103

103
  Maximus:

My entire body trembles with fury as I glare at her. Her lips are slightly parted, eyes wide with panic, like she didn’t see this coming.

But me?

I want to explode. I want to wrap my hands around someone and tear them apart.

And that person’s definitely Jess.

“How dare you?,” I growl, voice low and dangerous as I step forward. 

The heat radiating off me is wild. Untamed. With every step I take, she backs away. Her breathing grows shallow. Her hands tremble at her sides.

“Maximus... I... I didn’t mean to,” she stutters, voice cracking, until her back hits the wall with a soft thud.

“Don’t you dare lie to me!” I snap, voice rising. “How fcking dare you?!”

Before she can say another word, I close the space between us in a flash. My hand shoots to her throat.

She gasps, coughing immediately, but I don’t let go. My grip tightens with every second, rage flooding my veins like wildfire.

“I-I’m sorry...” she chokes out again, eyes brimming with tears.

But sorry means nothing to me right now.

“I… I had no c-choice but to do it,” she whispers, her voice shaking. “Y-your mother kept pestering me for a child, and I thought… maybe if I just met someone..just once..to give me a b..baby since you wouldn’t even touch me after Selene left.”

She coughs again, her face growing more flushed.

I blink, stunned, loosening my grip just slightly. “W-what?”

“Y..yes. I saw how cold you became the moment Selene was gone. You stopped touching me. You stopped seeing me. It was like… like you regretted ever divorcing her.” Jess swallows hard, blinking fast.. “So I thought… if I gave you a child, maybe you’d love me more. Maybe you’d stay.”

“What the fck, Jess?!”

My vision blurs with rage. My heart slams against my chest, and I can feel the heat rising up my neck.

“Sleeping with another man and pinning the pregnancy on me? That’s not love..that’s manipulation,” I snarl, my voice cracking like a whip. “You think I’ll let this slide? Hell no. I’m going to have you jailed, Jess. I don’t care how long it takes or how much it costs, I will make sure you pay for this.”

Her eyes widen in panic. She starts shaking her head, stiff and desperate. “No… no, Maximus, please. It was a mistake..I swear it! I swear on everything, I didn’t mean for it to go this far! I love you, I just… I just couldn’t—”

“Shut the hell up, Jess!” I cut her off, my grip tightening again.

“Shut the fcking hell up!”

She freezes, lips trembling. Her chest is rising with short and panicked breaths.

And I just stand there, disgusted.

I can’t believe I threw away Selene for this daughter of a bitch.

She was right. My feelings for her started to fade the moment Selene walked out that door. But by then, the damage was already done.

Now? I’d pay any price—burn every bridge—just to make Jess pay for what she’s done… and to get Selene and my precious children back where they belong.

“Who’s the father?” I growl.

She blinks, startled. “W-what?”

“Who the hell did you sleep with to birth Kylie?”

“I… I’m sorry, Maximus,” she whispers, voice cracking. “I can’t say.”

I let out a cold and humorless laugh, shaking my head.

“You can’t say?” My jaw clenches. “Alright then. You better tell your parents to start picking out a damn coffin, because the next time I open that door, I’ll be dragging your dead body out of this house myself.”

Her eyes go wide with horror. “No! No, Max..please! I’ll say it. I’ll tell you who it is.”

“Good. Start. Talking.”

“I…” she stammers. “It’s…”

Her words hang in the air as a sudden and loud blare cuts through the silence.

My phone.

I shoot her a sharp glare. If she thinks that noise is going to distract me into letting go, she’s dead wrong.

My right hand stays locked around her neck, fingers curled tight with fury. With my left, I dig into my pocket and pull out the vibrating phone.

Raymond.

Of course. I exhale through my nose. He must be getting impatient, since I told him I’d be in no time.

I swipe to answer and press it to my ear, still staring at Jess like I could burn a hole through her skull.

His voice comes through immediately. “Maximus…”

“Yeah, Raymond?”

“Where the hell are you? Your mother just stormed in and…man, she’s furious.”

“My mother?”

Furious?

I don’t even realize when my fingers slowly loosen from Jess’s neck.

