Max was grinning, but concern flickered in his eyes. "The alarm is still broken? I could've sworn I made sure it was working properly last time I was there."
"Technology," Mrs. Chen sighed. "Always breaking down at the worst times. The facility manager called someone, but they wanted to charge us three thousand dollars just to look at it. Three thousand! Highway robbery, that's what it is."
"I'll fix it," Max said immediately. "I'll come by tomorrow morning."
"Oh, would you, dear? That would be wonderful." Mrs. Chen patted his arm affectionately. "You're such a good boy, Max. Your mother would be so proud."
Something flickered across Max's face—pain and pleasure mixed together—before he smiled at her. "Thanks, Mrs. Chen."
As she walked away, Max turned back to me. "I need to run over to the home real quick. It's just next door. You mind?"
"No, of course not," I said, still processing the interaction I'd just witnessed.
"Come with me," he said. "I'll show you around."
The old age home was connected to the café by a short path, and it was exactly what I expected—a modest single-story building with a well-maintained garden and a ramp leading up to the entrance.
Max greeted the staff by name as we walked in, and they all seemed genuinely happy to see him.
He led me to a maintenance closet where the security system's main panel was located. The door was already open, and I could see the blinking red light indicating a system error.
"That'll just take a minute," Max said, rolling up his sleeves.
I watched as he opened the panel fully, revealing a complex array of wires, circuit boards, and what looked like a small computer interface. It was sophisticated equipment—much more advanced than I would have expected in a place like this.
And then Max started working.
I stood there, absolutely frozen, as he pulled out his phone and connected it to the system via a cable he produced from his pocket. His fingers moved across the screen with ease, pulling up lines of code—actual programming code—that scrolled past faster than I could read.
"What the..." I breathed, moving closer.
Max was muttering to himself. "Okay, so the AI-optimized threat detection module is throwing errors... it's probably a corrupted database after the power outage last month... I just need to rebuild the index..."
He was checking the source code now, and reading through lines and lines of programming, identifying bugs, making corrections just like any expert in coding would...
I felt my head spinning.
Was this really Max?! Or Theo in disguise?!
Only Theo worked like this, knew all the technological stuff...
But Max, he didn't even complete his college, did he?! He'd rebelled against his father, and dropped out to enjoy his party life.
"There we go," Max said, looking satisfied. "Should be good now. I'm going to run a full diagnostic to make sure everything's communicating properly..."
"Max," I said, weakly. "Are you really Max?"
"Hmm?" He didn't even look up from the screen.
"Where did you learn to do this?"
"Do what?"
"This. The coding. The security systems. The... everything I'm watching right now. After all... you didn't even finish college..."
He paused then, his fingers stilling on the screen. For a long moment, he didn't answer. Then he looked up at me. "One doesn't have to go to college to learn stuff... baby..."
"But..." I struggled to find words. "But everyone thinks... I mean, you act like..."
"Like I'm just a dumb, spoiled rich brat... party boy who doesn't know anything beyond which expensive club has the best DJ?" Max finished for me. "Yeah... I know."
"Why? Just why are you playing a double role?!"