Chapter 82 Stalking ex
Veronica's POV:
"My hotel is two blocks away," Theo said. "We should go there, get you cleaned up, and then you can explain what the hell happened."
Max just nodded, not arguing, not making jokes. He was not being Max at all.
We walked in silence, and I found myself between the two brothers. Both were tense now.
When we reached the hotel, Theo led us up to his room. The candles from our session were long since extinguished, but the rose petals were still scattered on the floor, and there was the lingering scent of essential oils still in the air.
Max noticed. Of course, he noticed.
"I hit Chase," Max said abruptly, looking at me. "That's who I assaulted. Your ex-fiancé. He found me in a bar and started talking shit, and I lost it."
"You... you hit Chase?" I repeated, trying to process this. "Why was Chase even there? How did he find you?"
"He was at the expo," Max repeated, his dark eyes fixed on me.
"What?" I gasped, feeling the blood drain from my face.
That asshole had been following me. Tracking my movements. Showing up at the most important professional moment of my life just to... what? Spy on me? Sabotage me? Remind me that he still considered me his property?
I slumped onto the couch, feeling anger boiling up from somewhere deep in my chest. Why was he still after me?
Despite all the backlash I'd given him at his fake engagement party. Despite the public humiliation. Despite me making it crystal clear that we were over, that I wanted nothing to do with him ever again.
What would it take for Chase Pemberton to finally leave me alone?
"Still, you shouldn't have assaulted him," Theo interrupted, his voice tight with frustration. "No matter what he said, no matter how much he provoked you. Violence wasn't the answer, Max."
"Oh, here we go," Max shot back, his tone dripping with sarcasm. " Saint Theo, with his perfect meditation and his superior moral compass. Tell me, brother, what should I have done? Sat there while he talked about destroying our family? While he gloated about taking Veronica back.
"You should have walked away," Theo said firmly. "Called me. Called our lawyers. Done literally anything except create a massive legal liability."
"Walking away isn't always an option!"
"It's always an option," Theo countered, his calm starting to crack. "You just refuse to take it because you'd rather indulge your need to hit things when you're upset."
Max stood abruptly, his chair scraping loudly against the floor. "Don't psychoanalyze me right now. You're not my therapist."
"Then stop acting like a child who can't control his temper!"
"I'm not a child, and I had perfect control!" Max's voice was rising now, matching Theo's intensity. "I chose to hit him. Deliberately. Because he deserved it."
"And now we have to deal with the consequences of your choice," Theo said, standing as well. They faced each other across the room with full of tension between them. "Do you have any idea what kind of damage control this requires? The PR nightmare you've created?"
"I don't give a fuck about PR!"
"Well, you should!" Theo's voice rose to actual yelling now—something I'd never heard from him before. "Because now we have to pay nearly a million dollars to everyone who captured the incident on their phones to prevent it from going viral. Are you happy now? Does that feel worth it?"
"Yeah," Max spat. "I don't care about my billionaire father losing some of his millions. It's pocket change for him. And it was worth it to defend Veronica's honor and our family."
"This isn't about the money!" Theo shouted. "This is about you being completely irresponsible! About you flying to New York without telling anyone, stalking us through the city like some kind of—"
"I wasn't stalking..."
"You followed us from the expo! You watched us at dinner! You stood outside our hotel!" Theo's composure was completely shattered now, his face flushed with anger. "That's literally the definition of stalking, Max!"
"I was making sure she was okay!"
"She was with me! Of course, she was okay!"
"Was she?" Max turned to look at me, his eyes blazing. "Was she really okay? Or were you just doing your spiritual manipulation bullshit, making her think she's enlightened when really you're just molding her into what you want?"
"Don't you dare..." Theo started forward, his hands clenched into fists.
"Stop!" I stood up, my voice cutting through their argument. "Both of you, just stop!"
They both froze, turning to look at me.
"Stop fighting," I said, shaking. "Stop turning this into some competition about who's right and who's wrong."
I moved between them, literally putting my body in the space separating the two brothers.
"This isn't your fault, Max," I said, looking at him. "And it's not yours either, Theo. This is my problem. Chase is my problem. He's obsessed with me, he's following me, he's the one who provoked all of this."
"Veronica..." Theo started.
"No," I cut him off. "Listen to me. Both of you. I appreciate that you want to protect me. I appreciate Max standing up to Chase, even if the method was... extreme. And I appreciate Theo trying to handle things responsibly. But at the end of the day, this is about me and Chase. And I'm the one who needs to deal with it."
"You can't handle him alone," Max said immediately. "He's dangerous. You heard what he threatened..."
"Then I'll get a restraining order," I said firmly. "I'll hire my own security. I'll do whatever I need to do. But I won't let this become another thing you two fight about. Another competition where one of you wins and one of you loses."
I looked between them, seeing the anger still simmering in both their faces, but also seeing them actually listening to me for the first time since this argument started.
"Chase is my ex-fiancé," I continued. "My mistake to make, my mess to clean up. You two have already done so much... But this? This is mine to handle."
"We're not just going to abandon you to deal with him," Theo said quietly, his anger deflating into concern.
"Yes, we will not..." Max joined him.