She takes the chance..shoving me aside and scrambling for her phone before darting out of the room like her life depends on it.

That bitch just escaped.

But my mother… storming in? Why?

I let out a sharp breath, jaw clenched, and head straight to grab what I came up for in the first place. Just one quick stop, that was all this was supposed to be.

A few minutes later, I swing the door open and storm down the stairs. Only to freeze as I reach down.

There she is.

My mother.

Fist tangled in Jess’s hair, dragging her across the floor like a rabid lioness while Jess lets out a terrified scream.

“Let me go!” Jess shrieks, kicking wildly.

“No!” my mother snaps. “You gold-digging bitch! I can’t believe I let you marry my son! And then you had the damn audacity to bring a bastard into this house. Letting him raise her for five whole years?!”

She yanks even harder.

“I swear to God, I’m going to kill you today!”

Her grip tightens mercilessly, jerking Jess by the scalp so hard I half expect to see a chunk of hair—and skin—rip clean off.

So I lunge forward, wedging myself between them and grabbing my mother’s wrist.

“Mom, let her go!” I grit out, trying to pry her fingers out of Jess’s hair.

It takes a few seconds..her nails clinging on like talons—but eventually, with some force, she yanks her hand back and Jess stumbles away, gasping for air, tears streaming down her cheeks.

She looks wrecked.

Honestly, I’m still trying to piece it together. There’s no way Mom could’ve heard what Jess confessed upstairs. She wasn’t anywhere near us.

So I turn to her, still catching my breath. “Mom… how did you know?”

“Oh, please.” She scoffs, rolling her eyes like I’ve just asked a dumb question. “I took Kylie to the hospital and had a DNA test run.”

My brows furrow. “That wouldn’t even be possible without my blood.”

“Oh, yeah.. that,” she says with a dramatic sigh. “Remember last week, when I told you I needed a little blood for some fake illness? Yeah. That was the trick. I had the nurse take a sample, then paid her off to keep quiet. That’s what they used.”

My jaw drops. “Mom?! You had me worried sick over nothing?”

She just shrugs. “Well, turns out your little health scare gave us a real answer, didn’t it?” She sneers, turning her fury back to Jess. “How could you? You have no conscience! Who the hell even is Kylie’s father?!”

Jess scoffs, rolling her eyes like she’s already bored of this.

“Oh, please. You’re acting like this is all my fault, Cecilia,” she snaps. “Let’s not forget you were the one constantly pressuring me for a child. Breathing down my neck. What did you expect me to do when your son wouldn’t even touch me?”

Then she turns to me, her gaze hard and unbothered.

“And you,” she says bitterly, “you’re free to go crawling back to Selene. You always loved her more than me anyway. Even when I lied and told you she kidnapped me just so you’d marry me..you still didn’t have her arrested like I begged you to.”

She lets out a cold laugh and tosses her hair.

“Whatever. I’ve signed the damn divorce papers already. I’m done with the Hemsworth family. You can all rot for all I care! Have a nice life. I hope I never see any of you again.”

“Jess!” I growl. “Who the hell is Kylie’s father?!”

“Oh, that?” she says, eyes gleaming with spite. “You’ll never know. That’s for you to figure out..if you ever do.”

My blood boils as I stalk toward her. 

She doesn’t waste a second.

Jess bolts out the door with a speed I didn’t even know she had, leaving everything behind. Not even sparing a glance at her damn luggage.

Jeez… Jess is fcking unhinged!

I still can’t believe any of this.

And the one question clawing at my brain?

Who the hell is Kylie’s father?

“Maximus…” My mother’s voice pulls me out of the storm in my head.

I turn to her, jaw tight, eyes still blazing. “Yes, Mum?”

“Now that you’ve divorced Jess and she’s finally out of the picture,” she says, “how do we bring Selene back? I need her to have children for you, too. It’s not too late. I don’t want a bastard ruining this family’s name.”

“Do you even want her back because you want her to just birth children for you, or you miss her and TRULY want her back.”

“Both.” She says.

I scoff, a bitter laugh rising in my throat as I roll my eyes.

If only she knew.